22.03.2008 FERRARI BOUNCE BACK IN MALAYSIA WITH FRONT ROW LOCK OUT

FERRARI F2008
FELIPE MASSA
FERRARI F2008

Ferrari put the disappointment of Melbourne behind them with a great qualifying performance that sees an all-red front row of the grid for tomorrow's second round of the F1 World Championship, the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Ferrari put the disappointment of Melbourne behind them with a great qualifying performance that sees an all-red front row of the grid for tomorrow's second round of the F1 World Championship, the Malaysian Grand Prix.

For the second consecutive year, the advantage of seeing no cars ahead of him when the lights go out goes to Felipe Massa, the Brazilian thus securing his tenth pole. The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver has been on fine form all through free practice and he out-paced team-mate Kimi Raikkonen by around half a second this afternoon.

After Melbourne, it was clear that, with new technical and sporting regulations, starting from the front was a major bonus in terms of doing well in the race and the team evidently worked on this over the past week. With cars having to start the race with the fuel they have in the fuel cell at the end of qualifying, the unknown factor is what fuel loads our competitors have on board.

Those competitors start on Row 2 of the grid, in the shape of the expected challenge from McLaren-Mercedes. However, third place belongs to the team's new recruit, Heikki Kovalainen who out-qualified Melbourne winner Lewis Hamilton. The third row sees the Toyota of Jarno Trulli just ahead of sixth placed Robert Kubica in the BMW-Sauber. There was some controversy this morning surrounding Red Bull Renault, as following an accident in Melbourne and another here on Friday for David Coulthard, the Stewards asked the team to validate the safety of his car. In the end, the team was allowed to take part in the rest of the event.

In the winter testing, the drivers had, as a generalisation, claimed they were not so concerned about running without electronic driver aids, but in Melbourne it was clear that maybe the task of actually racing without traction control and engine braking was tougher than expected. So with the chance of a tropical rain storm in tomorrow's race which starts at 15h00 local time, we could witness the first wet race of this new era in which drivers will really have to use all their skill to stay on track.

Both Ferraris will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from the front row: Felipe Massa set the best time in Q3 and alongside him on the grid will be Kimi Raikkonen. This is the seventh pole from ten starts at this circuit for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and it brings the Scuderia's overall total to 196. Felipe took the tenth pole of his career, the second one in a row at this circuit.

Stefano Domenicali
. "Today we worked well and up to our usual standards and the results prove it. We have now made just a small step in terms of the Grand Prix with the longer one still needing to be accomplished in tomorrow's race. If all elements - team, drivers, cars - work at their best, then we can aspire to a good result. Congratulations to Felipe, who really produced an exceptional qualifying lap."

Felipe Massa: "I am very happy! In the final part of qualifying, I managed to put together two really good laps after struggling a bit in Q2. Right at the end there were a few drops of rain, but it had no effect whatsoever on the performance. It is very important to start from the front and I hope I can have a good race. We know our car is very competitive over a long run, but it is also clear we face a long tough race. All the same, we can only be confident about tomorrow."

Kimi Raikkonen: "Of course, I would prefer to have taken pole, but second place is definitely not bad and I am happy that the team got the best result possible. In Q3, I was not able to get the tyres to work as well as possible, especially on my second run, after having had a good lap in Q2. The track seemed to be a bit more slippery and I was not able to get everything out of the car. Tomorrow's race will be very tough: I made a good start in Melbourne and I hope I can do the same tomorrow."

Luca Baldisserri: "Finally, a trouble-free day. Car performance was good and it worked well as can be seen from the result. There are a few unknowns regarding the various sets of tyres, which seem to be a bit up and down and we will have to study that carefully. The threat of rain meant we operated differently to usual, going out on track at the start of all the sessions. We expect a very difficult race tomorrow because of the weather which will be tough on cars and drivers. Clearly our aim is to do the maximum, which is to say to repeat this afternoon's result."

Qualifying session

F. Massa: 1st 1.35.748 6 laps chassis 267
K. Raikkonen: 2nd 1.36.230 6 laps chassis 268
Weather: air temperature 30/29 °C, track temperature 34 °C, cloudy with a threat of rain.

 

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