Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Malaysian Grand Prix 2011 Leading Position Sebastian Vessel is the fastest Leading position after qualifying
Beating Hamilton into second place by a mere 0.104 seconds means the top five on the grid tomorrow are the same five which started the Australian Grand Prix and in exactly the same order with Mark in P3, then Button and Alonso.
We used our Kers system on both cars this weekend and, as Sebastian said, it turned out to be a necessity. He said: “Big compliments to the guys in the team – especially those working with Kers, they did a lot of work since Australia. If we wouldn’t have had it today, neither me nor Mark would be sitting here now, so compliments to the guys.”
Webber himself saw an improvement since we left Albert Park.
Webber himself saw an improvement since we left Albert Park.
He said: “It was a better performance from me today compared to Melbourne and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I’m starting on the clean side of the grid and it should be an interesting race – there will be a lot of pit stops.”
Today was a closer battle with Hamilton and Button McLaren, as our team principal explained: “To get first and third on the grid after a fascinating qualifying session, which was really tight with the McLarens today, is a great start to the weekend,” said Christian. “On the final run and under huge pressure, Sebastian delivered just enough to get pole. Mark also improved his time and for the team to take P1 and P3, sets us up well for tomorrow.”
Both Renaults again looked strong, but for the second time this season, Michael Schumacher failed to make the cut for Q3, while his team-mate did. Neither of the drivers in Scuderia Toro Rosso made it through to final ten, Sébastien Buemi having the more dramatic outing in the second period when a piece of sidepod bodywork flew off the side of his STR6 causing the session to be briefly red-flagged.
The good news at the bottom of the screen was that HRT made the 107% cut-off point and so both Tonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan will start a grand prix tomorrow for the first time in 2011.
So… the rain held off (for the second day running) and we’ve yet to get the Pirelli wets out of their warmers. But who knows how things will fare tomorrow. We’re forecast thunder and showers.
