Malaysia: The Qualifications Seen from the Pits

Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton – Pole position

Nico Rosberg – 3rd

Toto Wolff, Director of Competition: « It was another tough qualifying session with perpetually changing conditions. It was difficult to get on track at the right time, with the right tires and with the drivers doing a clean flying lap. The team executed calmly, making the right decisions at the right time. Lewis managed to convert his speed into pole position for the second time in a row. Nico wasn’t as comfortable on wet tires, but he still managed to place third like in Melbourne two weeks ago.

It’s a rather special pole position since it’s the national Grand Prix of our main sponsor, Petronas, who played such a significant role in developing the vital element of our new power unit, and we are even more proud of what we have achieved here. We plan to capitalize on our excellent starting positions, knowing that a very challenging race awaits us, in wet or dry conditions.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – 2nd

Daniel Ricciardo – 5th

Christian Horner, Team Principal: « An exciting session as the conditions in Malaysia always bring, and a great performance from both drivers to chart their way into Q3. Both drivers potentially had better times in their pockets, if it weren’t for the traffic in what was a slightly disrupted session, but having Sebastian on the front row and Daniel in 5th was beyond all our expectations and a good starting point for tomorrow’s Grand Prix. »

– Read the drivers’ statements

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – 4th

Kimi Räikkönen – 6th

Pat Fry, Chassis Technical Director: « We can consider it as a positive result. The qualifications were very tight due to the weather and also because of the condition of our cars. Our positions on the grid are not exactly what we aimed for, however, they show that the team is working in the right direction to close the gap between us and Mercedes. Q1 was relatively clear, and then the mechanics did an incredible job on Fernando’s car, changing the steering column in just a few minutes after the collision with Kvyat’s Toro Rosso. He was back on track in record time, but then Fernando still had to fight to control the car, and I think in this situation, few drivers could have done the lap he did in Q3. He really deserves our congratulations.

Kimi’s performance was no less impressive: we know he is not completely satisfied with the feel of his F14-T and in the wet, he had issues with the balance of his car, but I think he will be able to attack from where he starts on the grid. Here, it’s still Mercedes setting the pace, but we will try to take advantage of the opportunities that arise, although our priority is to finish the race, since particularly this year, you cannot take reliability for granted.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Force India

Nico Hülkenberg – 7th

Sergio Pérez – 14th

Vijay Mallya, Team Owner: « Today, we were grappling with challenging conditions during another very wet qualifying session. Nico seemed comfortable on the wet track and, as in Melbourne, he will start from seventh place. He ranked in the top ten in all sessions and should perform well tomorrow. For Sergio, it was more complicated on the wet track, and he lacked confidence in the rain tires. We will try to solve these issues tonight because there is a strong likelihood of rain tomorrow. Whether it’s dry or wet, I want both Sahara Force India cars to be well within the top 10. »

– Read the drivers’ statements

McLaren

Kevin Magnussen – 8th

Jenson Button – 10th

Eric Boullier, Race Director: « It was a very difficult qualifying session for all the teams, as always when the weather conditions are wet and changeable.

Kevin slightly went off track towards the end of Q2, as you saw, and damaged elements of his rear diffuser. He therefore went into Q3 as is, but the car’s balance was altered. That being said, his eighth place was a very commendable performance.

Jenson passed Q1 and Q2 without a hitch, as you would expect from such an experienced competitor. In Q3, however, he chose to go out on intermediates rather than wet tires and, in hindsight, if he hadn’t done that, he might have secured a better position on the grid for tomorrow. But there’s no point in speculating about that.

Moreover, it probably wouldn’t make a big difference. Tomorrow’s race is likely to be marked by uncertain weather, just like today’s qualifications, which is why I am relieved that both our drivers are starting from positions where they can race strategically and aggressively to finish in the points.

