Malaysian Grand Prix – Sepang
Qualifying session
Q1: FM 5th 1.35.091 5 laps MS 16° 1.35.810 4 laps
Q2: MS 9th 1.34.574 5 laps
Q3: MS 4th 1.34.668 13 laps
Temperatures: air 34/36 °C, track 46/50 °C
Jean Todt:
“Considering our decision to have Felipe start from
the back of the grid, our qualifying session was basically
with only one car. This decision was taken so as to let him
start the race tomorrow with a fresh engine, lots of fuel
on board and new tyres. Michael was also obliged to change
his engine and he’ll be starting from the seventh row
after having gone well in qualifying. Tomorrow is going to
be a very tough race with reliability and a consistent tyre
performance being the decisive factors. The championship has
only just begun but even if we are now going through a difficult
moment with the reliability of the V8 engine, what is important
is to try and pick up as many points as possible. All kinds
of things can happen for us tomorrow, but this is true for
the others as well.
Michael Schumacher:
“I’ll be starting from the seventh row which
isn’t too bad considering the penalty inflicted for
the engine change. We’re satisfied with this position
and obviously I hope to end up in the points. I’d be
really happy if I could get a podium finish. Considering the
circumstances, our objective is not to lose touch with the
drivers who presumably will be fighting for the championship.
The fact that Alonso and Raikkonen aren’t too far ahead
on the grid certainly helps me a bit. It’ll be interesting
to see whether overtaking will be possible and how much fuel
the others have on board. During unofficial practice we have
seen that our race pace is fine. It’s a pity that we’ve
lost ten places on the grid because of this engine problem,
but I would rather try and bring home a few points than end
up with nothing at all.”
Felipe Massa:
“Obviously I’m very disappointed because I was
convinced that I had the potential to compete with the front
runners. We chose to do only the first part of the qualifying
session so as to be able and start the race with as much fuel
as we want and in order to save our new sets of tyres and
keep a fresh engine for the race. This morning, when I was
running on used tyres and with quite a lot of fuel on board,
I felt that the car in this configuration was performing excellently.
Tomorrow is going to be difficult for me, but in racing you
never know what can happen: perhaps a weekend that got off
to a bad start could end up quite well !”
Ross Brawn:
“This is very frustrating for us. We have had various
problems with the engine but we’ll get over them. I’m
convinced of that. It’s a pity, because during all the
winter testing we were very reliable. Considering the amount
of fuel that Michael had on board because of the ten-position
penalty, his qualifying session went quite well. The tyres
seem to be very consistent in their performance. We can expect
a tough race but we’ll do everything possible to finish
in the points.”
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