Malaysian Grand Prix - Qualifying quotes.

Jenson Button:

"Achieving pole position today in Malaysia is possibly even more special than last week in Australia. It's not easy to get one pole, but two successive poles is just fantastic and it's a first for me in my Formula One career. It's a great feeling and proves that our car works well on different types of circuit."

"We were really struggling with the balance yesterday and I had a lot of rear locking. However, we made some changes to the car overnight which really improved it for today and it felt really good throughout qualifying. It's a big turnaround and I have to say thank you to the team for their hard work in such tough conditions. They did a fantastic job."

"We are hoping that the rain stays away tomorrow, but you just never know at this circuit and we will be working hard tonight to make sure we are prepared for all eventualities."

Jarno Trulli:

"The team has done a fantastic job, we stayed away from traffic and the car was feeling good, so it has been a very successful day for us. The car feels strong now, but I have to admit I wasn't sure I would be in this position after practice yesterday because it was quite difficult. I worked hard with my engineers to analyse the data and make some improvements to the set-up and we got it spot-on in qualifying."

"In a way it's a little disappointing to miss pole position by just a few hundredths but that's how close F1 is at the moment. Compared to last year we are much more competitive this season and instead of fighting for the top six we are now here fighting in the top three. I hope for a strong race tomorrow and I will fight as hard as I can."

Sebastian Vettel:

"I have the penalty and there's nothing I can do about that. The secret is just to focus on what I'm here to do and I'm here to race, so that's what we do. Of course it's a shame to see the car performing at a good level in Q1, Q2 and Q3 and know that we have a plus ten tomorrow; we were up in the top five throughout."

"It will be a very tough day tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to it and nothing is impossible. I'm hoping for some rain, as that can mix things up quite a lot, but let's see."

Rubens Barrichello:

"It was a good qualifying session for the team today and well done to Jenson once again as he had the pace to put the car on pole. Unfortunately, on my side of the garage, the car developed understeer in qualifying and we were not able to resolve the problem. However, we know the performance of the car in race conditions is strong and I will be aiming to score as many points as possible tomorrow before I can start chasing for my own pole position and wins."

Timo Glock:

"Overall, the qualifying went quite well and I'm happy to be starting third, but I'm a bit frustrated with my final lap in Q3 because I was struggling a little bit to get used to how the car felt with a heavier fuel load. That meant I didn't get 100 per cent out of the car."

"In Q2, on a light fuel load, I made a few mistakes on my first run, but then I got it absolutely right on the second and I was really pleased with my lap. In the end, it's a good result for the whole team to have two cars in the top three. It will be a tricky race and Jarno and I will push each other very hard, but we also have to think about the weather because that could be a factor."

Nico Rosberg:

"I am very happy with fourth on the grid for tomorrow's race. Our general pace in the first two qualifying sessions wasn't quite where we wanted to be, but it gave us enough to work with. Then in Q3, with some fuel in the car, it felt really nice, which allowed me to put in a very good lap that put me on sixth, which after the penalties for the other cars, is on the second row. From that start position as well as with a good car and a good strategy, we can be optimistic and say we have a good chance to aim for a podium."

"One consideration is of course the start and I will have to check who will be using KERS around me. My preference for tomorrow would definitely be a dry race because it's always the safer way to go, but if it rains, even though it will mix things up, it will be no problem and we will make the best of either situation."

Mark Webber:

"Qualifying's tight! That was quite an enjoyable session. It would be nice to have a bit more of a cushion between us and the other cars, but that's not what it's about at the moment and seventh is the best I could do. With the strategy we're on, we'll see how we go tomorrow."

Robert Kubica:

"I'm satisfied with what I was able to achieve today. Although we didn't make any major changes after free practice, the car was bottoming quite a lot, which made it unstable and therefore not easy to drive. I did what I could in the corners, but the straights are long here and give the drivers who are using a KERS a major advantage. I have to start on the dirty side of the track, plus I have some cars with a KERS behind me, which will make the start very interesting."

Kimi Raikkonen:

"Honestly, the main problem is that, at the moment, we are not quick enough to fight for the top places. The car is not lacking in any particular area, but we do not have enough grip to be as quick as those who finished ahead of us today."

"Tomorrow's race will be very tough. We will try to make the most of the start. In Australia, it was very good but there was nowhere to go, whereas here, the straight is long and the track is wide. Furthermore, as we saw yesterday, our pace is competitive. We have to improve our performance but obviously, it is important to have the regulations clarified as quickly as possible, to understand in which direction to go. Both types of tyres work well over a distance and we will try and exploit that."

Fernando Alonso:

"I had no temperature this morning so I was in better condition to drive the car."

"Our result today is a bit disappointing because I expected to be fifth or sixth in qualifying, but overall the car is better than in Australia, although we're not fast enough and need to improve. We will also have to see what role KERS will play in the race tomorrow."