– Lire les déclarations des pilotes

Jean-Eric Vergne – 9th

Daniil Kvyat – 11th

James Key, Technical Director: « We had difficulties for several reasons this morning in the dry compared to yesterday, and the car’s balance wasn’t good enough. Then everything changed, it was very wet, and we weren’t really set up for these conditions. It was a really tricky qualifying session. We got caught in traffic, but we didn’t manage to do well in any way in Q1 or Q2, but the team and the drivers did a good job in difficult conditions. It’s a shame that Daniil missed Q3 by only two tenths. JEV did a good job, securing a solid 9th place, which means we can hope for a good race with both cars. »

– Read the drivers’ statements

Sauber

Esteban Gutierrez – 12th

Adrian Sutil – 17th [after Bottas’s penalty]

Monisha Kalterborn, Team Principal: « It was a typical Malaysian qualifying in wet conditions, where everything was about performing at the right moment. With 12th and 18th positions on the grid, we were partially satisfied, but overall it was a good weekend for us so far. Our cars were reliable, and we were able to make progress with the power unit and braking. Now, it will be important to maintain this reliability for the race, which could put us in a position to achieve a big result. »

– Read the drivers’ statements

Williams

Felipe Massa – 13th

Valtteri Bottas – 18th [after penalty]

Rod Nelson, Chief Test and Support Engineer: « It’s disappointing for us. In Q2, Valtteri was ready to start on intermediates and Felipe felt that wet tires would be the best choice. They were both reporting a lack of grip and rear instability as the rain continued to fall, and they changed tires to try to improve but were not able to find the necessary lap time to go into Q3.

The car is clearly struggling in the wet compared to its competitive pace in the dry, so that’s something we need to closely analyze. The conditions in Malaysia are so changeable that we’ll have to prepare for the possibility of rain again tomorrow, but obviously, drier conditions would be beneficial to allow us to carve our way through the field in the same way we succeeded in Australia.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Lotus

Romain Grosjean – 15th [after Bottas’s penalty]

Pastor Maldonado – 16th [after Bottas’ penalty]

Alan Permane, Director of Track Operations: It was a difficult session. Pastor struggled to find grip after having so little track time during the weekend. Romain had a very good Q1 and looked strong in Q2 before poor communication resulted in him not coming in to switch to a set of wet tires. He probably could have finished very close to the top 10. We’ve certainly made a step forward.

We are happy that our cars were able to run as we hoped, and now we can start to understand how to extract more performance. We’ve learned a bit more about performance on a wet track, which could be useful for tomorrow. Obviously, we want to be as reliable as possible and clock up as many laps as we can since it’s our way of learning and developing the car. Pastor and Romain are coping well with all the difficulties we have faced this weekend, so we are confident they will give their best if circumstances allow.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Marussia

Jules Bianchi – 19th

Max Chilton – 21st

John Booth, Team Director: « It was clear in FP3 that the changes we made last night were a step forward for Max, however Jules was more unhappy with the car than in FP2. On his side of the garage, we spent much of the morning reverting the changes made, but by the end of FP3, we had sorted out many of our systems for qualifying and we were reasonably happy that with a few changes, we could improve the car’s balance.

The qualification brought many challenges. We spent most of the 50-minute delay scrutinizing the radar, and it was quite clear that the start of the session would be good for intermediate tires. However, with potentially more rain, we made sure to head out immediately.

The timing of laps is much more crucial now with the need to recharge the ERS system between flying laps. While we didn’t manage this with Max, everything went well with Jules.

In retrospect, stopping one lap earlier for the second set of intermediates would have been beneficial, however, I am pleased with the calls from the pit wall today. Even though the gap to Q2 is significant and there is a feeling of disappointment within the team that we could have gotten more out of the cars, we are increasingly moving in the right direction in terms of how we operate this new car in various conditions.

– Read the drivers’ statements

Caterham

Kamui Kobayashi – 20th

Marcus Ericsson – 22nd

Cedrik Staudohar, Head of Logistics Support at Renault Sport F1: « It was a disappointing day and we can say that we expected better. Sometimes, rain creates opportunities to climb up the hierarchy but that was not the case today. On the power unit side, everything went relatively well, without major issue but the conditions were very difficult. With a bit of luck, we might be able to do something tomorrow starting from these positions. »

– Read the drivers’ statements