Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen take the front row of the
grid for the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.
SHOWS: SEPANG, MALAYSIA (MARCH 22, 2008) (FOM) -
Brazilian Felipe Massa secured pole position for the Malaysian Grand
Prix on an all-Ferrari front row in Sepang on Saturday (March 22).
Driving in hot and humid conditions under heavy cloud cover, Massa was
joined at the head of the field by Formula One world champion team mate Kimi
Raikkonen, who lapped 0.482 seconds slower than the pole sitter's time of
1:35.748.
The Ferraris have been in imperious form all weekend after suffering a
disappointing season opener in Australia, where neither car finished the race,
and their front-row sweep is the team's first since last September's Belgian
Grand Prix.
Massa, who also started from pole in last year's Malaysian Grand Prix
but finished fifth, was delighted with the performance of his car.
"Our championship starts now because what happened in the last
race was incredible," Massa told reporters.
"We did not expect that but we did a very good job during the week
and hopefully we can put everything together now to have a quick and
consistent championship."
Massa added that he was not worried by the threat of rain throughout
the session and the prospect of downpours on Sunday (March 23).
"You just need to start the session straight away so if it starts
raining you have put a lap on paper," he added. "Everybody did the
same so if the rain comes you at least have a lap.
"We had a couple of drops of rain towards the end but it did not
effect the performance of the car."
Raikkonen was disappointed with his final qualifying session after
setting the fastest time of the weekend in the second session.
"I was not too happy with the last section of qualifying,"
said the Finn. "I just could not get a good grip or the best out of the
car. But second is a good place to start and we should have a strong race.
"It's going to be a long, hot race tomorrow and we are not sure
about the weather but looking forward, we are quite happy."
The McLarens of Hekki Kovalainen and championship leader Lewis Hamilton
initially made up the second row, ahead of Italy's Jarno Trulli for Toyota and
Poland's Robert Kubica in a BMW Sauber.
But Kovalainen and Hamilton, who won the season opener in Melbourne,
will start the Grand Prix in eighth and ninth respectively after collecting
five place penalties for impeding rivals in qualifying.
Stewards had summoned the pair on Saturday after complaints from
Renault's Fernando Alonso and BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld.
A McLaren spokesman confirmed the penalty, which came after the
stewards had deliberated for several hours at the Sepang circuit, and said
McLaren would not appeal.
Heidfeld, who moves up from seventh to fifth, and Alonso, now eighth,
both said they were held up at the end of the third and final session.
They were still on quick laps while others were slowing down to save
fuel.
Alonso, the double world champion who drove for McLaren last year but
fell out with management and Hamilton before returning to Renault, spoke to
stewards before the McLaren drivers were heard.
McLaren chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said there had been no
deliberate intent to hold anyone up.
Provisional starting grid:
1. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari
3. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota
4. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber
5. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber
6. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull
7. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault
8. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren
9. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren
10. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota
11. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda
12. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull
13. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault
14. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda
15. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso
16. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India
18. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso
19. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri
20. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India
21. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri
22. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams
Qualifying times:
1. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1:35.748
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:36.230
3. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 1:36.613
4. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1:36.709
5. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 1:36.711
6. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 1:36.727
7. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 1:36.753
8. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 1:37.009
9. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:38.450
10. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 1:39.656
11. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1:35.208
12. David Coulthard (Britain) Red Bull 1:35.408
13. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 1:35.562
14. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1:35.622
15. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso 1:35.648
16. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams 1:35.670
17. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India 1:36.240
18. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams 1:36.388
19. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso 1:36.677
20. Takuma Sato (Japan) Super Aguri 1:37.087
21. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 1:37.101
22. Anthony Davidson (Britain) Super Aguri 1:37.481