Nick Heidfeld:

"Of course I'm very disappointed. I looked fairly safe in Q2 when I was seventh but, on my second quick run, I had traffic on the out-lap. Two cars in front of me and one behind meant that I couldn't go at the pace needed to heat the tyres up, and then the important lap wasn't good enough."

"After we did the comparison yesterday, I was using the KERS today and it helped, especially in sector one where I was the fastest car for most of the time."

Kazuki Nakajima:

"The car was good, I had a good feeling in the cockpit and everything went okay today, but I just needed to find another tenth to get into Q3. Despite this, I now have the freedom to fuel the car for the optimum strategy, and with this benefit and a good long run pace, a good finish is possible if I keep my head down during the race."

Lewis Hamilton:

"We qualified about where we expected to. We don't yet have the pace to get into Q3 but the balance doesn't feel too bad - we're just unable to carry enough speed through the corners. We expect to see some improvements over the next two or three races. For tomorrow, I'm just going to race my heart out, do the best I can and try and score some points."

Heikki Kovalainen:

"We knew that getting into the top ten would be tough, so my result was more or less what I expected. The gap to the cars in front is smaller than it was in Melbourne, so I'm confident that we're headed in the right direction, but we haven't yet found that extra bit of speed we need. The balance today wasn't completely to my liking, but I did my best and I'm looking forward to an enjoyable battle in the race tomorrow."

Sebastien Bourdais:

"We were quicker than expected in qualifying which is great, even if we are still not where we want to be. I would expect that, as we develop the car more, maybe by the time we get to Spain, we can be thereabouts."

"I'm not sure if I want rain or not tomorrow but, for sure, it might be the best chance we have of scoring points."

Felipe Massa:

"I am very disappointed. If I had ended up sixteenth because of a lack of performance, then I could have accepted the result, but like this it hurts even more. The track improved so much with each passing lap and my first run was not perfect and nor was it enough. We did not react in time and lost the chance to have another go. No one person is to blame: we are a team and we lose or win all together. We have to change our approach and tackle qualifying in a different way to the past. There is no room for error and we have to give it our all, right from the first session."

"Nevertheless, I am very motivated. It won't be the first time I will have to tackle a race starting way down the order and I know I can count on having a strong pace. We will have to try and exploit every opportunity to make up places."

Nelson Piquet Jr:

"This morning we knew that it might be a difficult qualifying session. However, it could have worked out better for me this afternoon. On my final lap, I pushed a bit too hard at the end and lost three or four tenths, which proved costly. I'm obviously disappointed that I couldn't get the most from qualifying, but I have to put this behind me and think about the race tomorrow."

Giancarlo Fisichella:

"I had a problem with the throttle pedal on the first run, so we changed it and I lost the chance to do three runs, which was very important. The lap I did was clean and the car is well balanced. Again the field is very mixed and, with the chance of some rain, we should look to keep up with the field and take any chance we can."

Adrian Sutil:

"We did a good job today, we had no problems and this was our pace - we couldn't really have done better. We just need to find some downforce. For tomorrow, I want to have a good race and to get to the finish. We are very quick down the straights and there is some potential for overtaking so let's see - we had an exciting race in Melbourne and anything can happen. I am still positive."

Sebastien Buemi:

"On my penultimate set of tyres, I was in a Q2 position and then, on my final set, I improved a lot in sectors one and two. Unfortunately, in the final sector, I caught the kerb and ended up in the gravel. It's a shame."

"For tomorrow, the best thing for me would be to have very changeable conditions to see if we could profit from any unusual situation that might develop."

Ross Brawn (Brawn GP - team principal):

"It was a great qualifying performance from Jenson and the team today, particularly as we had some issues with the balance of the car in yesterday's practice sessions."

"At the start of qualifying, there was a distinct possibility of rain, so we went out early in Q1 to bank some dry running and, from there, it was a busy session with the track evolving incredibly quickly. Rubens was struggling for grip under braking, which resulted in understeer and he was never completely happy with the balance of his car. With the replacement of his gearbox, this puts him further back on the grid than we would have hoped, however his experience will stand him in good stead in the race."

"Jenson was much happier with the balance, which reflects in his second pole of the season after an excellent lap. It was an incredibly close session and with the prospect of rain in the race tomorrow, we should be in for a very eventful and exciting Malaysian Grand Prix."

Pascal Vasselon (Toyota - senior general manager chassis):

"We are very pleased with this result even if the ultimate target is to be on pole position. Yesterday's sessions went so-so I would say, we were not completely happy with the car balance and the grip, but obviously we have reacted well overnight and, finally, it has been a very good team result."

"Thanks to Bridgestone, the tyre situation here is quite easy to handle for qualifying and the race so we don't expect anything unusual in that sense, which is the opposite of Melbourne when the final laps were dictated by the tyres. So all in all it has been a good weekend so far and we are very optimistic for the race tomorrow."

