Malaysia: The Qualifying Sessions Seen from the Pits

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – Pole position

Mark Webber – 5th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: The qualifying session was a real challenge but we managed to position ourselves in Q3 when the rain came. Sebastian made two attempts. Mark didn’t have a good first lap and chose to stay on track. Sebastian delivered a fantastic lap in difficult conditions to secure pole. With Mark, we thought he would be the last to cross the line and could attempt another lap, but due to a communication issue, he was the first to get the checkered flag and couldn’t make a final attempt. It’s unfortunate, but being 1st and 5th for tomorrow’s race is a good start. I don’t think pole will be the decisive factor tomorrow. If it rains, it will be an advantage in terms of visibility, but if the race is dry, then tire degradation and strategy will be key to a good result.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Ferrari

Felipe Massa – 2nd

Fernando Alonso – 3rd

Pat Fry, Technical Director: « Like the other teams, we approached the qualifying session with the goal of using the least amount of tire sets possible to save them for tomorrow’s race. It only took one stint with the hards to position our two drivers for Q2, also providing several options for the rest of qualifying. In Q2, we used only one set of mediums and even without the rain, I think we could have qualified for the next stage without any problem. From there, as expected, it started to rain, but not enough to complicate things: even though the track was wet, it was clear that the intermediates were the right choice. Making a stop after the first laps proved to be the right choice: we had to choose a balance between tire temperatures and the amount of water on the track and while at the moment, it could all be stressful, given the conditions, in hindsight, it was all very smooth. If the rain doesn’t come tomorrow, it will be very interesting to see how everyone manages the tires. All teams still have new tire sets, which will make the race fascinating. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton – 4th

Nico Rosberg – 6th

Ross Brawn, Team Principal: « An exciting qualifying session this afternoon with the threat of changing weather conditions. The car was well-balanced both in dry and wet conditions and we did a good job considering the circumstances. There was clearly an opportunity to go out on a second set of intermediates and go a bit faster. Both Lewis [Hamilton] and Nico [Rosberg] are in a good position for the race, and the car seems good, so we are looking forward to tomorrow’s race regardless of the weather. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

McLaren

Jenson Button – 8th [7th on the grid]

Sergio Pérez – 10th [9th on the grid]

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal: Jenson [Button] and Checo [Sergio Perez] put in a very solid qualifying session today, in tricky conditions that could have easily led to costly mistakes. In terms of car performance, we are never satisfied with qualifying in eighth and tenth places. It must be acknowledged that we have made some progress since the Australian Grand Prix held last weekend. So, I want to thank all the guys both on the track and at home in Woking for their efforts.

It’s just as important, we have continued to gather useful information, which we will analyze in order to continue developing the MP4-28. There is still a long way to go because we are very far from where we want to be in terms of performance. We must recognize that even though the gains we have made are limited so far, the developments seem to be heading in the right direction.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Force India

Adrian Sutil – 9th [8th on the grid]

Paul di Resta – 15th

Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: « We finished the qualifying session a bit disappointed. Throughout the practice sessions, we were competitive on dry conditions, and Adrian demonstrated this once again in Q1 by setting the fastest time. In Q2, we misjudged the weather with the rain arriving earlier than expected, which significantly impacted Paul who couldn’t make his fast lap on dry tires. Adrian managed to get into Q3 but struggled in the rain and didn’t feel comfortable on intermediates. If the conditions had remained dry, I’m convinced he could have been better placed on the grid. As for the race, we will keep an eye on the weather and try to get both our drivers into the points. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Lotus

Kimi Räikkönen – 10th [after penalty]

Romain Grosjean – 11th

James Allison, Technical Director of the team: « It’s a disappointing qualifying for us. Just like in Melbourne, we did not place our cars in the positions that our dry pace deserves. As last time, the rain disrupted the qualifying and we are not as effective in wet conditions as we are on dry. That was qualifying, the race is tomorrow and we have the potential for both our drivers to deliver strong performances.

Unfortunately, it seems the weather might be like today, with wet conditions. This type of variable weather is what we frequently see in Malaysia and it will likely be a challenging test for the drivers and teams; it’s very difficult to set the right strategy as conditions evolve. We haven’t shone in the wet, but the high fuel loads we will use tomorrow should help in bringing the intermediate tires up to temperature.

We seem good in terms of pace on dry conditions, especially with a lot of fuel, so if someone can perform an effective anti-rain dance, we should be in a good position for a strong result. A common scenario in Malaysia is a dry track followed by heavy rain, followed by a safety car, and it’s in these conditions that bold decisions can bring great rewards. The trick is to make the right bold decision…

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Sauber

Nico Hülkenberg – 12th

Esteban Gutiérrez – 14th

Tom McCullough, Track Engineering Manager: « It has been a qualifying session full of twists and turns. We were unlucky in Q2 because we couldn’t take advantage of our new medium tires. But starting from the 12th and 14th positions with plenty of tires for both dry and wet conditions, the goal is to score points with both drivers. »

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Toro Rosso

**Daniel Ricciardo** – 13th

Jean-Eric Vergne – 17th

James Key, Technical Director: We knew the car’s balance would be very different from Melbourne, so we modified the car accordingly on Friday. But the difference in the car’s balance and tire behavior was greater than expected. Overnight, we wanted to make further adjustments for this morning’s session, but obviously, it was a bit too much. The softest tires weren’t working well, and the balance wasn’t optimal. So, we reverted a bit for the qualifying settings, making some additional changes. This met our expectations, and we expected Q1 to go well for us. Unfortunately, Jean-Eric [Vergne] encountered traffic and didn’t have a clean lap, which is very unfortunate as both our drivers were on an equal footing so far and seemed capable of moving to Q2. Daniel did exactly what was needed to secure a place in Q2, especially given how tight the midfield is. The changes we adopted in qualifying worked well and should be suitable for the race.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Williams

Pastor Maldonado – 15th

Valtteri Bottas – 18th

Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: We believe we made some progress, which we were able to show during the third free practice session this morning. However, we were unable to capitalize on this performance during qualifying with Valtteri [Bottas] narrowly missing out on Q2 and finishing 18th. Pastor [Maldonado] made it through, but we were caught out by the rain which arrived earlier than expected, so he wasn’t able to set a time.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – 19th

Max Chilton – 21st

John Booth, team director: « It was a real pleasure to have a dry qualifying session today, allowing our two new drivers to gain experience after a wet qualifying in Melbourne. The dry conditions also allowed us to gather more information on our true pace – something we had been waiting for since pre-season testing. Moreover, we should consider ourselves fortunate given our performance compared to the front-running cars, which are not too far ahead.

The morning session did not go smoothly for Max [Chilton]: we did not prepare him in the best way for qualifying, and this undoubtedly compromised his session. However, as his performance in Melbourne proves, he can certainly have a good race tomorrow and fight for a more representative position at the finish.

Jules [Bianchi] shone today: he worked well with his engineers to extract the maximum performance from the car. We are delighted with what we see, and the race will surely be eventful tomorrow. You can never predict anything at Sepang, but we are confident in our ability to stay with the midfield pack in terms of performance.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Caterham

Charles Pic – 20th

Giedo Van der Garde – 22nd

Caterham did not publish the statements of the team’s representatives.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes