Räikkönen penalised for impeding Rosberg

Kimi Räikkönen will start Sunday's Malaysian GP from 10th place on the grid after he was penalised for impeding another driver

Contending with the rain that meant the cars were kicking up some serious spray behind them, Raikkonen reportedly baulked Nico Rosberg.

The Australian GP winner went on to qualify in seventh place while Rosberg put his Mercedes up to sixth.

However, after qualifying Raikkonen was summoned to the stewards were he was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding the German.

The Lotus driver will therefore begin round two of the Championship from 10th place on the grid.

Revised Grid
01 Sebastian Vettel
02 Felipe Massa
03 Fernando Alonso
04 Lewis Hamilton
05 Mark Webber
06 Nico Rosberg
07 Jenson Button
08 Adrian Sutil
09 Sergio Perez
10 Kimi Raikkonen
11 Romain Grosjean
12 Nico Hulkenberg
13 Daniel Ricciardo
14 Esteban Gutierrez
15 Paul di Resta
16 Pastor Maldonado
17 Jean-Eric Vergne
18 Valtteri Bottas
19 Jules Bianchi
20 Charles Pic
21 Max Chilton
22 Giedo van der Garde

Source: Planet-F1

Qualifying: Vettel grabs pole at a wet Sepang

Sebastian Vettel was probably happiest when the rain came down in Malaysia as the German secured pole position ahead of Felipe Massa

The German posted a 1:49.674 to beat Ferrari's Massa to pole position. It was Vettel's 38th career pole. Fernando Alonso qualified in third place ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg. Australian GP winner Kimi Raikkonen was seventh, joined on the fourth row by Jenson Button.

Qualifying 1
It was standard Malaysia warm as we headed into Q1 with the inevitable chance of a shower or two. The ambient temperature was an unwavering 32C with the track at 41C but no chance of a shower in the first few minutes. Thus we had to wait till there were 17 minutes left on the clock before the Marussias came out on track.

It was the Williams of Valtteri Bottas who set the first sub-1:40 time at 1:38.376 (faster than his team-mate) for P1 followed by Nico Rosberg whose 1:37.239 stood as P1 for a long time in the session.

The Force Indias had chosen to go out on the faster, medium tyre for their first runs, and they were joined by the Lotuses. Adrian Sutil took over P1 with a 1:36.809 and Kimi Raikkonen slotted into P2 for Lotus. Further down the field Nico Hulkenberg was vocal on team radio about being blocked by Sergio Perez, who didn't take his McLaren off line for his old team.

Red Bull, who were rumoured to have stationed ten different rain spotters in a circle around the track, left it very late in the session to leave the garage and with four minutes to go had yet to set a time for either car. At this point the bottom end of the grid looked like:
14. Hulkenberg, 15.Vergne, 16.Ricciardo, 17.Bianchi, 18.Chilton, 19.Pic, 20.Van der Garde, 21.Webber, 22.Vettel.

The Red Bulls duly set a time, but they weren't particularly quick, Mark Webber was P15 and Sebastian Vettel P13 as the tail end of the field put in faster laps. At this stage, the P.17 drop-point was: 15.Webber, 16.Gutierrez, 17.Bottas, 18.Vergne

Bottas, who had been overtaken by team-mate Maldonado couldn't improve, Gutierrez jumped to P11, Webber jumped up to P9 as Vettel's time started to dip towards the drop-zone. Although the World Champion was on a strong lap, Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso was the only car capable of demoting him and so when JEV could no longer improve, the Red Bull team brought Vettel in to save his tyres.

So, out went: 17.Vergne, 18.Bottas, 19.Bianchi, 20.Pic, 21.Chilton, 22.Van der Garde.

At the end of Q1 Gutierrez had run ten laps and Sutil just three. Marussia would have got both cars ahead of the Caterhams if it hadn't been for a lurid moment at Turn 6 for Max Chilton which dropped him 1.2 seconds behind his team-mate.

Qualifying 2
A significant item at the beginning of Q2 was the fact that the FIA rain radar went down. This was another failure of the official telemetry system after Australia last week. There would be no cockpit warning lights, or DRS activation or safety Car systems because of the problems for a second GP in succession - something that could be critical in setting in-lap deta times for Safety Car periods.

Paul di Resta was out first on the set of used medium tyres he'd just finished Q1 with. He was en route to setting a reasonable lap (fastest middle sector, but then again everyone else was only on out-laps, so he should be) when the team brought him in. It was his team-mate Adrian Sutil who set the first significant P1 time with a 1:36.834.

Again it was Nico Riosberg at the top of the timesheets in the W04 with a 1:36.190 - Lewis Hamilton slotted into P2, which was then taken by Mark Webber.

