The Malaysian Grand Prix - Qualifying Highlights Formula 1

Mark the beginning of season. It is difficult to get past turn one. You

you have to have a go. Going to the first corner and Jenson Button is

at the front. Jenson Button is ahead. Oh wow! Pastor Maldonado

trying to get past. He's out! so brilliant. When we race next

Sunday, I will be better. Michael Schumacher has gone off. We're

losing, I don't think I have seen someone do that. Jenson Button's

gone. Jenson Button wins in Australia. Sebastian Vettel is

second, Lewis Hamilton finishes third. What a great way to start

the year, guys. The quicker they go, the more beautiful they become.

We're outside the McLaren garage and we have a former winner of the

Australian Grand Prix. What a lot of action there was. What a great

start to the season. McLaren seemingly dominant, but a lot of

close action. Everyone trying to knock them off the top spot. Even

the teams further back will be happy. Seven different teams in the

top ten. That is important. It is because the regulations have been

stable. There has been changes to the noses and the diffusers, it

allows the teams to catch up on development and there no -- there

noise question it is closer. Overtake is easier here, but this

place poses a different challenge and not just the track. Welcome to

the sauna! # It's so funny that you think you're winning! # The drivers

have arrived and quite a few fans to tray and keep people cool. Here

they don't put air conditioning into the garages. That is

remarkable. But this track was launched in 1999 and the first of

the Hermann Tilke circuits. It has stood the test of time. This is one

of the big challenges, going to different conditions and pushing

everyone to the limit with the attempts. I'm bringing you out into

the sun to bring back memories of racing here. You have picked up a

few podiums. The drivers look so hot, did that bring back some

memories. You can't believe how hot you feel it is. Especially in the

garage. Lewis Hamilton there with prime spot beside the fan, the

drivers blowing dry ice through the systems. We're not used to see the

sweat on the drivers. And you haven't got air conditioning in

your commentary box. And this sport is as hot off the track as it is on

it. Here is Lee McKenzie with the latest. Never a sport to shy from

drama, even after just one race, the rumour mill has been saying

that Felipe Massa will not be a Ferrari driver for much longer.

After his poor performance in Australia, even the Italian media

have had enough. There is full trust of him in the team. We have

been testing in the wipbt we are the same car and he was not more

than one tenth between us N Australia, I think it was a one off

aye expect Ferrari and Felipe Massa to be for many time and many strong.

As Ferrari's leading light, its thought Perez would be in line for

a Ferrari start. But whether it is this season remains to be seen and

it depends whether sauber will release him. We do not want to

engage in speculation. Our position is clear. Last August we announced

our driver line up and Sergio was one of the drivers. He is still one

of our drivers and we plan to do the season with him. McLaren's

drivers had varying degrees of smiles, but Lewis Hamilton is

trying to stay positive, despite starting in poll and finishing

third. There was positive, as Jenson Button won and we had great

pace and we were the dm napbt team. This weekend that is a positive we

can bring here. - Odom napbt. Jenson Button thinks the back maybe

closer and is wary of overconfidence. In term of as a

team, not making mistakes, we did well. I don't think other teams did

that. When Red Bull got their act together they were be competitive

and we can't, yeah, we have got to be careful with the confidence we

bring into this race. Also ering on the side of caution is Sebastian

Vettel, who doesn't think it will be easy to catch the McLarens here.

Last weekend they had the upper hand and they are the ones to beat

this weekend. But I think the race helped us a lot to know and

understand more about the car. Nevertheless I think the win was

out of reach and yeah, there is a lot to do for us. Last night wasn't

a great one for Lotus. First their hospitality unit was destroyed by a

fire. But they did save the drivers' race kits. They had to

change the gear box for Kimi Raikkonen, resulting in a five

place grid penalty for tomorrow's race. A weekend to forget for Lotus.

It is a difficult car to steer, the Ferrari. One arrow would do. But

four required by Ferrari. Here is Felipe Massa's car. They have extra

bar tkwrors try to keep us away. They are -- barriers to try to keep

us "Way. They are feeling defensive. He has a new car here. He didn't

have a great start in Australia. But they have given him a new

package and then he has to deliver or questions will be asked. It will

be a long year, which can't wait to get back to Silverstone in July.

But Ferrari need to take advantage of the break before China?

Silverstone was the last victory for Ferrari, it seems 5 long time

ago now. They have to develop the car as best they can and failure is

not an option. All eyes will be on the other teams and trying to

understand where they have gone wrong. It is tight up here where it

is fast. It is equally competitive in midfield and we started the

season thinking that Force India would have a car to really

challenge the rest, but it has been tough for them. That he had great

season last year. They developed the car well and you felt there was

a sense of team moving forward. They haven't started well this year.

And they're not expecting big things this weekend. So a difficult

time for Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg. Do you think he has

been behind in the times, Paul. There is no question, second year,

he does haven't that rookie season to play on. Jackie Stewart said it

is always difficult the second year. They're both tide in the amount of

Grand Prixs they have -- tied in the amount of Grand Prixs they have

completed. The engines are firing up. We're getting close to showing

you action. First let's talk about Williams, they would have been

delighted listen they started on the fourth row of the grid, but

then the race came up. Williams feel they have a chance of beating

Ferrari and Pastor Maldonado is behind Fernando Alonso. It was

quicker for him and he was losing grip. It is a big moment for Pastor

Maldonado, if he sniffs an opportunity, he will go for it.

