Saturday Qualifying

[buza]

1
Alonso Renault M
1:32.582 133.928 mph

2
Trulli Toyota M
1:32.672 0.090

3
Fisichella Renault M
1:32.765 0.183

4
Raikkonen McLaren M
1:32.839 0.257

5
R Schumacher Toyota M
1:33.106 0.524

6
Webber WilliamsF1 M
1:33.204 0.622

7
Montoya McLaren M
1:33.333 0.751

8
Heidfeld WilliamsF1 M
1:33.464 0.882

9
Button BAR M
1:33.616 1.034

10
Klien Red Bull M
1:33.724 1.142

11
Coulthard Red Bull M
1:33.809 1.227

12
M Schumacher Ferrari B
1:34.072 1.490

13
Massa Sauber M
1:34.151 1.569

14
Barrichello Ferrari B
1:34.162 1.580

15
Davidson BAR M
1:34.866 2.284

16
Villeneuve Sauber M
1:34.887 2.305

17
Karthikeyan Jordan B
1:37.806 5.224

18
Monteiro Jordan B
1:37.856 5.274

19
Friesacher Minardi B
1:39.268 6.686

20
Albers Minardi B
1:40.432 7.850

[Dani Filth]

good showing from Toyota . in fact . very good . lets see if they will as fast with fuel onboard ..
Ferrari .. :-S probably more consistent in the race . McLaren still don't look as good as the Renault .

[GTRMagic]

So we still have to put up with the Sunday times aggregating to a final starting position??

The engines in some of these cars must feel like those living in a Minardi... asked to run countless thousands of kilometres before a refresh

[luke]

Both Ferrari's in 12th and 14th, this proves Ferrari, is obviously not on the pace, question is for how long.....I expect however when they get the new, car they're be alot more on the pace.

I'm suprised to see Toyota up there, although it's a good thing.

Nice to see Renault, at the front again.

JV in 16th.

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by luke

Both Ferrari's in 12th and 14th, this proves Ferrari, is obviously not on the pace, question is for how long.....I expect however when they get the new, car they're be alot more on the pace.

I don't think it's the car,i think it more than likely to be the tyres.Which isn't going to help the new car IMO.

Toyota look good don't they.This qually session has given us a better indication of the teams performances.

The Ferraris just aren't as fast over the single lap,should be better in the race though.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Go Trulli!

The real question is can the Toyota keep the pace over race distance this time?

[Rick]

big chance of Renault getting away and a few others stuck behind a Toyota that gets slower as it eats its tyres.

[Kempi]

Ross Brawn said the new car would be .5-1s quicker than the old. That still leaves them just scratching on the top 5. So Martyn's assumptions it might have to do with the tyres sounds pretty good. Michelin developed 50 constructions and 50 compounds over the winter, Bridgestone only had half of each. 7 teams with 4-5 topteams compared to 3 teams with only one topteam speak a pretty well understandable language when it comes to testing mileage.

It will be interesting to see wether the rear tyres will kill the Toyotas again or wether they have found the issue. Red Bull's aero seems to hinder them in Sepang, Melbourne was a much more mechanical traction minded track, here it is aero and they are further back than in Australia.

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Just scraping the top 10 is where I'd expect to see RBR going by Jaguar's history. DC and Klien proved to be fairly consistent two weeks a go so the placing might not hinder them too much. DC will bag a few points I bet.

[Sodemo]

Interesting...
Poor showing from JPM.

[Hugh Jarce]

Obviously the Toyota's must be running ridiculously light whilst the Ferrari's are clearly conserving their tyres.

Nice one!

[Coops]

I Love to see Ferrari and M Schumacher so far down the grid. The longer he is in the old car the better. If the season keeps up like this i hope he gives up. I have never liked him since he took Hill out!!!

[Sodemo]

Ferrari 1.5 seconds slower over 1 lap... time to wheel out the F2005.

[ozrevhead]

Mark did v v well considering that yesterday he couldn't post a time due to gearbox troubles - close enough to RS and Fisi if hes good enough

fingers crossed for Giancarlo too - going v v well

[Jordi]

Isn't it more likely to be a problem of the Bridgestones getting up to speed in one single lap rather than the F2004M being just plain slow?

[ASCII Man]

I can only hope that it's the latter...

And uhm... where's Sato?

[Sodemo]

I can see Ferrari slipping further down the grid tomorrow unless they run lighter fuel than they would like.

[Sodemo]

Places 1-14 are very close with only 1.5 between them, it will be interesting to see if any changes come about after final quali.

[ralf fan]

Stunning pace from Toyota
with all the drivers running low fuel it obviously is their true pace and not "artificial"

Ferrari are slow.......

[ssilviu]

"We have been a bit surprised when we have seen the times go down," said Schumacher. "Yesterday we were in the picture with the times. It will be a long and hard race so let's see what we can do tomorrow. We have to be realistic, you cannot expect too much, and it's very clear that Renault and McLaren are the big ones in the race to watch. You have to see that even in winter sometimes Toyota have been very fast on one lap."

Toyota driver Jarno Trulli finished the session second fastest as he split the Renault duo of first-placed Spaniard Fernando Alonso and third-placed Italian Giancarlo Fisichella. Schumacher believes Trulli's qualifying position will virtually hand the race to Renault.

"Very often Toyota's pace went down over the distance and if they do this tomorrow it could be good for the Renault," said Schumacher. "I think they will go in front at the start and then they can stay in front because the others will sit behind a Toyota, which will be slower and slower and slower..."

that's all to say about toyota

[Rick]

Originally Posted by ralf fan

Stunning pace from Toyota

especially Jarno !!

[Rich R]

at least for ferraris sake, if they are faster in race trim, malaysia is a good track for overtaking. and i'd be surprised if the toyotas don't go backwards tomorrow.

[Hugh Jarce]

Me too - but they have made up some ground in the past months.

Oh and lets not forget MS went very backwards in the last race - right into the gravel.

Should be worth getting up early tomorrow.

[BootsOntheSide]

Once the Ferrari tyres get up to temperature in race speed they will be faster, and it's quite possible that Toyota will drop back. If Toyota's pace is typically poor on racedayI really hope Alonso and/or Kimi can get ahead of Jarno, and Mark and JPM ahead of Ralf, either in Q2 or the start.

The field really is amazingly close right down to the Ferraris, so a lot of place changes are likely in Q2. This could be the real positive side of the new qualifying system, and I'm expecting to miss an extremely good session tomorrow.

Another poor one-lap qualifying effort from DC, although I agree that he should outpace Klien tomorrow.

[Knowlesy]

Michael will be strong late on tomorrow I guess, provided he hasn't crashed into someone by half distance.

I fear for Rubens. And the Toyotas will fade I should imagine, once the rears start to decline.

McLaren will be the ones to watch IMO.......but the Renaults look sooo strong, once again.

But really, it's an unknown. We just can't predict how those tyres and engines will last tomorrow. It's all very exciting for it!