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Malaysia 2009 |
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FIA post-race press conference - Malaysia |
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Q: Jenson, it is never easy. Very difficult at the start and what calls you had to make with changing weather conditions as your pit stop approached. Jenson Button: What a crazy race. It really was. My start was pretty bad. I had a lot of oversteer in the car. I don’t think I got heat into the rear tyres and went back to fourth, got up to third and eventually got back to the front and I was pretty happy with that. Our pace was good and then the rain started but choosing the tyres was very difficult. Normally here when it rains it pours but it didn’t to start with. We went for the full wet tyre and it just destroyed itself and we saw Timo flying up behind us on the inter, so we put the inter on. Then just as he came by I saw his tyres were bald and it was raining out the back and he was struggling quite a bit on it and had to pit. I got one lap in on the inter with reasonable pace and I was able to get in and put the wet tyre on and come out in front. A very interesting race and I still haven’t seen the chequered flag without a safety car in front. Q: Nick, in 2005 from 10th to third and now from 10th to second. Great use of the conditions with a long fuel strategy. You came in on lap 22, a little bit earlier than you needed to, and it worked out perfectly for you. Nick Heidfeld: Yeah, I think it was a very difficult race obviously in these conditions. I took the right tyre choice, well, not the perfect tyre choice as I went straight to extremes. As Jenson said there is normally heavy rainfall here. Then the team told me there is heavy rain expected and I told them inters would be a lot quicker now. Then just when they told me to pit it started to rain heavier and actually it was just 200 metres from the pit entry and I said ‘no, no I stay out as it starts to rain more heavy.’ I tried to preserve my tyres at the beginning and some other guys were quicker than me on the extreme wets and I knew if the rain starts then hopefully I can stay out. But still my rear tyres were destroyed completely and were slicks basically. When it started to rain I just tried to stay on the circuit. Q: Timo, a great call to go onto the intermediates as Jenson just said. Talk us through that. Timo Glock: Yes, it was a tricky race I have to say but in the end I have to say one of the best races I could ever do. We struggled a bit at the start. I don’t know why we lost so many places. I couldn’t believe Fernando and Kimi were in front of me at the first corner. I didn’t know where they came from and I struggled and I was only, I think, P8 after the first lap and the traffic was really tricky and after five or six laps I saw already the clouds were coming and I was asking ‘when is the rain coming, when is the rain coming’ and they said you know it should come in the next couple of minutes and then I thought it takes so long as you saw the big clouds coming definitely. It took just so long and we were so close to the first pit stop, so I said ‘okay I will take the risk and we will go for it and go to inters and then we will see.’ I saw already Felipe Massa was on heavy wets quite early and I knew that will destroy the tyres as well, so I said ‘come on, we go for it and take the risk’ and in the end it paid off. But the last two laps behind the safety car it was so confusing. My engineer told me when I did the pit stop ‘you are leading the race,’ so I said ‘okay, I don’t push because I want to save the tyres.’ Then I saw Jenson coming out just ahead of me, so I was P2. Then I jumped out of the car and now I am here I am P3. So hopefully when I come back down I will still be in P3. That’s what I am hoping for. Q: Jenson, in those closing laps just before the safety car came out you were racing with Timo in dreadful conditions. JB: It was really bad conditions and you could not actually see the circuit. I mean it was that bad. We were behind the safety car and my team, who did a fantastic job, said all you have got to do is drive around and that was difficult enough. A few moments I was almost off the circuit. We are going around at running pace, that slow. The safety car was pulling away from us. All I had to do was drive around and stay on the circuit. But how slow it looks. It is embarrassing but that was as quick as we needed to go and if I’d gone any quicker I’d think I would have ended up in the gravel. Q: Nick, talk us through the atmosphere on the grid when you were just sitting there? NH: Well, actually I thought I was second if the race was stopped now as I knew that the race is counted not at this lap but one or two laps before that. But there was a lot of confusion and we were told to be in first position if the race resumes because apparently (Mark) Webber would have been at the front. There was a lot of mess and it took a lot of time standing there but in this maybe half an hour there was a lot of conversation and a lot of confusion going on. Q: What was your feeling and the feeling amongst the drivers in terms of the conditions and a possible restart? NH: Well, it was very clearly impossible to drive if the rain would have kept as strong as it was when the race was quite rightly stopped. As Jenson and Timo just said it felt like walking speed we were driving and still spinning off, so it was the right decision. And I think now outside it’s dark already, so no chance to carry on. Q: Timo, how was your start? Talk us through that. TG: I mean you can see already I had massive wheel spin and I just could not pull away and then suddenly on the left side there is Fernando and Kimi coming and it was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe it that Fernando was on the inside. We struggled quite a lot at the start as it was just really, really tricky, so at the end I was happy to keep my front wing in one piece. But that destroyed a little bit the race as we could not go the speed we should have done as Fernando was holding us up and Mark a little bit. Every time I was close enough I couldn’t just attempt. One time I tried and damaged a bit the front wing. But the biggest problem was just traction. I could not get close enough to overtake. Q: Jenson, you had a bit of a moment on the outside of turn one? JB: I mean all weekend the circuit has been quite similar but there was such little grip I was really, really surprised and I went a little bit deep into turn one and got a big snap of oversteer and that carried throughout the first lap. I was really, really struggling with the rear end as (Fernando) Alonso was in front of me. I have never seen a car so sideways before. But I eventually got past Alonso coming into the second to last corner and then I had to chase down Jarno (Trulli) and Nico (Rosberg). An exciting race. I would rather have a boring race but we had an exciting one today and I came out on top, so I am happy. One final thing. Can I just say a massive thank you to my engineer who was on the podium with me today. We have been through a lot of tough times but he has been wicked and today as we saw we came out on top and a lot of it was down to him, so ‘thank you very much.’ PRESS CONFERENCE Q: Jenson, this could become a habit. JB: Finishing behind the safety car you mean. Wow, what a race. We had everything in that race. It was very enjoyable. It was not the easiest start for me and I had a big snap of oversteer, pretty much at every corner on the first lap from the grid. I really struggled with the rear end. But then I closed up to Jarno and Nico and knew I was going longer and when they pitted I could put in a couple of quick laps. It got me in front and it was looking like it was going to be fine until I looked up and saw the clouds come over and it started raining. Unusual for Sepang it just started spitting and we went for the full wets thinking it is going to chuck it down. But it didn’t to start with. A few other people made the correct choice but we had a 16-18 second lead at that point. So I carried on and it started chewing itself up, so I pitted for inters as this guy (Timo) was flying. I came out just behind him but my inter was obviously new and his was very old and I was able to get past him on the wetter part of the circuit just before he pitted. I got one good lap on the inter but then it started chucking it down, so I came in for the full went but then it was the safety car. It was a tough race and it was tough keeping it on the circuit. We were driving around it as if it was walking pace and you are still scared that you are going to chuck it off because you could not see the circuit to start with. It was not like it was rivers, it was a lake. Q: You were worried about going off the grid anyway because you were on the dirty side of the grid? JB: Yeah, it was true. Timo also suffered from the grid. I didn’t get a bad start. The start was reasonable but the right hand side just shot past and the KERS cars came up, so I lost time there and turn one was messy really. I got a massive snap of oversteer at the exit and I couldn’t get back from there. Q: And you have never driven on the wets before? JB: No, and the balance was definitely not right on the full wet. The circuit was reasonably dry, so it was difficult to get a balance. But I had massive oversteer on the first couple of laps and then the front started graining. There is a lot of work we need to do to sort our pace and balance out on the wet tyres but as I said it is just nice to get to the end of the race and we ended up on the top because, I think, of a good strategy and also looking at what other people were doing on the different types of tyres and we ended up on top. Congratulations to all the guys who work on the car but also the engineers and the strategy guys who got us here really. Q: As I was saying just now Nick, you’re eighth second place, but I’m sure you’re happy with it today. NH: Yes, exactly, I’m more than happy with that position. I started tenth and I couldn’t have wished for more, basically. Q: Amazing that you had one pit stop whereas these guys had three or four. NH: It started to rain and as Jenson said, it was clear that it would rain heavily, so we went on the extra wets and as it was pretty dry still, I tried to preserve my tyres, especially the rear tyres and therefore at the beginning there were a couple of cars quicker than me. I was even overtaken by one guy, some people were driving away from me, but I knew that they would kill their tyres and if it would start drizzling or raining a bit more, I would then have the tyre and I would be able to stay out. After that, the team told me all the time ‘OK, heavy rain expected in the next two minutes’ but it just didn’t happen, didn’t happen, didn’t happen. Just when they called me in, it started to rain heavily and just 300 metres before the pit entry I said ‘no, no, I will stay out, now it starts raining.’ That was the right call, a bit lucky, obviously, but stopping once they told me to. Q: And you got away with a spin right at the end as well, a very slow spin&ldots; NH: Yes, it was. The safety car was out already, I had contact with the pits, they told me that I should observe the safety car’s speed which we have on the dash and not go quicker than that. And I was laughing, telling them that I would be happy if I could go that quick. There was already a car which had spun there, so I thought ‘OK, I will go as slow as possible’ but it was aquaplaning not only on the tyres but also on the plank. I spun and I was happy that I didn’t go into the gravel. I don’t think it would have mattered in the end anyway, because the result was taken from a lap earlier but that shows that it was the right thing to stop the race because it was just undriveable. Q: Timo, that was an extraordinary race. You were basically part of the group bottled up behind Alonso before your first stop. TG: Yeah, it was a bit disappointing at the start, I have to say. I went from third to eighth after the start, I think. I couldn’t believe that Kimi passed me on the outside in turn one and Fernando on the inside, so I thought again that the KERS cars were in front of me. I struggled behind Mark Webber especially to get close enough to really go for it. One time I tried it and damaged the front wing a bit and that was it really, so I had to stay behind. In the middle of the race I saw the rain was coming, the rain was coming but it took so long that I thought OK, when it takes so long then I go for intermediates because everybody else was already on heavy wets and I saw they struggled really and destroyed them, so I said ‘we go for inters and take the risk’. I was driving around, driving around, overtaking cars, overtaking cars, and found that my tyres were going off as well, but my engineer told me ‘you’re still the quickest on the track, you’re still the quickest.’ I think it was worse in turns seven and eight and that was the direction that the rain was coming from. It came to the point where I had to pit because my tyres were going off completely and I said ‘OK, I have to come in.’ It was just at that moment that Jenson overtook me again. Then we stayed on heavy wets and tried to follow the safety car and that was difficult, I was swimming around. I couldn’t believe it because Jenson was sometimes going quite quickly and I was just swimming around. This morning we were joking around that hopefully everybody knows how to swim in those weather conditions, and I have to say that in the end it was like this, it was just unbelievable and impossible for me to drive at the end. I think it was the right call to stop the race. Q: Sorry about the second place&ldots; TG: Yeah, it was a bit tricky. My engineer told me ‘you’re P2, P2’. Then I came up here and now I’m P3. JB: You’re behind me. NH: I’m fine with second. QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Do you think the decision to stop the race came a little bit too late? Do you think that a five o’ clock start is still a good idea? JB: We thought it was a fantastic idea before. The reason for it in Melbourne was because of the light and the poor light and the reflection you get on the visor, I found it very difficult to see the corner exits. But here, it obviously gets dark very quickly and as we all know, there’s normally rain storms here at five or six o’ clock in the evening and that proved to be correct. The race was way too wet and I think that the call was correct. It rained so hard so quickly that I think they did the right thing. It was very difficult for them to judge how wet the circuit is and in Fuji, for me, two years ago it was too wet but this year I think they made the right call to stop it at the right time. NH: I think it was roughly at the right time. It was also not easy for me to judge because my tyres were worn down completely, so for me it was obviously difficult to drive. Maybe other drivers on fresh tyres would say we could have driven half a lap more but I think it was a good call. The safety car was just out for 20 seconds, that’s when I saw the board, and then they put out the red flag, so I thought it was very well done. JB: When the safety car is pulling away at 20 seconds a lap, you know that it’s too wet for an F1 car. Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Two wins in a row, is it more than you expected? JB: For me I think it’s more amazing that we’ve done it in these conditions, because Australia wasn’t easy with the safety cars and here with the changing weather conditions it made it a lot more difficult. These two here were not the guys that were fighting me at the start of the race, so the great thing is that we could see what was going on behind us and we could react to it and react to it quickly and that’s why we’re sat here at the moment. I’m very happy and it would be nice going to Shanghai leading by a few points, I think five points, and hopefully we can have a straightforward race and we can see where we stand. Q: Nick, how was the KERS during the race, did you use it in the wet? NH: You can use it, just a bit later than in the dry and I have to say that I was happy that it did work because it was the very first time that we had it on the car in the wet conditions, because it has to pass some tests first obviously in the wet and we were not ready in testing, so it was the very first time on the car and it worked OK. Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To all of you, when you stopped the cars on the straight after the red flag, did they listen to you regarding the possibility of continuing the race? JB: Yes, that was always a possibility and as far as I knew we were always planning for a restart, that’s why all the cars were moved around, but the problem was that so many cars span off on the last lap that I think it was very difficult understanding who was in what position. So that was why we were all moving around a lot on the grid, but we were all planning to start the race again. I am happy it didn’t start again because we would have spent ten laps behind a safety car and every lap, every corner you got to you would be scared that you were going to throw it off the road, it’s out of your control, it matters what position the river is in on the apex, you can’t see it. So I think it was the right thing to do for sure. But we were planning for a restart. Q: (Paulo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) If it was up to you, would you want to start again? JB: No, I would obviously love to have the ten points, but this is the best we could have done, I think, and realistically it was the right thing to do. I’m sure some people will say ‘we didn’t see the whole race and it’s disappointing’ but you have to think about the safety sometimes. I am here to race, as we all are but there are limits to what we can do with the cars that we have. NH: I used the time to change my visor because it was getting dark and I put on a lighter visor because I thought I would not see anything otherwise. And I was on the radio telling our team manager and Charlie (Whiting) and the guys who normally listen anyway that I think it was undriveable in these conditions and I’m sure they listened to all the conversations that were going on. TG: For me it was the same. I said to the engineers there was no way to drive anymore and then I was ready to jump out of the car but they said we had to prepare (for a restart) again and we would go behind the safety car, so I just put my helmet on and got ready and then they said ‘no, that’s it, it’s over.’ At the end, you have to understand what Jenson said, it gets dark quite quickly and I think running around behind the safety car is not the best show and we have to stop at the right moment, I think. Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere della Sera) Jenson, if I’m not wrong, I think it’s the first time you drove the Brawn in wet conditions. How was the behaviour of the car and can we say that the Brawn is suitable for every situation? JB: Yeah, I’m sure it is but the conditions that we were running in today was a very unusual situation to have: full wets, or the extremes as they were, in slightly greasy conditions. We had to go for that option because we thought it was going to rain. There was no use taking a gamble being in the lead, so we took that tyre and obviously it felt pretty terrible. At high speed, you were slowing the car down to third gear because you just couldn’t carry any speed because the rear was always trying to break away. So the balance felt pretty awful but I think that’s more down to the conditions we ran the tyres in, it was not the correct conditions. When we put the intermediates on for one lap, the car felt reasonably good. I had a good balance, because that was the correct conditions for that tyre until it started raining hard and then obviously no tyre was useable. Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Timo, you said it was a risk to go onto the inters. Was it a long conversation with the race engineer, did you have to convince them that you wanted to take them or did they want to convince you that it was better to go onto wets? TG: No, no, they just said ‘Timo, it’s up to you, just take a look at the conditions’ and I said ‘let’s take the risk, we’ll go for inters,’ so at the end it was my call and it was the right one, I have to say, because like I said, it took a long time before the rain came down really hard. It was just the right call. Sometimes you have to have some luck and this time it was the right decision at the right moment. Unfortunately at the end, we had the late pit stop, we lost a little bit of position but in the end we have to be happy about this. |
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Bridgestone |
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Bridgestone Potenza intermediate and wet tyres made their first race appearance of 2009 as severe rain fell on the Sepang circuit after a dry race start with everyone on the soft compound dry tyre, causing the Malaysian Grand Prix to be stopped after 32 laps, with Jenson Button awarded the win. Black clouds provided a backdrop to the start of the race, but it was Bridgestone's black rubber which provided the crucial performance variable. Once the rain started, the water levels on track changed lap by lap making it very difficult for competitors to choose whether the dry slick, intermediate or wet tyre should be used, and the best tyre for the conditions changed frequently. As the race was stopped before three-quarter distance, only half points will be awarded. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) took second and Timo Glock (Panasonic Toyota Racing) finished third. Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development How was the race from Bridgestone's perspective? "This was a very interesting race, even before the rain started. Everyone started on the soft tyre. The soft gave good consistent performance in the conditions we saw today and there would have been good strategy options had the weather remained dry Starting on the soft was a sensible move as the soft has a lower working range than the hard, so when the rain started it delivered better performance than the hard would have done, before the wet tyres became necessary." How important was tyre strategy? "Choosing the correct tyre at the correct time is absolutely crucial and we saw many illustrations of how beneficial it is to make the right choice. Once the rain started there was a window where the intermediate tyre was the best one to use, as shown by Timo Glock who was up to ten seconds faster than the other cars. Some drivers used the wet tyre too early, and suffered in the too dry conditions. However, once the rain became harder the wet tyre was the correct tyre for conditions. Unfortunately, the rain then became so hard that it was too wet for Formula One cars." |
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Ferrari |
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Malaysian GP - A new approach needed Sepang, 5th April 2009 - No points for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro drivers at the end of a totally chaotic Malaysian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa was classified ninth and Kimi Raikkonen fourteenth. The only slight consolation is that because the race was stopped before three quarter distance, those drivers who did finish in the points will only be awarded half points. Brawn GP driver Jenson Button repeated his Melbourne performance of a week ago, winning from pole position and was joined on the rain soaked podium by second placed finisher, Nick Heidfeld in the BMW, with Timo Glock third for Toyota. All weekend, the talk, apart from the politics and protests, had been about the possibility that a typical Malaysian rainstorm would disrupt the race and before the start, the black clouds were already approaching. Kimi and Felipe were seventh and sixteenth respectively on the grid. As the lights went out, Rosberg took the lead off the second row, followed by Trulli, Alonso, Button, Kimi, up to fifth, Barrichello, Webber, Glock, Heidfeld, with Hamilton tenth and Felipe up to twelfth already. Kubica bogged down on the grid. Kovalainen spun into the gravel while Kimi was passed by Button and Barrichello. By lap 3, Kubica had stopped while Barrichello passed Alonso to go fourth. By lap 8, Kimi was now over 22 seconds behind the leader and the gap would grow as Alonso in fifth place had a queue of cars waiting to pass his Renault and on lap 11, Kimi got past the Spaniard. One of the best battles of the race then took place between Alonso and Webber, with plenty of side by side action. The clouds were still threatening but still there was no rain, as Vettel was the first driver to pit on lap 14, followed two laps later by race leader, Rosberg and Glock. Kimi waited until lap 19 to come in for tyres and fuel and the team took the big gamble of putting him on extreme wet tyres, as it seemed inevitable the storm was not far off. Finally, two laps later the rain did come, but it was more like drizzle and by lap 23 when everyone came in for wets, Kimi's gamble had evidently not worked out as those few laps in the dry on the rain tyres, meant they were already suffering. One driver who had not gone for the extreme rain tyres was Glock and the Toyota man, running intermediates was climbing up the order. On lap 30, Felipe was part of a group, including race leader Button, who all made the switch to intermediates. By this stage, Glock's climb saw him pass Webber for second and then Button to go in the lead briefly. Felipe was desperately unlucky with his pit stops in that he first took on intermediate rain tyres as the rain was so light, but no sooner had he rejoined that the heavens opened so an additional stop was called for. Finally the rain reaches its usual tropical full force and most of the field including the two Scuderia drivers pitted for full wet tyres with cars spinning off all over the track around lap 31 and one lap later, the Safety Car was deployed, when the order was Button, Glock, Heidfeld, Trulli, Barrichello, Webber, Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, ninth, Bourdais, Alonso, Nakajima, Piquet, Raikkonen fourteenth and Sutil fifteenth. Then the race was red flagged, with cars lining up on the grid, apart from Kimi's F60, which was pushed into the garage, with an isolation problem on the KERS system. After much consultation, even though the rain eased slightly, Race Control decided to abort the race, with the result put back to the order before the red flag was waved, which meant Heidfeld was promoted back to second place. After this first rush of two races in two weekends, the Scuderia can now pause to catch its breath and assess its bad start to the year. As Massa said, it's not as though the team has become stupid, it just needs to change its approach and it will have a chance to prove it can recover from difficult situations, when the F1 championship moves on to Round 3 in Shanghai, China in a fortnight's time. |
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Jenson Button (1st): "What a crazy race! It was really exciting out there and I'm delighted that we came out on top today. I didn't have the best of starts and was surprised at the lack of grip on my side of the grid. I went in deep at turn one and got a big snap of oversteer which dropped me to fourth but I was able to get past Alonso at the end of lap one and overtake Trulli and Rosberg at the first pit stops. I was happy with the car and our pace was good but the weather really threw the race wide open. Choosing the tyres was difficult but we made the right calls at the right time, particularly when it started raining so hard and so quickly. I have to say a massive thank you to my engineer Andrew Shovlin who was on the podium with me today and the whole team for their work on the strategy and in the pits. Last weekend we said that we had a fairytale start to the season and I am so proud that has continued here." Rubens Barrichello (5th): "It was a great race today and I was really happy with how the car was performing in the dry in the first stint of the race. After a good start, I felt that I had the pace to catch up with the front-runners and score some good points. Unfortunately once the conditions started to deteriorate, we lost a little too much time on my side of the garage with the pit stops which cost me a few places. However the important thing is that the car is going great and we have proved that it is competitive at different types of track. Congratulations to Jenson and the team for maintaining our fantastic start to the season and I look forward to continuing the challenge in Shanghai." Ross Brawn, team principal: "A fantastic team performance today and a thoroughly deserved second victory of the season for Jenson and the team. It was an eventful race to say the least and I am pleased with how quickly we were able to react to the changing conditions to maintain the lead that Jenson had achieved in the first stint of the race. However it was not perfect as we could have had both cars in the top three if we had been a little bolder in bringing the drivers in for their third stops for intermediate tyres. We are delighted to have had such a successful start to the season with two pole positions and two victories in the opening races. You can't ask for more than that and it is a credit to the talent, attitude and dedication of our team that we have been able to achieve such results."
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BMW Sauber |
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In a dramatic Malaysian Grand Prix, BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld finished second. After the race was started in dry conditions, heavy rain forced the race director to red flag it early. Robert Kubica, was unlucky and had to stop on lap two due to an engine problem. Because, as required by the regulations, the drivers were not able to complete 75 percent of the race distance they will only receive half the points. Nick Heidfeld "I’m obviously very happy to be second after starting from tenth. It was a really extreme and challenging race today. I had a good start but also quite a heavy car, which meant racing was not easy for me." "When it was obvious it would rain soon I pitted seven laps earlier than planned, and we decided to go on full rain tyres. They wore down quickly because the heavy rain didn’t come. The team kept telling me 'stay out, heavy rain expected', but the tyres felt almost like slicks." "For those laps intermediates would have been much quicker, but who could know that. When it finally poured down it was the right decision to stop the race. It was absolutely impossible to drive. I spun behind the safety car, not only because of aquaplaning with the tyres but also with the underfloor. I’m happy for our team that we can now bring home at least one proper result from the first two races of the season." Robert Kubica "When I started on the formation lap, my engine produced strange noises and there was very little power. I started the race, which under the circumstances was not easy, and continued to drive. I asked my team what I should do, but before I got an answer the car caught fire and I stopped." Mario Theissen, BMW Motorsport Director "The race was as chaotic as we expected based on the weather forecast. For Robert, the race was already over at the start because his engine didn’t respond to the throttle. According to an early analysis the reason was a leakage in the pneumatic system." "Because of the weather forecast we put Nick on a heave fuel load. This enabled him to stay out until the rain started. He switched to rain tyres at the right moment and was able to finish the race. In extremely difficult conditions he managed to achieve the best possible result. Compliments go to Nick and the whole crew, who worked without any mistakes." Willy Rampf, head of engineering: “This was not a race for poor nerves! For Robert, the GP was over at the start. That’s a shame, because he was in a strong position. Nick started on a heavy fuel load. The strategy to leave him out for a long time paid off. This was brave, but in the end it worked out. In very difficult conditions he managed to keep the car on the track and to capture a podium finish. Compliments are due to the whole team who worked perfectly in chaotic conditions.” |
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Toyota |
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Timo Glock (3rd): "It is fantastic to be back on the podium and I am really happy for the whole team. It was a really tricky race. I started third and was eighth at the end of the first lap. I struggled a bit behind the guys in front of me in dry conditions but I made the right call on the intermediate tyres; I said let's just take the risk and go for it. It was a long time before the rain really came down and I was not sure what everyone else was doing. They were struggling on the wets but I was really quick and I made up a lot of positions. When the rain came down I had to go to heavy wets because my tyres were destroyed. I was going well on them and it was unlucky that they declared the results based on the order at the penultimate lap because I could have had second. When the red flags came out I was second but I'm still happy with the result." Jarno Trulli (4th): "I am happy for the team. I feel a bit unlucky this weekend - I missed pole position by a tenth and it could have been an even better result for me. It was a good race and it was certainly eventful. I was pushing at the front and fighting with Rosberg for the lead. Actually I was struggling a bit with traction but it was very close. Then the rain came and the team chose to go with heavy wets, which was the more conventional strategy. I was the quickest car on the heavy wets but that was not enough because the tyres went after two laps. Timo was on the intermediates at that stage and that worked out better for him. I was a bit unlucky but strategy is always easier in hindsight and I don't want to blame anyone. It is a pity to just miss out on the podium but it is another very good result for the entire team." Tadashi Yamashina, team principal: "I am very proud of the team's efforts today because it is fantastic to get another podium and it shows how competitive we are this season. It was an extremely challenging race for the team but everyone did their best and was professional even in those difficult conditions. It is disappointing for the fans that the race could not continue as scheduled due to the weather but there was nothing that could be done. We have shown again today that we are really fighting at the front this season and I am obviously hoping we can continue this very good performance in the Chinese Grand Prix as well." |
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Renault |