was possible. Even in the last lap. If he finishes where he is now, he

would get eight points. That is more that Williams scored

throughout last year. Up to the end, I just missed, put the car on the

wrong side, I was too much on the curb and too close to Fernando and

I lost down force and then I had a snap over steer and lost the back

of the car. A bad moment. Bad moment for all the team. It is

frustrating, no one was more frustrated than him. This isration,

anything can happen. -- this is racing, anything can happen. From

where we came last year it was encouraging to sea the car pushing

Ferrari. Last year was the worst season in Williams's history. The

team finished with just five points. But changes to the back room team

and a new engine and an encouraging showing in Australia have given the

team a new lease of life. Everything is working better, even

with the new engine. Many new particulars. So a bit more easy.

wasen just the car that came in for criticism last year. Pastor

Maldonado found his rookie season tough going. He was singled out

more for the money he brings to the team, rather than his driving

skills. I'm here just to do my best. Not to say I'm a great driver or

not. That is more... Passion for Formula One. But I think I'm

getting more confident with the team, more experienced and step by

step I will be there in the front. He has become a more complete

driver and he has been very competitive and very consistent all

the way through. His general driving style has calmed down and

his tyre management has improved. He is much more the complete

package. Still a long way to go. Encouraging sign and we will know

better by the time we get to Barcelona how competitive the car

is, but early signs are good. HUMPHREY: Sadly for the team, it

looked more than good until that final last. We all want Williams to

do well. Ther on for scoring eight point, considering they only scored

five last season. Pastor Maldonado maybe should have just been

cautious. But it shows an attacking spirit. Bruno Senna, inusual there

are two Senna names on the car, they have been car tkwrig Ayrton

Senna logo. He has to raise his game, otherwise questions will be

asked. What do you expect from qualifying? It is look tight

between Maher, Red Bull, McLaren. Yes but Red Bull looked strong. -

Maher. -- Mercedes. The question is for Red Bull is can they get in

front of McLaren and Mercedes? next few minutes will answer those

questions. It is the commentry -- commentary box for David and he is

returned from a leg breaking crash and a three month recovery to take

the first ever poll position here at Sepang. But who will tkwrab the

-- grab the top spot. It is very warm. Air temperature of 32 degrees,

humidity is 51% and the track temperature 44 degrees. Mercedes

have shown tremendous pace, but we saw McLaren's pace in Melbourne

last time and it could be quite a fight for top spot. McLaren had

their pace in the first Grand Prix. It seemed a long time since we were

in Melbourne. But they will be looking to built on that and it is

important to build up points in the early part of sfpblt tomorrow is

another day, but this is a big question mark, can Red Bull get

more performance out of their car first turn. Nice and gently does it.

You have to patient with this corner. You can see how a patient

he was, through second gear nice and steadily. One of the things

they try to avoid on these Pirelli tyres is wheelspin, it does not

seem to recover very well around the rest of the lap so you have to

be very cautious. Trying to save as much performance as he starts to

build his way into the meatier part of the track, where the drivers

love to qualify the car. 5 and 6. 160 mph. It's that kerb, that

unsettled the car. Then hard on to the brakes, turn No. 9 and brings

us to the end of s two. No one outside setting times. He will be

doing purple sectors, he is the fastest man on the track. I would

be surprised if that remains the case. They can't really working

through the chicane and now into the right-hander, onto the first of

two long straights which are virtually parallel. This massively

long Grandstand, 30,000 seats. All the way down to the last corner.

You will see a lot of that, the brakes knocking on the inside front

tyre. Expect to see plenty more of that. This is the initial

benchmarks. 1:38.9. We didn't see 36.8 from Nico Rosberg this morning.

That is similar. That is lower than what he managed on the morning

session. He is on the harder tyres. This is a replay. Nipping that

inside kerb. Look at that er a dynamic movement, so much of the

suspension troubles and this car and that is in the tyres. Lewis

Hamilton, Mark Webber getting out of the way as he goes through turn

number five. Gathers it up for the next part of turn No. 6. Let's

contrast the driving styles. Nice and steady, understeer, I would

suggest for the second part of the corner. No clipping the kerb like

with Paul di Resta. He had an off practice this morning. Not much

running with the car. He was fastest on Friday, though, and

seemed to be very confident with the handling on this circuit. We

will keep an eye on Lewis Hamilton. Step times looking OK but not the

fastest. Also on the prime tyres. This weekend, that is a hard tyre.

You can barely see any markings on the side wall, it looks black.

There are some silver markings to indicate that it is a hard tyre.

The last corner. That trace of smoke from the inside front left

and then bang on to the power. Kimi Raikkonen has gone fastest for the

moment but Hamilton Beach that. Jensen Button is coming around

further back on the lap. And with the harder tyre being used by both

McLaren cars at the moment. suspect that the harder tyre is

anything from half a second, depending on the car, in

performance, so nice, steady runs from all the main contenders.

Jensen comes to finish his lap, Nico Rosberg has got the fastest in

the first sector. That is a characteristic that Mercedes has

been showing all weekend. Let's see what Nico Rosberg can do, the

fastest first sector time. Smoke coming off the front left as he

gets into the turn, been to the apex. Is this enough? Yes, 1:37.6.

As we saw this morning, Nico Rosberg will be on the pace.

Remember, this first part of qualifying is about getting through

to the second part. Let's get some news from the pits. What can you

tell us that we have to be looking for? The top cars are on a hard

tyres and that is a good lap from Rosberg, Reich and and, if they

look comfortable. If you're down in the 38.5, you will have to be the

second lap and the harder tyre will give you a reasonable that time.

And then it falls away. You want to do this as early as possible. And

lead the softer tyres for the last session. They need to manage that

effectively. What will Mark Webber do? 37.6 is the time to bid. He

goes across the line, one 10th fastest for the moment. Safe enough.

