Ferrari are out to prove a point, it seems. That they are not a team that can be written off very easily. They took the first step towards that end when Felipe Massa (Brazil) and Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) booked their places on the front row of the starting grid for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
Massa tore his way through the field in one minute, 35.748 seconds to take pole position, while Raikkonen was second fastest with 1:36.230. Incidentally, Massa was on pole position last year too. However, it was heartbreak for Force India drivers Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) and Adrian Sutil (Germany), who will start from 17th and 21st positions respectively. Fisichella timed 1:36.240, while Sutil clocked 1:37.101. The Italian had started the race from 16th place in the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix.
It wasn’t a totally bad show from Fisichella. In the first qualifying session, he had timed 1:36.369 and went up to the 10th place. However, he could not hold on to that position for long. A steady decline followed as the other drivers put up better lap times, ending Fisichella's hopes of making it to the second qualifying session.
In Sutil’s case, it was not a very heartening performance since he was ridden with tyre problems. Sutil was using the soft compound tyres, which obviously did not go well with the conditions.
At the head of the field, it was highly competitive. The Ferraris of Massa and Raikkonen had problems in Melbourne, but look very strong here. They were third and sixth respectively in the first qualifying, and second and first in the second qualifying. It will be fair to expect a very strong performance from the Italian team on the morrow.
The McLaren-Mercedes cars were only second best to the Ferraris, with Finland's Heikki Kovalainen (1:36.613) and Briton Lewis Hamilton (1:36.709) taking third and fourth places on the starting grid. Both, however, were penalised five grid positions each for impeding other drivers during qualifying. Kovalainen will now start eighth position and Hamilton ninth.
The pair was interviewed by race stewards after the qualifying session. BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld and Renault’s Fernando Alonso were judged to have been impeded by the slow-moving McLarens while they were trying to set their fastest time.
The McLaren penalty means Toyota’s Jarno Trulli will move up to third place ahead of BMW pair Robert Kubica and Heidfeld. Red Bull’s Mark Webber will be elevated to sixth and Alonso to seventh.
One of the surprises on the qualifying was Italy's Trulli. His Toyota appears to be going well, and he will eye a better performance than his retirement in Melbourne.
Two-time World champion Alonso’s Renault just does not seem to be producing the desired results. The Spaniard could only manage a time of 1:38.450 to finish ninth, though he did pick up two places later on.
The forecast rains started only after the qualifying session was over and the first race of the GP2 Series was on.
With rain forecast for Sunday as well, it could prove to be a disaster for the cars and drivers as there is no traction control to help them in rainy conditions. However, Fisichella is known to adapt well in wet conditions. An interesting race in store, surely.