Hamilton reported back that there were spots of rain between Turns 5 and 6 and the rain started to increase. Without the FIA radar the teams hadn't seen it coming and so Paul Di Resta and Pastor Maldonado had yet to put in serious laps. In fact Paul Di Resta set a very competitive 25.0 for sector 1 before hitting trouble.

At this point of the session, with most cars anticipating at least one more run, the order was: 1.Rosberg, 2.Webber, 3.Hamilton, 4.Raikkonen, 5.Sutil, 6.Massa, 7.Alonso, 8.Button, 9.Vettel, 10.Perez, 11.Grosjean, 12.Hulkenberg, 13.Ricciardo, 14.Gutirrez, 15.Di Resta, 16.Maldonado

DiResta ran off track at Turns 5/6 as the rain began to increase. Nobody was going to set a faster time and it was pointless going out. So the Q2 times were locked and out went. 11.Grosjean, 12.Hulkenberg, 13.Ricciardo, 14.Gutirrez, 15.Di Resta, 16.Maldonado.

Most frustrated of anyone was Romain Grosjean whose mystery chassis problems and annoyance at team-mate Raikkonen getting all the development parts was plain to see as he got out of the car. Pastor Maldonado was relatively at-ease with failing to get in a competitive lap, pleased to see the car improved and probably most pleased of all to put some distance between himself and his team-mate.

Qualifying 3
The rain had fallen for fifteen minutes and the sun was emerging over part of the circuit as the cars came out for Q3 creating a rainbow. It was intermediate tyres for everybody through the whole session and so the top ten would be allowed to choose their own tyres for the race start (should it be dry) tomorrow.

Despite the period of rain, the temperatures were exactly the same as when the session had started, but this time the DRS was disabled.

Adrian Sutil took some karting (outside) lines around corners as he set provisional pole at 1:58.293, this was beaten by Sergio Perez with a 1:56.640 and then Lewis Hamilton with a 1:54.899. Nico Rosberg jumped to the top with a 1:53.898 as the track dried out and times got progressively faster. Sebastian Vettel proved this with a superb 1:52.576 before diving into the pits for some fresh intermediate tyres. Mark Webber was good for P2.

Webber continued on his single set of intermediates, as did the McLaren drivers, whereas Vettel, Alonso and Massa took on a second set. Webber edged out Vettel with a 1:52.244 lap and then was elbowed out of the way by Lewis Hamilton with a 1:51.699.

All ten drivers were on track and with the track rapidly drying the times were tumbling. Perez took P6, Button moved up into P4, Raikkonen took P4, Rosberg grabbed P3. Alonso then jumped into provisional pole with a 1:50.727 before Sebastian Vettel went a whole second quicker to take his 38th pole with a 1:49.674.

However there was more drama in the final seconds as Felipe Massa crossed the line to take P2, the second race in a row to beat team-mate Fernando Alonso. Hamilton had beaten Rosberg when it counted after lagging for most of the session, Button was in front of Perez, P8 and P10, and Kimi Raikkonen would start another race from P7. The most important thing was that the top 10 could start on exactly the same tyre as the rest of the field, though everyone is expecting rain at some stage tomorrow.

Times
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:49.674
2. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:50.587 +0.913
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:50.727 +1.053
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:51.699 +2.025
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:52.244 +2.570
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:52.519 +2.845
7. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1:52.970 +3.296
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:53.175 +3.501
9. Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:53.439 +3.765
10. Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes 1:54.136 +4.462
11. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:37.636 +1.446
12. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1:38.125 +1.935
13. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.822 +2.632
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.221 +3.031
15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:44.509 +8.319
16. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault no time
17. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.157 +1.348
18. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:38.207 +1.398
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1:38.434 +1.625
20. Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1:39.314 +2.505
21. Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1:39.672 +2.863
22. Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1:39.932s +3.123

Source: Planet-F1

Practice Two: Kimi quickest before the rain

Kimi Räikkönen set the pace ahead of Sebastian Vettel before the rain came down in Friday's second practice for the Malaysian GP

With rain threatening, the drivers were quickly into the action with Jean-Eric Verge setting the first P1 time. Two minutes later, though, he was down in seventh place and two seconds off the pace such was the franetic nature of the early minutes in FP2.

Fernando Alonso had a turn in the P1 slot before losing out to Kimi Raikkonen, who posted a 1:37.042. Behind them was Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa and Mark Webber.

Meanwhile, Sauber rookie Esteban Gutierrez headed back into the pits after an extinguisher discharged in his car. It was reportedly caused by an exhaust issue.

Just 20 minutes in to the session - with reports of rain ten minutes down the line - the drivers begun to switch to the quicker medium tyres.

Massa hit the front with a 1:36.661 while Alonso climbed to second, 0.324s behind his team-mate. Jenson Button improved from 20th on the hards to eighth on the mediums. The two Red Bulls also made the swap with Vettel hitting the front with a 1:36.588, which was 0.073s up on Massa. Mark Webber improved to fourth.