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It was a disappointing afternoon for the Renault team as both Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet ended a very wet Malaysian Grand Prix outside the points. A heavy rain storm at the mid-way point saw the safety car deployed before the race was eventually red-flagged on lap 32 and was not restarted. Fernando Alonso “We made a good start from P9 to P3 and after that we had to defend our position because we were slow. This part of the race was interesting and it was difficult to decide what tyre to take when we made our stop because we didn’t know how heavy the rain would be. We stay optimistic for the next race in Shanghai and we remain determined to continue fighting for the championship.” Nelson Piquet “Just before the red flag it was impossible to drive; really difficult to hold the car. We tried to call the right decision at the right time and there is nothing more we could have done in these conditions. The balance of the car was good, but the grip on the track was quite low, although we had a good start to the race. We have learnt a lot again this weekend and I now need to get ready for the next race.” Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering “I suppose in many ways the heavy rain is no surprise to anyone who knows the area, but it brought some interesting elements to the race. In the early part of the race the value of the KERS system certainly showed, but as in Australia we still need to find performance from the car in other areas.” Remi Taffin, Head of Engine Operations “Today we are disappointed. The race was challenging and we tried our best to adapt, but the weather was so difficult to predict. We knew it was going to rain, but we didn’t think it would be so heavy. However, I didn’t expect the race to be stopped. We now have to work hard, but I feel we have taken a step forward since Melbourne, as shown by our strong start to the race.” |
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Williams |
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Nico Rosberg, Williams (8th): “I took the lead off the start and it is a while since Williams have been out the front on pure performance and I have to thank the engineers for that. The car was going really well and I showed my ability to consistently push on each lap and open the gap to those behind me. And then the rain came and unfortunately the situation just didn’t go our way. But we got something out of the day and our car is right up there, so we will be looking to get the points we deserve next time out.” Kazuki Nakajima, Williams (12th): “I had wheelspin of the line and I dropped quite a few positions to the KERS cars around me, and I ended up behind Piquet and I struggled to get past. This affected my plan as I dropped quite a lot of time behind him and then of course the weather came along and it was impossible to make a totally correct decision with the changing conditions. It was the right thing ultimately to red flag the race and it was no surprise that we didn’t restart.” Sam Michael, technical director: “It was a great start from Nico and he continued a good performance in the dry in the first stint. When the weather came, we made the same tyre choices as the cars around us, including the Brawns and Trulli, but they gained more from their stops than us.” |
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Force India |
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Adrian Sutil (17th): “When the rain started it was very difficult and just about impossible to drive. We were in second or first gear at 20kph and even then we were sliding around the circuit. It was unbelievable, so it was a good decision to stop the race. It was a bit of a shame that it couldn't be restarted as I think we would have had a good chance in the wet conditions. In the end though it was too dark to restart. Looking forward to Shanghai, I want to get another weekend with no problems: let's improve our pace and look for some downforce, and carry our momentum forward.” Giancarlo Fisichella (18th): “Unfortunately we made a wrong call to change to extreme wets very early on. We came in too early and I did three or four laps under dry conditions so we destroyed the tyre. Then it was raining and the grip was getting better and better but there was just so much water and the tyres were almost slicks so I could not control the car, it was just aquaplaning. It was not a good race for us, unfortunately we had a wrong strategy but we will see for the next race.” Dr Vijay Mallya, chairman and team principal: “Today in Malaysia we had almost unprecedented conditions and we took a risk with the strategy. Unfortunately the rain we expected - which you can normally bank on coming - didn't come soon enough and Giancarlo was unfortunate enough to be returning to the pits for a new set of extreme tyres when the rain hit hardest. As a team we will learn from this as we move forward to China and Bahrain. We're growing in confidence and potential all the time so we just need a good race to demonstrate it.” |
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McLaren |
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Lewis Hamilton (7th): "All I could do was try and keep the car on the track. It was the correct decision to stop the race because it was just too dangerous for everyone. I love it when it rains, but this was just too much." Heikki Kovalainen (DNF): "My start was okay. I was taking it quite carefully and was trying to slot in behind Lewis, then I just lost the rear and spun out. It was my mistake. Game over." Martin Whitmarsh, team principal "The extremely changeable dry-wet conditions made todays race a very challenging one for all competitors - but, as ever, Lewiss ability shone brightly in the gathering gloom and the race brought another really impressive performance from him. He kept his head throughout, and the result was a hard-earned point for seventh place. That may not sound like a great deal by our usually high standards - but, given where he started, its a step in the right direction. Overall, then, in testing conditions the team did a great job as did Lewis." Norbert Haug, vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport "A race like a battle. Despite starting from the sixth row on the grid, Lewis was in good shape - and everybody who kept his car on the track in these conditions was a hero today. Congratulations to Jenson Button and Brawn GP on the second consecutive win with Mercedes power; which he both achieved from pole position." |