Fernando Alonso in 5th place. Schumacher has gone fastest. 1:37.5.

Mercedes one, too. He is looking for track position. As he comes off

the turn, he can see in his mirrors the Toro Rosso so he has the

opportunity to build himself acclaimed lap, it is important to

get a great launch off this last corner. You take us like the wider

lying -- wider line on the entry. Then that recharge and he gets that

6.7 seconds of KERS available. The DRS as well. That is available

everywhere around the lap. For drivers brave enough to push this.

That is a few corners. There are a lot of high-speed turns. There is

fully a massive. What can the Ferrari driver do? He has but one

that in. This one is better. Let's see how far up it puts them? Only

17. It will need to be quicker, 38.6, you're last lap. 37.5. They

will be comfortably inside the cut- off but Felipe Massa isn't. 17th

place, the last to get through. We dropped seven cars from the first

part. That is what you would be looking for in a little while.

Webber out for that second lap on a hard tyres, he improved marginally

but still down in 11th place. One second slower. Jensen Button has

actually been quickest in the middle sector. That is a great

drive off the last corner, using up any KERS that is in the bank and

that puts him second quickest. close to Michael Schumacher. On the

same tyre, he is a few hundredths of a second off what Michael

Schumacher has done. They are in this hand. Sebastien Vettel goes

7th place. Just ahead of Fernando Alonso, is as safe enough? Mercedes

indicated the cut-off at 38.6, Sebastien Vettel has done 38.1.

This is turn No. 4, Lewis Hamilton, well? Something has gone wrong, the

steering has dropped. The suspension or something. It looked

like the steering dropped to the right. That is very unusual,

hopefully we can get another replay as we joined Bruno Senna passing

Toro Rosso. That isn't an invitation to dinner. He was not

happy. And Lewis Hamilton is currently 4th fastest. He has one-

lap that is comfortably enough to go through into the second part of

qualifying. Clearly, that was not quite right. You can see the brake

dust, it is heavy for braking, you would expect to see dust. They will

not be running the same level of cooling on the brakes today. That

was actually a slight improvement. We are seeing the replay of the

previous lap. I would like to see that again, we had some rain

earlier and it is possible that... Michael Schumacher? Absolutely.

They are getting these hard tyres to last a couple of laps, which

isn't what you would expect in the latter part of qualifying and you

are on to the option tyres. Medium. We expect they will only get one

run out of these tyres. We will see some option tyres appearing for

those guys trying to get into the top 17, Heikki Kovalainen. What

does he have to do? 20th place. Owned by the Malaysian businessman,

so this is like a Home event. He will have to suffer a five place

penalty. He isn't the only man. Kimi Raikkonen, he has the gearbox

change as well as the Lotus team having a fire last night. He lost

one of his crash helmets and that fire. Not going well for the Lotus

team so far this weekend. Apparently a fridge caught fire

last night. The guys have to decant into another hospitality in it.

Tony Fernandez, the Order of capture him. -- owner of Caterham.

Felipe Massa, on the screen. The Ferrari is in danger of not making

progress through to the second part. We have already started to lose the

rear. That's the only real issue with the rear. Thumbs up, so all

good as far as he is concerned. Under the final corner, Felipe

Massa, desperate to get out of the drop zone in qualifying. He moves

up, 11th. 1:38.3. We will see a lot of improvements in the remaining

minutes. Bruno Senna, in the Williams. Currently 16th place and

not very safe. He needs more than that. One behind Felipe Massa. If

you take that as a reference point, he will not be happy about that.

Jean-Eric Vergne. In the Toro Rosso, he has work to do. So, he will be

very keen. I do not think this lap will do anything because looking at

the split times, there is no improvement and he will have to now

get on to the case and see if the next lap works. He was on and out

lap. Look at the front wing. The front right hand side, because of

the writing on a tyre, it makes a tyre look like it is out of balance.

We can see the lock-up in to turn number one, the previous lap. Very

wide. We will see a lot of that this weekend. Of course, the front

wings, they have to be more solid than last year, there is a new test

introduced when they put a large weight on the end of the wing to

test it that flexes are not and that is a lot greater. Curry?

they have done his bit is the same test, 100 kilograms on the side of

the wing, but they also have to test 100 kilograms on one side so

that does stop the wing from flexing too much. It is a lot

tighter. And flexing the wings isn't something you can get much

out of. Sergio Perez has just gone, 6th fastest in the Sauber. It is

getting tougher out there. Mark Webber has now set a very good

middle sector time and he is still on the prime tyres. Mark Webber

trying to move up the order himself. 17th at the moment. This land

should put unsafe. Yes, he goes fastest. That was a great flat.

Impressive on those harder tyres. They have put the engine into the

full mode. And used all the toys at his disposal and the track will be

a ball thing as the rubber goes down and you have to counter that

with the fact that you need a stable track temperature.

chequered flag is just a few seconds away from being held up and

Heikki Kovalainen has not done enough. It looks like he will be in

the drop zone. Jean-Eric Vergne is the one who might ride himself out.

We have just seen that he has gone on to a lap. Timo Glock, 21st place,

he will not make it through, and his team-mate, Charles Pic, his

22nd. That is a very respectable performance for the young French

review. Timo Glock is very experienced and he should be very

pleased with that. We should see the Hitachi cars qualifying on the

grid. They should be safe this time. Mark Webber has topped the times.

