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The top two rows of
tomorrow’s grid for the Malaysian Grand Prix feature
just two teams, Red Bull Racing and McLaren: no
surprises there then, given that while many questions
remained unanswered after the opening round in
Melbourne, the superiority of these two outfits was
clear for all to see. So, Scuderia Ferrari is pretty
much where it could expect to be, with Fernando Alonso
“best of the rest” in fifth place on row 3 of the grid.
Felipe Massa admitted that, apart from the fact the
Ferrari F150º Italia is not yet competitive at the
highest level, he did not put together the perfect lap,
so the Brazilian will be seventh, starting behind his
team-mate, both Ferrari men on the advantageous clean
side of the track. In addition, Fernando and Felipe used
one set of new soft tyres to make sure of getting
through Q1, therefore having one less set for the
crucial Q3: but this cannot be seen as an excuse as that
choice is a function of the Scuderia’s car not being on
the pace of the best.
Thunderstorms, the typical Sepang cliché, have been
notable by their absence this week, with just one short
but heavy shower on Thursday evening. However, it does
seem as though tomorrow sees the highest chance of
thunder and lightning hitting the area of the track at a
time when it could cause the most chaos in the race. In
this case, the permutations are as endless as they are
unpredictable and could help Fernando and Felipe to a
better result than would otherwise seem available. If it
stays dry, then we will finally see the pit stop
marathon predicted for many months now, with three or
four visits to pit lane expected per car. If every
driver made at least three stops to change dry tyres
that would make a total of 72 pit stops, because unlike
Australia, the two Hispania cars qualified inside the
107% rule, so we will have the full complement of 24
cars lining up for the 4pm local time start.
For the record, it’s world champion Sebastien Vettel who
took his second consecutive pole, although it was
achieved in the very last seconds of the session, thus
relegating Lewis Hamilton to second place. In the second
Red Bull, Mark Webber, third, is the only non-champion
on the top two rows, ahead of Jenson Button in the
second McLaren. Fernando will have the Renault of Nick
Heidfeld alongside him on the outside of row 3, while
Felipe shares the next row with the German’s team-mate,
Vitaly Petrov.
Stefano Domenicali: “We know that, at
the moment, we are not capable of fighting for pole
position: two teams are currently quicker than us. Our
aim therefore was to be right behind them on the
starting grid tomorrow and we managed to do that. Sure,
we cannot be pleased with being a second off the pole
time, but at the moment we have to be on the defensive,
if I can use a footballing metaphor. The forecast is for
changeable conditions tomorrow, which could mix things
up. Furthermore, this is a very tough race both for the
cars and the drivers. If we do everything well in terms
of strategy, reliability and the work of the team and
drivers, then we can aspire to securing a good result.”
Fernando Alonso: “We weren’t quick
enough in Australia and we are not here in Malaysia
either, at least not enough to fight for pole position.
From what we have seen over these two races, there are
two teams who have worked better than us over the winter
and clearly we have to make some progress in terms of
performance and there is no secret about that: we need
to make a step of some quality, we need to be aggressive
in our development to make up lost ground. At the same
time, we have to stay calm and concentrated and, in the
meantime, bring home as many points as possible,
exploiting every opportunity that comes our way. The
championship is very long and last year, we saw how the
situation can change continuously from one race to the
next. So, I feel this fifth place is a positive result,
because so much could happen tomorrow, especially if it
rains. Overnight and this morning after FP3, we improved
the set-up of the car and I felt more comfortable than
yesterday. I will start from the clean side of the
track, which is never a bad thing. It’s difficult to
make predictions for the race: yesterday we saw very
high tyre degradation, so we can expect three to four
stops. On Sunday in Melbourne, our pace was close to
that of the McLarens and I was able to fight with
Webber, but there in qualifying, McLaren was closer than
they are here.”
Felipe Massa: “It was definitely not an
easy qualifying, especially looking at the times the top
four were able to do. We fought with the others but
clearly, compared to the best, tomorrow, we will be
running a defensive race. From a strategy point of view,
if it’s dry we can expect three or four stops. If it
really rained, then anything could happen and we will
have to be ready for any eventuality. Today, the best
result we could hope for was fifth: I was not able to do
that, partly because I did not do a perfect lap, but at
least I will start from the clean side of the track. We
know we lack aerodynamic downforce: we are working on
it, but only when we have made some progress will we be
able to fight for the top places.”
Pat Fry: “We are where we deserve to be
at the moment, with two teams being more competitive
than us. In qualifying, we worked well, making the most
of our potential. We are a long way off the top, a
second in fact and we are well aware that we have to
improve a lot to be where the Scuderia ought to be. We
opted to use one set of soft tyres right from Q1,
because with the performance difference between the two
types of tyre being much bigger than last year, there is
no point in taking any risks at this time. Clearly, this
choice worked against us in Q3, when both drivers were
only able to do one timed run with the last set
available, but at the moment, this is the best strategy.
There is a high chance of rain tomorrow and we are well
aware that, here in Sepang, that can mean there is a
risk of a very heavy storm. We will have to be very
careful to ensure we make the right decision at the
right time.”
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