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Red Bull Renault |
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The Malaysian Grand Prix promised a great deal for the Red Bull Renault team as the RB5 proved fast both in wet and dry conditions. However, the heavy rains that hit the 31-lap race saw Mark Webber finish sixth while Sebastian Vettel failed to finish after spinning off in the wet conditions. Mark Webber “The guys made the best call to stop the race when they did. It would have been nice to have had some more laps to give us a crack at getting on the podium – but that’s how it is, so I’ve got mixed emotions. It’s dark now (7pm), so it was the right call not to make a re-start. I’m not so sure you can blame the time of day for today’s conditions, as the weather was bad at 3pm too. It seems it was just one of those days. It’s been the mistiest and coolest day I’ve ever seen in Malaysia for race day.” Sebastian Vettel “Not so much to tell. I was on the intermediate tyres and they were pretty gone as it wasn’t very wet before the sudden pour down. I was approaching Turn seven and there was suddenly lots of water, but I was being very cautious. I lost the car due to aquaplaning and there was nothing I could do. There was too much water and my tyres were not made for those conditions. A spin wouldn’t have been much of a problem, but the anti-stall didn’t work. Without that, I would just have spun, lost some time and that would have been it. In the past drivers had three pedals, a throttle, a brake and a clutch and when you were spinning you knew exactly what to do. It’s not in our hands anymore, so it’s a shame that we have to retire for this stupid reason.” Christian Horner, Team Principal “The rain was always going to come, it was just a question of when. Unfortunately it started with drizzle, followed by heavy rain. We got both drivers onto full wets at the earliest possibility and we then put Sebastian onto intermediates. Just before the heavy rain came, he was the quickest car on the track at the time but unfortunately he spun on his in-lap to get extremes and the anti-stall didn’t catch the engine, so that was the end of his race. Mark made a pit stop for intermediates just before it started to rain heavily and then pitted again for the extremes. If he would have completed that lap, we believe he would have been third in the running order. However, the count back, classifies us 6th.” Fabrice Lom, Renault Principal Engineer “What a race! We had a difficult start at the beginning and Mark lost some places, although Sebastian made some. Both cars then had good fights– moving up through the field and overtaking lots of cars. Then the rain came and it was like a lottery. We have to apologise to Sebastian; the anti-stall didn’t catch his engine, so we have to investigate that. Mark did a fantastic job; it’s an unfair result for him, but at least we get the first points of the year.” |
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Toro Rosso Ferrari |
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With the exception of the race winner, the results of the rain his Malaysian Grand Prix were something of a lottery and Sebastien Bourdais had hoped that his decision to take onboard full wet tyres early would yield points. The gamble didn't pay off however as Bourdais finished in tenth position while rookie team-mate Sebastien Buemi spun out of the action but will be classified 16th. Sebastien Bourdais “Round about lap 18, we were running low on fuel so we were hoping for rain before the end of the first stint. It didn’t come quite in time and we gambled on extreme wets as heavy rain was expected, but instead it was more like drizzle, so we changed again to intermediates." "Then the rain really came and I had to come in again for extremes and after that, the race was stopped. It was a shame, as it seemed we were pretty competitive in these very changeable conditions. I would have liked to restart, as it might have been an opportunity to pick up points, even if only half-points.” Sebastien Buemi “We were really going well and I think I was around P7 or 8 and the plan was to come in on the following lap, but then I went off at Turn 5. The extreme tyres were completely gone, like driving on slicks and I slowed down, but obviously not enough for the amount of water, so I spun, went into the gravel and stalled." "We were competitive in terms of speed at some stages, running in the top six lap times, even though I was running last, having had to come in to change the nose. I think one of the Force India cars pushed me wide at the exit of the last corner and I ran over something that broke the front wing. I am disappointed as the spin at the end was my mistake and it is on days like this that we should have picked up some points.” |
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Provisional Results
Drivers' Championship
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