Do Jean-Eric Vergne. I am afraid, there he is, and he is out of the

rest of qualifying. He won not be able to take part. That is a

surprise because the Toro Rosso seemed to be going well? We saw

they were quick in the race on Sunday in Melbourne but in Jean-

Eric Vergne falls victim to qualifying. Going very wide, there.

He was actually on a better lap. He was green on his first two sectors,

which means personal best. He had a slow were last sector. I think that

is a very respectable comeback from picture to. We are through to the

next session. That is nice to hear, Bruno Senna. Through to the next

Maldonado is fifth. Lewis Hamilton, Perez, Raikkonen and Vettel.

Failing to make it, verg -- Jean- Eric Vergne. JAKE HUMPHREY: I will

walk with you, 21st, a second and a half behind Caterham. How would you

rate that session? We made a step and gained in terms of car

performance to Melbourne. I understand the car better. But

today, the car wasn't that nice to me. It shocked me a bit, because I

struggled with the option tyre. That is unusual. Everyone else

found a second. I went a bit blind into it. But I think we made the

right changes. But I didn't trust the tyre. I didn't have the

confidence and I had two little mistakes. But many general it is a

learning process, we have to be happy. You got both cars to the

finish in Australia. Are you hoping for plenty of rain to move up the

grid? This is a key point for us, to finish the race. If it is raisey

in terms of rain, what you have here normally, everything can be

possible. We have to keep the car on track and finish the race. See

where we end up. 30-something degrees and you look a cool

customer. COMMENTATOR: Here is the second segment of qualifying.

Everyone has to fight for position and it is to get into the top ten

of course. There is Nico Rosberg, who has been impressive this

weekend, with the sort of times he has been doing for Mercedes. But so

has Michael Schumacher. It is Lewis Hamilton, never been on poll in

Malaysia and there has ne'er been a McLaren poll position in - - never

been a McLaren poll position in Malaysia, over the years it was

dominated by Michael Schumacher. He took four poll positions on the

trot. So he is the king of qualifying here in the past in his

earlier career. But you noi, Michael Schumacher might have a

chance today to perhaps take his first poll since returning to the

sport. We will find out in a little while. Perez is on to his first

flaying lap. A bit of work going on there at the steering wheel. That

is the third slowest corner, immediately he got ambushed at turn

two. You can't see the apex and you have to be cautious through that

sector. Turn three is pretty much just a positioner. He gets a bit of

oversteer on to turn four. That may have cost him getting the throttle

open. You go into the blind entry turn five and pull the car back and

try and keep your foot to the floor. He runs very wide. Oh I thought he

was going off! That is what you call getting away with it! You get

off the main line and you lose more grip, because it is so dirty

outside. The surface temperature of the tyres, it is so warm, once you

Rupp on to the dust sh it gets picked up and affects the next few

corners. That would have cost him some time. But nonetheless he's

kept his foot in. He is tidier than he was on his outlap. He got some

oversteer on the lap he was building up to speed. Look --

looking more aggressive. He has some traffic to deal with, but

Senna keeps out of way. That shouldn't hurt him too much. Let's

see what Perez is going to do. He is the first to cross the line and

establish a bench mark. 1.39.0. I don't think he will be too pleased

with that You spotted the overstare and he certainly had it. --

oversteer. Two tenths of a seconds lost. You know how critical it I to,

even if you don't ace the corner, you don't want to be dropping time.

You see Kimi Raikkonen coming to the end of his first lap in Q2.

man who took his first ever victory here at Sepang. He needs a goods

lap and wants to get into the top ten. He goes fastest now. 1. 36.7.

That is the fattest time in qualifying. Will that -- fastest

time in qualifying. Will that be enough? He is on the gravel.

Somebody on the edge, it is Senna. I am not sure. It might be Pastor

Maldonado. Yes it is Pastor Maldonado. We saw him go well in

the first part of qualifying, but that won't help ch he has the

softer tyre on and that is an interesting place to go off isn't

it? That was into the run of turn 11, which normally you never

unthrod car. He gets the -- unload the car. He gets the car on the

kerb. You aren't doing anything other than trying to run around the

outside of turn 10. Your eye line is looking to the apex around the

corner. You can't see it until after you have turned in. What

about Rosberg? Will he put in a quick lap? He is sixth fastest at

the moment. He and Michael Schumacher are again very evenly

paced. They have both done a mid 1.37. Let's think about those who

are not in the top ten, it that Felipe Massa, Perez, Paul di Resta,

Nico Hulkenberg and Senna has not done a time. Some damage there.

That is extensive damage to what seemed like a straight forward run

into the gravel. Oh a big slide for tkwrostkwros -- Romain Grosjean.

What a horrible way to start the lap. That is where patience is a

virtue. You have got to be tidy. You can win a bit of time by being

aggressive, but you lose a whole heap of time if you get it wrong.

So a bit of inexperience from Romain Grosjean. He was impressive

in Melbourne. He has been impressive in qualifying here in

GP2. But it is a different story now in a Formula One car. So we

will have to see what he can do. He has done the best of anybody in the

middle sector. What a fantastic run there. A good come back. He is

about four times slower than his team mate, Kimi Raikkonen, in the

first sector. But quickest man in that middle sector. That is a

technical part of lap. That Lotus car is working beautifully. Good

stuff there from Romain Grosjean as he heads to the final corner and

the Lotus is lacking competitive, as we saw in Melbourne. -- looking

competitive. He has got to be patient. He clambers over the kerb.

Let's see where this puts Romain Grosjean, he goes fourth fastest,

but Lotus are first and fourth at the moment. But those in the drop

zone are Felipe Massa, Perez, rest and Pastor Maldonado. Let's look

back at what he did there. Oh that was a bit wide. That is turn 14.