After that it was the two Lotus drivers, the two Force India drivers, the two McLarens and the two Saubers. The two-by-two, though, changed when Raikkonen hit the front, overhauling Vettel by 0.019s. The Mercs also entered the mix as, having been focused on race set-up, they put in some quicker laps with Nico Rosberg taking seventh and Lewis Hamilton ninth.

The rain, which had thrown down a drop or two, begun to fall a bit heavier in some parts of the circuit with 40 minutes to go. However, the asphalt was so hot it had little impact at first.

Nico Hulkenberg was the first to get caught out when it came down harder and found himself on the grass down the road leading into the pits. Thankfully he got his car pointing the right way and did not collect Vettel as his fellow German made his way back into his dry garage.

After a brief lull the drivers strapped on the intermediate tyres and headed back out. With the track dry in some parts and very wet in others, drivers slipped and slid with Esteban Gutierrez getting the first off. He was followed by Sergio Perez as the drivers were lapping about 20s slower than their previous bests.

Although the track dried out as the clock counted down and the drivers returned to the slick tyres, it was never dry enough to launch an assault of Raikkonen's P1 time. He finished the session 0.019s up on Vettel.

Times:
1 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:36.569
2 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:36.588 +0.019
3 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:36.661 +0.092
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:36.985 +0.416
5 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:37.026 +0.457
6 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:37.206 +0.637
7 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.448 +0.879
8 Paul di Resta Force India 1:37.571 +1.002
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.574 +1.005
10 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:37.788 +1.219
11 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:37.838 +1.269
12 Jenson Button McLaren 1:37.865 +1.296
13 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:38.068 +1.499
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:38.645 +2.076
15 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:38.738 +2.169
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:38.801 +2.232
17 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:38.904 +2.335
18 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:39.508 +2.939
19 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:39.660 +3.091
20 Charles Pic Caterham 1:40.757 +4.188
21 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:40.768 +4.199
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:41.438 +4.869

Source: Planet-F1

Practice One: Webber sets the pace

Mark Webber led the way at a hot and humid Sepang circuit on Friday morning, edging Australian GP winner Kimi Raikkonen by 0.068s

It was a slow start to the session as the teams all waited for another to blink. Eventually - after 30 minutes - Max Chilton ventured out and clocked a 1:42.513. McLaren joined the Marussia driver out on track with Sergio Perez going quickest while Romain Grosjean took second ahead of Jenson Button. However, halfway through FP1 they were the only four drivers on the timesheets.

Shortly after more headed out with Lewis Hamilton taking over at the front after posting a 1:38.113. The Mercedes driver had a brief exchange with Grosjean for the top spot before his team-mate Nico Rosberg entered the fray.

Rosberg's reign, though, was also short-lived as Mark Webber climbed to the top of the timesheets while his team-mate Sebastian Vettel made it a Red Bull 1-2 ahead of a Mercedes 3-4.

With the Red Bulls looking secure in first and second the battle was on for third with Fernando Alonso taking the fifth to the Mercedes drivers as he climbed to fourth place ahead Adrian Sutil, Felipe Massa and Paul di Resta. Hamilton was down in eighth with 30 minutes remaining in the session.

Esteban Gutierrez brought out the first yellow flags of the session as he came up behind the slower Ferrari of Massa and balked as he braked. The Mexican rookie touched the grass and found himself backwards on the run-off area. Moments later Adrian Sutil was seem lapping with a broken front right wing courtesy of a trip over the grass.

A mixture of strategies emerged in the final 30 minutes as Kimi Raikkonen opted for used tyres, which put him up to second place, while Hamilton switched to race set-up and putting in a few 1:44s before being told by his Merc engineer that he needs to get that down to a 1:42.

The final ten minutes of FP1 saw some serious tyre issues for some of the drivers with anyone from reigning Champ Vettel complaining about "vibrations" to newcomer Giedo van der Garde pointing his out to his Caterham team. The old tyres meant that the drivers were not able to improve their times and Webber finished quickest of all, 0.068s up on Raikkonen.

