Ralf Schumacher - "Lewis not the first liar in f1"

Ralf Schumacher in Malaysia poured water on the 'lie-gate' saga, suggesting economy with the truth is not a rare commodity in Formula One.

The six-time Grand Prix winner was at Sepang last weekend, filling in for Niki Lauda as a pundit for German TV.

He therefore witnessed the scandal unfold first hand, from when the stewards disqualified Lewis Hamilton to the suspension of Dave Ryan.

It is now likely that the matter will be referred to the World Motor Sport Council, where sanctions against McLaren could be applied.

The German newspaper Bild am Sonntag asked Schumacher, who raced full-time in F1 for a decade until 2007, if he ever lied in his capacity as a driver.

"I could not say that, in my active time, that I would not have acted in the same situation in the same way (as Hamilton).”

"You are together with your team," Schumacher, 34, said, "and together you say what you have to say."

Ralf said he does not condone lying "but on the other hand Lewis was surely not the first" to do so.

Webber - I could have won the Malaysian GP

Mark Webber believes he could have won the Malaysian Grand Prix had heavy rain started to fall a few moments earlier.

The Australian was one of several drivers who pitted for intermediates once it became apparent that the track was not wet enough for the extreme tyres.

Just seconds after the drivers pitted, the skies opened and the extremes were again the right option.

Only BMW's Nick Heidfeld avoided the extra stop, while Webber had to return to put extremes back on, losing all his chances of a good result.

The Red Bull driver had been fighting for the lead earlier and he felt he had a shot at winning.

"That cost us the win, that's what they told me, I didn't really know. In the car you don't see anything and I didn't have a clue what position I was in."

Webber also backed the decision to not restart the race, as he reckons it was impossible to continue driving.

"There was no way to restart. The monsoon tyres cut the water a bit but behind the safety car you just lose so much temperature that it's a vicious circle. You can't drive an F1 car in that.

"It was getting too dark, the track was waterlogged and I was just asking the others what they felt. They (the drivers) said it's impossible, they're dreaming, we can't race.

Raikkonen tyre blunder involving schumacher?

According to the German press, Michael Schumacher may have played a role in the disastrous decision on Sunday to send Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen onto the dry Sepang track with wet tyres.

After the Malaysian Grand Prix, where as in Melbourne neither Ferrari driver scored points, team boss Stefano Domenicali said mistakes throughout the weekend mean the team needs to now ‘change our mentality’.

But when - on the basis of a weather forecast - Raikkonen was sent after a pitstop onto the basically dry circuit with rain tyres, even casual observers recognised the move as a reckless gamble.

"It reminded me of betting on a number in the casino," Brawn third driver Alex Wurz told ORF.

According to the German press, Domenicali refused to comment when it was suggested that team advisor Schumacher was among those who took the decision.

And the former seven time world champion is quoted as saying by Bild newspaper: "I would not like to answer that. It is an internal matter."

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa said: "It had nothing to do with Michael."