That take him on the 800 metre back straight. He used all of the track

and more. Now pressure on Felipe Massa again. He has got to drag

himself out from 12th and get into that top ten. Fernando Alonso is

only 10th himself. Ferrari struggling to get into the top ten

in qualifying. They have struggled since this car first took to the

tracks in the winter testing and they haven't had much opportunity

to change it. Some changes to the front wing, but that will be

enough? I am not sure. Felipe Massa setting his best sectors in the

fist two runs. But he is struggling for traction. A very late opening

of DRS. That will have caused him some acceleration. Vital to deploy

KERS and DRS as soon as you can. Will this get him out of drop zone?

Yes, but not by have much. He is ninth fastest. That puts Fernando

Alonso into the drop zone, so now he has got to get his Ferrari, he

is on a lap hear the is better than what he has done to date. We are

with him now. Listen to this. Another gear change in the middle

of that section. Down through the gears A bit wide. Back on the power,

just rumbles along the kerb. Hoping that DRS is operating that rear

wing flap is open and then it flicks closed and gives him down

force. A bit widen't last -- a bit wide on the last corner. Across the

line he goes, he gs up to six Athletic Massa is now tenth and

only just in. Let's see whether anybody else can beat that. Here is

Sergio Perez. Massa is only four tenth behind Alonso. Perez has

popped into eighth a that puts Massa in the drop zone. What can

Bruno Senna do? He is only 12th. Pastor Maldonado still not back out

of course after the damage to his car. Paul di Resta trying to get

the Force India up there. A bit of a lock up there. Mald is on track.

-- Pastor Maldonado is on track. What can rest do? 13Th it is not

enoughment and Nico Hulkenberg hasn't done a time for some reason.

Neither Force India look as if they will go through. Pastor Maldonado

here, after repairs, will we see him through? He is ninth he is just

in there. He has pushed Michael Schumacher out. Across the line

goes Nico Hulkenberg and he is only 15th. That is not enough at all.

We're on board with Kobayashi in the other Sauber. He triesing to

move up from 16th. Can he do anything to get into the top ten?

It is 16th. Ricardo is struggling in 17th. Unlikely he will improve

much. Is Michael Schumacher on a lap? Is he out there? Yes he is.

Just come out of turn two. A crucial lap for Michael Schumacher.

It should be a formality for him to get through. This Mercedes isn't

showing great speed around this track. He makes those adjustments

on the brake balance again and he does it so many times, you see his

hand come off the wheel and diver down somewhere and come bafpblgt

is constantly playing with the brake balance. He look like he got

out of throttle. Did he get too deep? He is coming up to the end of

S2. They climb out of turn nine. is a personal best, but will that

be enough? It should be enough to drag him back into the top ten. But

it is Nico Rosberg who is under threat. They both having to go for

it and it will put Pastor Maldonado's position under threat.

They have left it lift a. What is the lap time like for Rosberg?

Should be enough. Yes easy. Third fastest for Nico Rosberg. Now it is

up to Michael Schumacher to do the job as well and if he does, he will

push Pastor Maldonado out of the top ten and Williams will not get

that car into the top ten as we saw in Melbourne. Just complete the lap

for Michael Schumacher, he is up to fourth. Evenly matched between Nico

Rosberg and Michael Schumacher. We have our top ten and unfortunately

for Pastor Maldonado, he has just failed to make it. But so has mas

Alex Salmond so Fernando Alonso is in the top ten, Felipe Massa is out

-- but so has Felipe Massa, so Fernando Alonso is in the top ten.

So a dramatic second qualifying segment. Kimi Raikkonen set the

pace. Let's see what Felipe Massa was up to here, David. A classic

locking of the left front. We're P 12 everyone through. We did pract

lay 37.4. So what was a good effort. Rob Smedley there trying to put a

good feel on it for Felipe Massa. He is only three tenths off Alonso.

That is an issue when you're in a season where the car is not working

so well. At the front end of grid you can be three tenths off and

still be second. So those knocked out in Q2, maldmaltd, Felipe Massa,

Senna, Ricardo, Nico Hulkenberg and Kobayashi. -- Pastor Maldonado.

JAKE HUMPHREY: So where they will JAKE HUMPHREY: So where they will

be happy is in the the garage here. They have got every right to think

they could be in poll position. They have designed a car that in

qualifying is past fast and you It goes up the side of the sassy,

into the nose and into the front wing. -- chassis. There is no

pressure sucking that down to the ground so that he skips and that

air can be sacked from there. Normally, with other cars, the rear

will rise up but with this car, the Complete Car rises up so it is more

efficient. And it keeps their aerodynamic balance through fast

corners so it allows them to run through fast corners with less

downforce and still have a quicker top speed. The kind of things you

do not see in Formula One, and the other things is they had a problem

with this and they spent 50% of their energy complaining about this

but they also should spend at energy designing their own version.

It isn't easy, you have to come up with the new front wing concept and

it is a secondary function for opening the DRS and are you allowed

to? Barcelona will be the time we will see this. Looking forward to

that. You think that is a nifty piece of design. Is it good enough

to help Mercedes pick up pole position? Time to find out -- time

to find out what the final part of position between Red Bull and

McLaren and Mercedes, in particular. We have the Ferrari in the next and

Lotus. That is a difficult one to judge because Kimi Raikkonen was

fastest in K2, Grosjean is also in there and he qualified in third in

Melbourne. Kimi Raikkonen in the Lotus, Lotus is Malaysian owned, by

Proton, so it is a bit of a home race for them. So experienced but

has never been on pole position in Malaysia. Despite winning in the

past on two occasions. None other little mistakes that we saw from

Grosjean, there. Integer number four, the down shift into second

gear. He was carrying the speed into the corner. I had better drop

the gear. Oversteer in the middle of five. The position for six...