Times:
1 Mark Webber Red Bull 1:36.935 15 laps
2 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus 1:37.003 +0.068 15 laps
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:37.104 +0.169 21 laps
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.319 +0.384 13 laps
5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.588 +0.653 19 laps
6 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:37.769 +0.834 17 laps
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:37.771 +0.836 15 laps
8 Paul di Resta Force India 1:37.773 +0.838 15 laps
9 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.840 +0.905 18 laps
10 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:37.915 +0.980 17 laps
11 Jenson Button McLaren 1:38.173 +1.238 16 laps
12 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:38.673 +1.738 16 laps
13 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:38.830 +1.895 17 laps
14 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:39.054 +2.119 17 laps
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:39.204 +2.269 16 laps
16 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:39.208 +2.273 19 laps
17 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:39.284 +2.349 17 laps
18 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:39.567 +2.632 16 laps
19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:40.728 +3.793 17 laps
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:40.996 +4.061 14 laps
21 Charles Pic Caterham 1:41.163 +4.228 18 laps
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:41.513 +4.578 14 laps

Source: Planet-F1

Kimi's Column: Kimi Australian review and Malaysian preview

The heat is on! It¹s signed, sealed and delivered with the Australian Grand Prix. Right now I¹m trying to get grips with the next challenge here in the hot and humid equatorial climate of Malaysia. Obviously, it was very nice and rewarding to open the season with some good points. Honestly, I didn¹t know that much what to expect from the first race weekend after two years¹ break. We got a good feeling in the car since the day one in Jerez, but you never know exactly how competitive the new equipment is compared to other new cars. Well, now we know ­ a little bit, at least. I always felt I could make a return to Grand Prix racing, but, I can confess now, I got some good answers to my own minor doubts how quickly you can adapt the racing rhythm after being away for some time. The speed is there. That¹s ok. The car is good. That¹s ok, as well. Some issues were to be improved, especially in the qualifying routine. I knew already before going to Melbourne, that it takes some time to get everything together in the best way with all the new things there are with tactical and mechanical part of the whole qualifying prosedure. On Saturday I wasn¹t happy at all. We had some issues that put as in a very poor situation to start the race. All in all, I¹ve got a perfect start from the line and, obviously, it could have been very good for the race. But the first corner mess-up with some cars took my advantage away, I had to back-off and we had to build up again the race to reach the TOP-10. The first set of tyres didn¹t feel that good, but then I saw the other people having even more problems with them, so I just sat back and went for it. It was quite tricky to get past the cars. The DRS doesn¹t help that much in Albert Park-like circuit and while I was battling against Saubers, they were too strong coming out of the last corner, where the DRS zones started. The safety-car situation didn¹t help, as well. I¹ve got a set of brand new tyres, but after the race re-started, it was very difficult to get them working properly. Finally everything went well. We got some places back in the last lap and I was quite satisfield finishing seventh in that first race. As a team we know, we have a solid and consistent car to work with. It¹s nice to have a race again this week. Sepang is the place with some nice memories for me, while we won a Malaysian Grand Prix both with McLaren and Ferrari. The heat is a little bit too much, but it¹s the same for everybody. I just sit back again, put my head down and try to get the best out of the car and myself, too. The heat is on!

Source: KIMIRAIKKONEN.COM

Videos: Interviews with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton after Malaysian GP

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso says his collision with Lewis Hamilton may have cost him a podium spot but was "surprised" his car contended with the top two teams as he finished sixth at the Malaysian Grand Prix



A disappointed Lewis Hamilton says he had fight his tyres for the entire Malaysian Grand Prix as he finishes seventh for McLaren



Source: FiftyBuckss

Webber was 'killed' without KERS

Mark Webber concedes his Malaysian GP chances were all but over after he lost KERS on his way to the grid

Red Bull have struggled with the reliability of their KERS unit this season, which resulted in the team contesting the opening Australian GP without the power boost.

But, believing they had resolved their issues, the team opted to race it in Malaysia this weekend. Unfortunately for Webber, though, they were wrong.

The Aussie unit died while he was on his way to the grid on Sunday afternoon, forcing him to contest the 56-lap race at a serious disadvantage in the sweaty humidity.

Webber put in an admirable performance to finish in fourth place, only just losing out on a podium finish to Renault's Nick Heidfeld.

"It was a tough race," he told the BBC. "You get killed on the long runs without KERS and it's tough to clear people."

Webber's chances of chasing down Heidfeld for third were also hampered when he was forced to come in a bit earlier than scheduled for his final pit stop.

"I would've liked to have gone a bit longer on my fourth set of tyres so that I could have better conditions on my last set, but I was losing too much time behind Lewis (Hamilton) so had to come in earlier."

Source: Planet-F1

Confusing afternoon for Button

Jenson Button admits it wasn't all plain sailing at the Malaysian Grand Prix as the different strategies made things a little confusing

The McLaren driver, who started fourth on the grid, claimed his first podium of the 2011 season with a second-place finish behind Sebastian Vettel.

However, with most of the front-runners opting for three-stoppers, Button feels it was difficult to know what was going on around him.

"It was a really confusing race in a way, understanding or trying to understand the pitstops and whether it is worth looking after the tyres or not, so pretty tricky," said Button.

"In the last stint putting the prime tyre on, the car came alive, I had so much more grip. I had a feeling the tyre would not go the same way as the prime tyre."