This is Kimi Raikkonen's return to form a low one. That big slide will

cost 10. This is definitely more rallies style. This isn't what we

saw in the previous part of qualifying. -- Formula One. That

thing that looks like a battery on the graphic, he has used have of

that. He can use that during the qualifying lap. The penultimate

corner. The back wanting to come around. We are presenting he has

gone out on a new set of options. Could he have been out on a set

from the previous qualifying? Then put the new tyres on and go for the

glory run at the end. We expect the real group to have gone off in that

case. 1:36.8. Still a pretty good time. Now, Jensen Button will try

to beat that. He is going faster, here comes Hamilton. He has got the

fastest first sector, second sector, he goes fastest across the line.

Another great lad from Lewis Hamilton. Will it be enough, like

in Melbourne? Whoever is fourth- fastest. Growth on his 5th fastest.

Has Hamilton done what he did in Melbourne and put down a really

quick lap early in the session at that nobody else can beat. Across

the line, Sebastian Vettel, on the 6th fastest. Still waiting for

Mercedes. They have just come out. 1, 2 for McLaren at this stage.

would not be surprised if he locks up, he gets some oversteer which

costs in time which let's us know how great the rest of the lap must

have been. Confirmation that Kimi Raikkonen was out on new tyres,

pretty impressive when you consider how much she was working the wheel.

Faster in the Lotus. You have to be careful because that could end up

being the fastest lap time you achieve and you start the race on

that same set of tyres and you cannot afford any flat spots. They

have the opportunity to rebalance any tyres but they could not change

the tyre without incurring a penalty. His Mercedes really up for

the battle for pole position? Is this clever system on the car going

to give them that extra straight- line speed? We are about to find

out. Nico Rosberg is on a lap and Michael Schumacher isn't going to

be too far behind. We will look at those sector times. He is a

fraction down on the first sector and yesterday it was at first

sector where the Mercedes tended to be stronger than McLaren. He locked

up in to turn number one. That caused him position. He goes wider,

dirt into the tyres, the conference goes when you know you're coming

into the double right-hander. was a pretty brave turn. He gave

that a big turn. The group was there. You have to be full of

belief when you go into the qualifying lap. We saw this before,

it is a journey into the unknown. He isn't in line for the pole

position. But commitment is there. Michael Schumacher has to set the

fastest first sector time. He is on the early part and Nico Rosberg is

in the latter part. Mercedes have not had a poor position in recent

history, although this team was born as brawn and they had a pole

position with Jensen Button. Trying to beat the time set by Lewis

Hamilton. Behind both McLaren cars at the moment Michael Schumacher is

to tenths down. Now, when that clever system they have on this car

enable him to gain those two-tenths of a second down this next a long

straight? Well, he might not be in line for pole position but he is in

line for second place. With this time, he could get in in front of

Jensen Button. If he keeps a tiny through 15, which he does. Early on

the power. Employs the DRS. Using up any leftover KERS. Second place,

you were spot on. Hamilton on top at the moment, Michael Schumacher

is looking at the front rows start. Sebastian Vettel only eight days.

We are waiting for Fernando Alonso to set his lap time. On board with

Sergio Perez. He saw his team-mate going out of qualifying, the only

Sauber in the top 10. So far, it is looking good. I do not expect that

Mark will get in the way. He will concentrate in building his own lap.

He gets well out of the way. nine-tenths down at this point and

that would still be enough to challenge perhaps Mark Webber,

maybe. It is very close in that section. Looking good. He now has

to get the braking sorted. Not the oversteer that he had earlier on.

Beautiful through that section, nice, early throttle. It is so

important as you drive down onto this last straight, 25% of the

track runs wide in the last corner. That will cost them a little time.

We saw Hamilton do this and still set the fastest time. 1:37.6.

Sebastian Vettel is now building up again. And he is on the harder

tyres. Great spot. He is on the harder tyres. This is as strategic

decision. We have Mark Webber, his team-mate out on the option tyres

and we expect there is more than half a second between those so

Sebastian Vettel playing the long game. Will this cost him dearly?

Meanwhile, Mark Webber has not done a particularly good first sector.

So, this does not look like it will be a great start to this flat for

Mark Webber. For Paul Weller, back in 2010. Be well, Kimi Raikkonen is

on another good lap time. -- meanwhile. We will see this next

sector time. It is a personal best but he is have a second down on

what Lewis Hamilton has done so far and you believe it pretty much

where he is. They interesting that Kimi Raikkonen was so close to

Mercedes in the first sector. This notice has some great speed. He is

about three-tenths down in the middle sector to the absolute best

time, set by Lewis Hamilton. Reich and an online to move up, he could

challenge Jensen Button. -- Kimi Raikkonen. Let us wait and see. The

chequered flag is out. He goes third. He has gone in ahead of

Jensen Button. He goes for a place. Rosberg in six days, Sebastian

Vettel in eight days but he is on a lap that will improve that's like

that. Sebastian Vettel, where will he be on the grid? 6th place. For

the moment. Jensen Button, also trying to improve, and he goes

across the line in second. Will we see any further improvement? Romain

Grosjean, pushes Rosberg down. He has rarely missed out. He has gone

faster than Sergio Perez in the Sauber but only by a fraction and

it is Lewis Hamilton who has taken his second pole position of 2012,

his first-ever in Malaysia. The first-ever McLaren pole position in

Malaysia. And it is also his 21st career pole position, putting him

ahead of Damon Hill, third on the all-time best of British pole

position winners after Clark and Nigel Mansell. He did exactly what

he did in Melbourne and he did it early on in the session. We saw

Jensen Button pulling the lap time out at the end of the session at so

McLaren will be extremely satisfied with qualifying and the challenge

of this circuit and they did it in Melbourne around the temporary

track and delivered here in the heat of Malaysia. Sebastian Vettel

will start in 6th place but he will start the race on a harder compound.