"I had so much more grip and I had a feeling that the tyre wasn't going to go the same way as the soft tyre, and my pace was much better in the last stint. It was a fun race, a couple of really good battles.

" Although he is delighted with P2, he admits he wanted to push Vettel a little harder in the end.

"I was happy to come away with a second, I had the team telling me to back it off and look after the tyres," he said.

"But, in a racer's mind you want to push as hard as you can and try and catch the leader. Even though it was not really on, I had to give it a go. I had a lot of fun out there, and great to get 18 points.

"A big thank you to the whole team for doing a magnificent job today with the pit stops and the strategy. I think we've made some good progress, so I think looking forward to China we should be excited and hopefully we can challenge these guys (Red Bull)."

Source: Planet-F1

Alonso and Hamilton receive time penalties

Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were both slapped with 20-second penalties following Sunday's Malaysian GP

The two antagonists were involved in a tense battle for third place at Sepang on Sunday with Hamilton leading Alonso as the Spaniard attempted to find a way past.

However, instead of passing Hamilton, he drove into the back of him, damaging the front wing of his Ferrari.

Alonso was forced to pit for a new nose and dropped down to sixth place while Hamilton, who had to come in for a late pit stop, finished the grand prix in seventh place.

The duo, though, were called into the stewards' office in the aftermath of the grand prix where both were handed 20-second penalties.

Alonso's was for the crash while Hamilton's was because the stewards deemed him to have been too aggressive in defending his position against the double World Champ.

Hamilton, though, is the only one who suffers as a result of the penalty as he dropped from seventh to eighth in the final classification. Alonso remains sixth.

Revised Results

01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h37:39.832
02. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 3.261
03. Heidfeld Renault + 25.075
04. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 26.384
05. Massa Ferrari + 36.958
06. Alonso Ferrari + 57.248
07. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:07.239
08. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 69.957
09. Schumacher Mercedes + 1:24.896
10. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 1:31.563
11. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1:45.000
12. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap
13. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
14. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap
15. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 1 lap
16. Glock Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps
17. Petrov Renault + 4 laps

Source: Planet-F1

'Perfect' Vettel aims to keep momentum

Sebastian Vettel has hailed his "perfect" start to the campaign, determined to carry his momentum through into the next race in China

The German has bagged the four most important P1s of the season, claiming pole and the victory in Australia and following that up with another round in Malaysia.

His "perfect" start to his title defence means the 23-year-old is already 24 points ahead of his nearest rival in the race for the Drivers' Championship.

"I think first of all, we can be happy today and enjoy and try to keep that momentum, take it into next race," said Vettel. "Two races, two out of two. Perfect.

"It could not be any better, but there is a long, long way to go. Lots of points still to get, so we have to keep our feet on the ground.

"Things are looking good and if that is the reward then it's no problem putting harder work in. Tomorrow China starts and we'll see how we get on there."

However, it wasn't a problem-free outing for Vettel and his Red Bull team, with both RB7s encountering KERS problems during Sunday's 56-lap Malaysian GP.

While Mark Webber lost his unit as he made his way to the grid, Vettel's KERS gave up halfway through the race only to come back a few laps later.

But rather than worry, the German has urged his team to keep their heads as they plough on in the development race.

"Obviously it was not according to plan. Then KERS came back, so it was on and off during the race. It is something we have to work on.

"Today the start without KERS we would have been in a different position. It gave us what we needed. We had a little problem so we turned it off and then it went back on.

"Coming here, reacting the way we did, we can be proud of ourselves, we cannot stop pushing, we have seen how close it is, much closer than Australia.

"So we have to keep our heads cool. I am not worried, the guys know this is the only way forward. For today we can all enjoy and then be very proud."

Source: Planet-F1

Video: Lewis Hamilton after Qualifying - 'Perfect lap' would have got pole

McLaren's Lewis Hamilton says his engineering team should be "proud" of the improvements to his car following his second place in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, but insists they still have work to do to catch Red Bull



Source: FiftyBuckss

Button: We can fight with the Red Bulls

Jenson Button: It looks like it's going to be a fun scrap tomorrow – we're a lot closer to the Red Bulls than I think many people expected

F1 2009 world champion Jenson Button has predicted it could be a 'fun scrap' tomorrow at the Sepang International Circuit and he is confident McLaren will be able to take the race to the Red Bulls.

Button looked very competitive in qualifying for Sunday's Malaysian GP and topped the times in Q2. However in Q3 he was unable to repeat that feat and in the end finished up on the second row of the grid in fourth, his best lap a 1 minute 35.200 seconds, which left him 0.021 seconds off Mark Webber in third and 0.330 seconds off Sebastian Vettel in pole.

“I just wish Q2 had been Q3, but it wasn't!” Button said. “I had a touch more oversteer in Q3, but that's the set-up direction I chose to take. The balance was pretty good, but I hurt the tyres a little bit too much in the final sector, and that left me in fourth.

“It looks like it's going to be a fun scrap tomorrow though – we're a lot closer to the Red Bulls than I think many people expected, and there's a margin over the guys behind us, so hopefully it will be the four of us playing tomorrow [for the win].

“Our starts weren't great in Melbourne. [But] I hope they'll be better in this race; we have a very good KERS Hybrid system, so hopefully it will help us and we can really attack into Turn One. I'm looking forward to it – the weather has held off for the past two days. And if it's a dry race, we really should be able to take the race to the Red Bulls.”

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh meanwhile has paid tribute to the team for transforming the MP4-26 into a competitive stead after a difficult winter, although he too is praying for it to remain dry.

“Clearly, we're encouraged by our pace here – but there's no magic involved: F1 is all about hard graft, and I want to thank everyone back in Woking for working so hard to achieve the performance improvements that we've seen here today,” Whitmarsh continued.

“We think our race pace tomorrow ought to be good enough for us to mount a very serious challenge for victory, and that's certainly what we'll be aiming for. But it'll be close, no doubt about that.

“Since the race is scheduled to start at 4.00pm, rain is a distinct possibility, because there has been a downpour at that time on quite a few days earlier this week.

“But we hope it doesn't rain because we think we'll be on the pace if the race is a conventional dry one.”

Source: Crash.net

Video: Fernando Alonso targets podium from fifth in Malaysian GP 2011

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso says he got "the job done" in coming fifth in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, and believes he can secure a podium place after Sunday's race



Source: FiftyBuckss

Webber: That was better than Melbourne

Mark Webber: It was a better performance from me today compared to Melbourne and I'm looking forward to tomorrow

Mark Webber was relatively encouraged by his performance in qualifying for the Malaysian GP.

Webber eventually finished the top-ten shoot-out in third, behind his Red Bull Racing team-mate, Sebastian Vettel in P1 and Lewis Hamilton. Despite again having to settle for a place on the second row though, just like he did in Australia two weeks ago, he was a lot happier with his form.

Indeed unlike at Albert Park he was right in contention for pole and his best lap, a 1 minute 35.179 seconds, left him just 0.309 seconds off the top time, a lot closer than it was two weeks ago, when the gap to Vettel was more than eight tenths.

“I knew it would be very tight; everyone was on a single pace after the first flying lap on the option tyre in Q3,” Webber said.

“It was pretty straight forward for us; you have to just drive as quick as you can when it's like that. “We can't control how tight it is, to get a few tenths more, you have to just do your best. It was a better performance from me today compared to Melbourne and I'm looking forward to tomorrow.

“I'm starting on the clean side of the grid and it should be an interesting race – I think there will be a lot of pit stops.”

Renault's Cyril Dumont, who is assigned to the Red Bull Racing team, added: “It was a tough qualifying session, tougher than in Australia I would say. We had to do some set-up work engine-wise in order to improve the car from yesterday, so we're happy it was working well today.

“We have a 1-3 again for the start of tomorrow's race, like last year – although then the drivers were the other way round. Hopefully we'll get the same race result too – with a 1-2 finish.”

Source: Crash.net

Video: Interview with Sebastian Vettel after Qualifying in Malaysian GP 2011

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel anticipates a "tight" Malaysian Grand Prix and does not think grid position will be that crucial after taking pole for Sunday's race



Source: FiftyBuckss

Alonso: The second gap is too much

Fernando Alonso says Ferrari were just not "competitive enough" to challenge for a front row grid slot at Sepang on Saturday

Ferrari failed to run with the Red Bulls and McLarens throughout the weekend and found themselves a second of the pace in Saturday's final practice.

As a result, the team opted to send Alonso out for just one flying lap in Q3 where he managed to put his car up into fifth place.

However, worryingly for Ferrari, the Spaniard was 0.932s down on pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel.

"It was not easy," he told the BBC.

"We found we were not competitive enough in morning practice, so it was again a conservative approach, and only do one run in Q3

"You have to risk but at the same time not too much. It is a stressful situation. "We did our job today, knowing we must improve. A second gap between pole position and us is too much."

The double World Champ, though, is feeling a bit more confident about Sunday's grand prix where he believes Ferrari's race-pace will allow him to challenge at the front.

"In the race I think it is much closer. I'm not so sure which conditions are better for us.

"The start will be interesting. Maybe we can overtake the Red Bulls here - we believe they do not have the KERS here.

"If it's raining here, everything is a gamble."

As for the title race, Alonso admits it's important to score as many points as possible while Ferrari resolve their pace issues.

"At the moment this is what we have, and we need to score as many points as possible every weekend, and maybe tomorrow with the weather conditions things can change in the race. We need to maximise and take any opportunity that gives us.