He is the only one of the top 10 he will be in a position. You have to

start the race on the tyre you qualified on and he is only two

places behind Mark Webber and has harder tyres for the beginning of

the race when the cars have a full load of fuel. Interesting tactics

from Red Bull. A very satisfied Michael Schumacher. He has come

back so far, has been qualifying but in 2012 he has been delivering.

Hamilton heads up McLaren, as in Melbourne. Schumacher is in third

place, ahead of Mark Webber, Kimi Raikkonen has the penalty. Then

Sebastian Vettel, Grosjean, Rosberg, Fernando Alonso, Perez, Maldonado

and Felipe Massa failing to get into the top 10. Ferrari have got

Alonso in the 9th place but it isn't the performance they are

looking for. Further down... Hulkenberg, Kobayashi, Heikki

Kovalainen, and both HRT cars, they will get to race on Sunday. What a

session that was. McLaren have locked out the front row and we are

with Lewis Hamilton. Two qualifying sessions in 2012 and both have pole

And the struggling in the quarter three to get some serious press.

The car was dad then but getting the right wing level set and trying

to put out that was tough but I manage to do it on that lap.

did indeed. On-board with you, can you talk us through? Going across

the line into to number one, braking about 80 metres. I had a

moment of oversteer that I had to correct. Some understeer, here,

making sure you get the good exit. This is the first exit so it is

massively important, get on two DRS and the KERS. Turn No. 4, making

sure you come off the brakes. And then here, on the DRS and you have

to release it as late as possible and try to take it flat. But you

have to get back after Kerr No. 5 and 6 for the exit and six and

seven is tricky, it looks easy but it generally pursue out wide. I had

quite a good exit, there. Turnover down, braking as late as you can do

some on the rotation. Some oversteer but I still managed to

get the exit. This is a great corner, 11, you need a lot of front

wing for that and I had a really good balance. This is what happens

to return No. 12, braking as late as you can and as straight as you

can. I had a really good exit. Again, I could see it going up here.

I lost time in the last one. Alost a bit of time there. You have

gone early for both of your qualifying laps, you set down the

marker for everyone. Is that a conscious strategy. It is a

different strategy to last year. You want to do your lap time when

you can, I did a great outlap and I do want to make sure I get that

first lap, nail that one and have a chance to do something crazy on the

next lap and brake five metre later. That is why I bail out my second

lap, the first felt great and the second you go over the limit.

your words, you nailed quali, what are your thought for tomorrow.

Qualify is the easy part. It is trying to convert that into a win.

Give tot make sure I get a good start. You know what it is like

with all the controls, they help you make a change, to get a good

launch and make my car as wide as possible and then look after my

tyres. Stkpwhrifrs sitting by your mum // -- I was sitting which by

your mum when you qualified. What about Jenson Button just behind

Lewis Hamilton. Here is he is. left that bit late. How was it for

you? Yeah good. I mean I think Lewis has been putting in a good

lap at the start of Q3, but most of us do at the end. It is not unusual

to do that. But yeah, the car's been working well for most of

qualifying, on both tyres it worked. It is a shame when you're so close

and yet so far from the the guy on pole and you know Lewis did a good

job. For me at the end I did a good lap. But the important thing is we

got the front row. When you hear your engineer saying well done,

good lap. You can hear the cheers of them in the back grourpbgsd it

gives you a smile -- background, it gives you smile. Anyone in the top

four places can have a great race tomorrow and have a chance of

winning. Yeah it is exciting. is a strange race, there sois many

variables, the weather, it is a long one as well. It is a tough one

for us in terms of physically is it tough. Also it is tough, because

its tough on the tyres and the cars and for strategy. There is humidity

and the heat. You don't know how long the tairs will work. -- tyre

will work. You have to be thinking on your toes. I think we're got a

that. It is tough for the team, they are working in the heat. And

hopefully we will have good pit stops like at the last race. We're

all excited about tomorrow and it will be an exciting kpwree. Well

done Jensen. -- Grand Prix. He will be excited about the start of race,

because if he leapfrogged Lewis in Australia, he should be able to do

it here. This is the second longest run to the first corner. The

longest is in Barcelona. The big advantage for Lewis this time,

proindividualing he gets all the systems tuned n is he is on the

clean side of the grid and that left side where Jensen is, can cost

you a lot. Let's hear from the team principal. I'm sure he has a smile

on his face. The second all McLaren front row, you must be proud?

I'm proud of the team, everyone's worked hard the get it. It is still

nice to deliver it. It is a long, hard race ahead of us. So a lot of

things can happen - weather and reliability. But this is a good

place to be. Tomorrow will be interesting, Sebastian on the prime

tyre, I'm surprised, and pleased a few more aren't on the prime. If

you weren't competing for the first couple of rows a prime tyre was a

smart thing to do. The delta in qualifying mode is small and in the

race the prime tyre will become a good tyre to be on. So you know

Kimy in particular, who knew he was going back, I'm surprised he wasn't

on the prime tyre. The race to the first corn, are they free to do

what they want to do? Yes, they will be racing each other tough.

After last weekend, Lewis will feel having got second pole he wants to

come out of the first corner in the lead. Bens e Jensen will do his

best to thwart that. For us it I will be a tense ten seconds, but we

have got to trust them to go out and race. Thank you, good luck

tomorrow. Cheers. JAKE HUMPHREY: Free to do what they want to do!

Now here here is Christian Horner. He expected more cars on the harder

tyre. The only man on that harder tyre is Sebastian Vettel. A split

strategy between Mark and Sebastian. Webber still on the soft irtyre and

still fourth. It was a good lap by Mark, from second, third and fourth.

So Lewis did a strong lap. So we have seen they're quick over a

siblg -- single lap. We decided to go different can Seb. Lou the tyres

is is that a big decision to make? I think the harder tyre is more

durable and it is a different strategy. You know we didn't feel

we had the single lap pace to take on the McLarens here. We have still

got work to do in that area. In the race we have elected to do

something between the two cars. We will only see if that works

tomorrow. Thank you and good luck. We are here with Mark Webber. We

heard from Christian Horner who was explain about the two strategies,

are you happy the tyre you're on? Yes I think going into qualifying,

it was the plan to, well in our team, to have that tyre. We spoke

about it heavily before Q3. It came up after my Q1 lap, where I did did

37.1. The hard tyre was coming into play. I think Seb malt --

ultimately wasn't too happy with his pace or wanted to try something

different. He is in a good position for race tomorrow. But you know, so

am I. It is a 56 lap race and it is a challenging vent and looking

forward to how the people will skin their cat to get to the end as

quick as possibly. This will be one of biggest challenges of season.

You won't be too koonserned about that, but in terms of pace of cars,

can you shed light on where the difference is between McLaren and

Red Bull. Where do you need the find the lap time? We need to lack

at... In your performance in a straight line. That is an area

which I need to look at where we lost in particular in today's

battle, but you know we know that the Mercedes in particular is

strong in a straight line. I think the car balance and performance was

better today. Than we had in Melbourne. And I think we have got

a good race car here. Everyone's going to be having trouble with

tyre. We have to be a bit better and then it opens up a new ball

Gyme game for us. Well done, two race. You go and eat it. Now here

is what Sebastian Vettel had to say. A different strategy to most of the

cars, you start your are on the hard tairs. Are you happy with your

position tomorrow? I will answer after the race hopefully. I don't

know. We didn't feel very good on the soft tyre and we decided to go,

yeah to go different. And went on the hards and I think it was a step

forward. But yeah, I didn't feel that happy in qualifying, I

struggled to find the balance. Yeah, I didn't get everything out of the

car for one lap. Last week may have been a one off spraiz, but now it

looks more lake a puzzle, do you feel you're in a different car to

last year? Well I wouldn't say we're confused. There is a lot of

miracles happening within one weak. We didn't change the car much.

There is no time to react. McLaren was strong in Australia and they

are strong here. They the ones to beat. In race trim we may look bete,

but I think you can see from the outside that yeah, it is not the

easiest car to drive. Yeah, I think we're all aware of that and pushing

very hard to get back up. dejected Sebastian Vettel there,

but he made the point it is a good race car. The feeling here seems to

be it is the opposite with Mercedes. Well everyone expected Mercedes to

be strong around this Kualar Lumpur circuit, because of the nature of

the length of the straits and they have the effective DRS and the

Mercedes power. This was what Red Bull feared, they would ends up

behind Mercedes, they know their race pace has not been good. Nico

Rosberg pitted on lap 13 in Mel burn. So they have some issues and

-- Melbourne so they have some issues. There is Michael Schumacher,

fast in qualifying. He will hope to take that pace into the race. Here

are his thoughts. It is nice to be speaking to you so late on a

Saturday, that can mean only one thing. You must be pleased.

pleased, it is a good achievement for us. But much more important is

what does it mean for tomorrow. The I'm pleased, because we have paid a

lot of attention for tomorrow. We have worked thoroughly to have a

good race car and to compromise for qualifying, still we with able to

do a decent job. You're looking a tt long time game. What do you

think will be the toughist thing. A lot of people are talk about tyres.

Yes people will fight to keep the tyres together. That will be the

biggest challenge. Maybe for for us than others. But we're ready to

fight it. He talks about look tafr tyres will he need the - looking

after the tyres. Will we need the inte immediate mates. So what will

lap in the race. My analysis takes into account tyre degradation and

fuel changes and thousand car treats the tairs. A three-stop race

is the best option. A drive Kerr afford to -- can afford to use the

tyre hard. I think you will led for a three stop race and maybe go for

four. But the tyres are better this year, so the race time will be

faster. It will be down to who looks after those black, round

rubber things. The message - look after the tyres and you could have

a sec Cescful race. Ferrari will hope they can. We heard from

drivers saying they had been concentrating on that, if they can

get away with three stops that could be the key. Four and you will

lose a lot of time. Big pressure and a lot of work going on. Ferrari

again not qualifying in the position they would have want, but

McLaren where they wanted to be a front rowlock out for the second

race in succession. Just in front of Michael Schumacher. And another

impressive display from Romain Grosjean. Felipe Massa is 12th on

the grid. Just in front of Bruno Senna, alongside Paul di Resta, who

outqualified his team mate, Nico Hulkenberg. And we have Timo Glock

starting 20th. He has moved up the grid, because there has been a

penalty for Heikki Kovalinan, because of a change on the gear box.

We return tonight at 6.45 for inside Formula One. And then all

the action from 2.4 45trm. What a performance from McLaren, what