"I'm very optimistic for the Championship chances. This is a long Championship, many races, many things can happen.

"Last year it's true that we struggled in some races. I remember Turkey, I was out of Q3, I was P13, then one week later we fight for the pole position in Monaco.

"We have to be really concentrated. There is no secret, we need to improve, we must improve, for the next coming races, because we were not quick enough at the moment.

"But also we have to remain very calm and very focused, because the Championship is very long.

"We did only one race, and in that race we finished in front of Button, in front of Webber. We'll see tomorrow what is the final position, but in one lap pace, we are not quick enough."

Source: Planet-F1

Vettel: I knew my RB7 had it

Sebastian Vettel admits he would not have pipped Lewis Hamilton to pole in Malaysia had it not been for his Red Bull's KERS

The reigning World Champion's title defence got off to the best start possible in Australia where he claimed pole position and the race victory.

However, he had to achieve both without the added KERS power-boost as Red Bull ran into a few issues with their unit.

But, after using the unit in Friday's practice at Sepang, the team opted to continue with it on Saturday where Vettel narrowly beat Hamilton to pole position by 0.104s.

And the German concedes that would not have been possible without KERS.

"I would say so, definitely it was quite a challenging weekend until qualifying," said Vettel.

"I was happy with the car but we never got into a rhythm so yesterday was not as smooth as we hoped for and also this morning we knew we had it in the car, the main thing was believing in it.

"We got criticism last time for not running it (KERS) and we came here and solved most of our problems and I think if we would not have it today then we would not be here, both of us, so it is a great achievement, compliments to those guys. We are pleased."

Qualifying, though, was the first time this weekend that Vettel had topped a session, admitting that it had not been the "smooth" build-up he would have wanted.

"It was not a particular problem with the car, nothing broke down. It was not smooth, we did not have the laps we wanted. A little bit of traffic, I did mistakes, so it did not come together as nicely. Now we focus on tomorrow."

Meanwhile, team boss Christian Horner confirmed that both his drivers had used KERS in qualifying, although Mark Webber had an issue with his unit.

"In all honesty, no I didn't expect it. An absolutely fantastic lap from Seb," he told the BBC.

"The McLarens have been quick all weekend. Mark had a little KERS alarm that we're looking at, but I don't think it was anything significant."

Webber qualified in third place for the Malaysian GP, 0.309s behind his team-mate.

Source: Planet-F1

Malaysian GP - Alonso: “Rain will make it a more stressful weekend”

Noise from torrential rain hitting the roof of the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro hospitality unit here at the Sepang track almost drowned out the words of Fernando Alonso when he faced the media for the first time this weekend. The first topic was a look back at events in Australia a fortnight ago.

“We carried out investigations and we now understand what happened in terms of our performance in Melbourne and where we have to work,” began Fernando. “It’s true we need to improve the car, but we should also see how the next two or three races go, to see if the situation we experienced in Melbourne was the real thing, as the circuit there has unique characteristics and a special layout, so performances you see there are not repeated during the rest of the season. From our side, we believe we can be much more competitive and we will start by trying to have a better weekend here in Malaysia. I did not go to Melbourne expecting anything in particular, because from winter testing you can never be really sure what the situation is. However, we did expect to be fighting for pole and fighting for the win and that was not the case, so we were disappointed with our performance.”

There was plenty of talk about Ferrari’s lack of pace being related to tyre performance, but the Spaniard dismissed this notion. “I am not a fan of saying the car performance was poor because the tyres did not work properly. It’s simple, if your car works properly, then it has to be good with soft tyres or hard ones, in cold conditions and in hot. Having said that, maybe the fact that race day was a warmer sunnier day had something to do with the fact we had a better pace on Sunday than on Saturday. In the race, we were fighting with Button and Webber, something that seemed very far away on Saturday.”

Asked what was the most important factor to do better this weekend, Fernando began by repeating that the Melbourne result was not so bad. “Everyone is saying it was a disaster, but I disagree: we came fourth and finished ahead of Button and Webber. If we want to do better here and get on the podium, we have to do a better job and, as at every track, the most important thing is to have good balance in the car, especially here in Sepang, where like in Barcelona, you need downforce in the car produced by good aerodynamics. Tomorrow, we need to work to set up the car as well as possible and optimise the aerodynamics on the car.”

One cannot talk about Sepang without mentioning the weather and the prospect of rain storms seemingly timed to coincide with qualifying and the race! “Sure, the rain will make it a more stressful weekend,” agreed the Spaniard. “You need to be ready for all eventualities and it would be useful if the opportunity arose on Friday to try the extreme and intermediate rain tyres to see how they work and in any case, information gathered from running the tyres in high temperatures will also be useful as we never did this in winter testing. It could be an unknown situation and a very interesting one, but that’s nothing to worry about as it will be the same for everybody.”

Source: Ferrari.com

Malaysian GP Press Conference schedule

Felipe Massa and Jenson Button will get an early chance to discuss their opposing views on the DRS when they face the press on Thursday

Thursday, April 7 - 15h00:

Sébastien Buemi (Toro Rosso)
Jenson Button (McLaren)
Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
Jarno Trulli (Lotus)

Friday, April 8 - 16h00:

Eric Boullier (Renault)
Ross Brawn (Mercedes)
Paul Hembery (Pirelli)
Christian Horner (Red Bull)
Monisha Kaltenborn (Sauber)
Colin Kolles (HRT)

Saturday, April 9 - post qualifying:

Three fastest drivers from qualifying.

Sunday, April 10 - post race:

First three finishing drivers.

Source: Planet-F1

Massa's Blog: All my thoughts are with Gustavo

Before getting on to what I’ve been doing in the lead up to the Malaysian Grand Prix, I wish to express my great sadness at the death of Gustavo Sondermann, killed as a result of a terrible accident which happened last Sunday at Interlagos, during a pick-up race, run as part of the Brazilian Stock Car championship. I knew him well and our fathers are friends: I feel great pain at his loss and definitely, all my thoughts are with him and his family at this difficult time. It would be nice if I could get a good result next Sunday in Malaysia which I could dedicate to him.

I have just arrived in Kuala Lumpur, having spent the days since the first Grand Prix, back home in Sao Paolo. I made the most of my time there, with family and friends, because after the Chinese Grand Prix, I will be based in Europe until the later stages of the championship. I have kept in touch on a regular basis with the engineers in Maranello, so I know I can expect some changes on the car when I get inside the cockpit again on Friday. No one at Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro was satisfied with our overall performance, nor the final result of the Australian Grand Prix and much work has gone into understanding why that race did not live up to our expectations and then to plan how to move forward this weekend.

Here in Malaysia for the second race, there will still be a lot of unanswered questions as we start practice, because if you compare Melbourne with Sepang, the difference is as clear as black and white. The Melbourne asphalt is not very abrasive, the temperature is cool, the track is more of a city track, even if it is a real race circuit and the corner types are very different. Sepang is very hot, it’s a proper race track, with a lot of high speed sections, fast corners and many changes of direction. Then from a physical point of view the difference is also obvious: driving Albert Park is very easy and you get out of the car at the end of the race feeling completely fresh, whereas in Malaysia you lose a lot of fluid and lose weight and generally it is much more demanding. For all these reasons, I expect to see a completely different performance from our team and from our car.

With the moveable rear wing, the situation will be interesting here, because for the moment, the plan is to be allowed to use DRS during the race on the straight in front of the pits, but at Sepang, the straight that runs back the other way is actually longer. It is also true that it would offer a higher chance of overtaking. So, we are waiting for the final decision from the FIA to see if we use DRS on the front straight, the back one or both. The right decision could make the race more interesting for drivers and the spectators too. Personally, I am not sure that allowing DRS on both straights is the best option, because I think it might actually make overtaking too easy. You have to get the right balance between helping the chances of overtaking and having almost too much passing. At Sepang, the two straights follow one another, so if you are quicker than the car ahead, you might not even try and pass on the first straight, preferring to get well prepared and as close as possible, before then having a simple overtaking move on the second straight.

Looking at the weather here, it seems inevitable that we will have the usual heavy showers at some point every afternoon, which will be interesting. So far, I have just had one day of testing on Pirelli rain tyres, at the Jerez test back in February, which is not enough to have a good understanding. We will have to be well prepared for any eventuality and it will be an interesting experiment seeing how the tyres work in both very hot and very wet conditions. This will therefore be a very important weekend for Pirelli after what was a relatively easy debut for them in Melbourne.

As a driver, there is not much you can do to deal with the hot conditions, but honestly, if you are fit enough there is not much else you need to do. I have tried various methods, such as soaking my overalls in cold water before the start. Whatever you do, this is going to be a tough race: it’s not just the hot conditions, because it is the humidity that makes it unpleasant. For example, we have raced in Bahrain in an ambient temperature of 40 degrees, but I did not even sweat in the car because there in the desert it is a very dry heat. In Malaysia the problem is the humidity which makes you suffer more, losing body fluids, which then affects your strength and your concentration. No matter how fit you are, you suffer more at this circuit than at others. At least the time I spent in Brazil was useful as it was very hot there too. Last year, we made a strategic mistake in the wet qualifying at Sepang and I started twenty first on the grid, eventually making it up to seventh at the end of Sunday’s race and we will be working hard to avoid a similar error: like I said, the key in Sepang is to be ready for anything.

Source: Ferrari.com