Christian Horner (Red Bull Racing - team principal):

"A strong team qualifying performance today. Both Mark and Sebastian are looking quick, but we're just too far behind the double-decker diffusers at the moment. Unfortunately, Sebastian has his ten-place penalty to take, but hopefully he can have a bit of luck tomorrow."

Fabrice Lom (Renault/Red Bull Racing - principal engineer, track support):

"A nice qualifying. The performance of the car is good and I think we will be in fifth and 13th on the grid tomorrow with the penalty. We have new engines here and with the quality of our engine and the way the RB5 is performing, I think we have everything under control for tomorrow. It's a tough race for the engine here, but it's even tougher for the driver."

Sam Michael (Williams - technical director):

"Today Nico had a good qualifying session and we expected that Kazuki would also make Q3, but he will nevertheless race well from just outside the top ten. The cars both ran well, without problems and we are looking forward to a strong race tomorrow and collecting some points."

Mario Theissen (BMW Sauber - team principal):

"The rain that was expected for qualifying didn't come, and the result confirms the picture we already saw emerging in Melbourne. It remains difficult to break into the ranks of the teams with the two-step diffusers. Having said this, we have to be satisfied with the positions we have achieved."

"Due to two drivers having penalties that will drop them down the grid, Robert and Nick will be starting from sixth and tenth. For tomorrow, there is also a high chance of rain, which means the order could get mixed up during the race."

Willy Rampf (BMW Sauber - head of engineering):

"We knew it would be very difficult, but nevertheless we hoped to get both our drivers into Q3. Unfortunately, that didn't work out with Nick. Because of traffic on his final out lap, he was not able to heat his tyres up properly. Robert was consistently doing well, and did the best he could. Being sixth is an acceptable grid position with our strategy."

Stefano Domenicali (Ferrari - team principal):

"This result is definitely not up to our expectations, even if we knew it would be a difficult qualifying. However, the aspect that really leaves a bitter taste in the mouth is the way in which we tackled the first part of the session. We made a false assumption that cost us dear with Felipe, who was immediately out, failing to make the first cut."

"Tomorrow, it will be a long and difficult race, with a question mark over the weather, which can change really quickly. We will have to make the most of our race pace and the start. In Australia, we saw that anything can happen and we will have to be ready to pounce on every opportunity, with the obvious proviso that we cannot make any more mistakes."

Luca Baldisserri (Ferrari - technical director):

"We opted to do just one run on the new soft tyres in Q1 in order to save a set for the following sessions and to do that run right at the start of qualifying as we were worried about the threat of rain. Then we did not react quickly enough in recognising that the track was improving much more than we had expected and we watched our two drivers slide further and further down the order - to such an extent that Felipe didn't make it to Q2. Now we have to concentrate on the race. We know our potential over a distance is better than that shown over the first lap and tomorrow we will have to make the most of that."

Pat Symonds (Renault - executive director of engineering):

"It was a bit cooler as we were running later in the afternoon. The track temperature started at about 40?C and dropped to about 36?C, although the grip seemed reasonably constant throughout the sessions."

"It was tough to get into the final part of qualifying but we managed to do it with one car this weekend. The performance is not yet where we want it to be."

"We have decided to run with quite a high fuel load so that if the weather turns bad tomorrow we will have an advantage. Our strategy will depend on the weather. It is going to be very tough tomorrow. Even starting at 5pm will give us high temperatures and high humidity. If the rain comes, it will be intense and produce very difficult conditions."

Martin Whitmarsh (McLaren-Mercedes - team principal):

"We always knew that qualifying would be difficult around Sepang because MP4-24 lacks the aerodynamic downforce needed to match the top teams. That's no fault of either Lewis or Heikki, who have driven faultlessly all weekend: they just lack the grip needed to get the most from the car through the high-speed corners."

"Of course, starting twelfth and 14th is not where we are accustomed to starting grands prix, but we are confident that the improvements we are preparing for the forthcoming races will allow us to quickly move into the midst of the tight pocket of cars competing for times in Q3."

Norbert Haug (Mercedes - motorsport director):

"We will start tomorrow's race from about where we thought we would. We have made some small additional improvements to MP4-24 since last weekend's season-opener in Australia, but we still missed out on getting into the top ten by two tenths of a second. Our KERS certainly helped lap times in sectors one and three and we hope it will also prove beneficial tomorrow and hopefully help us overtake some of the cars that start ahead of us."

Giorgio Ascanelli (Scuderia Toro Rosso - technical director):

"Once again, I am happy with the reliability of our cars: in the five days of running, we have had so far in this year's championship, we have had just one problem with a minor component yesterday afternoon. Getting one car into Q2 is an achievement. Of course, we could have done better, but our level of understanding of the car is improving and the drivers are getting used to it. Today, Buemi made a mistake, but if a young driver doesn't make mistakes he doesn't learn and Bourdais did a good job."

Dominic Harlow (Force India F1 - chief race engineer):

"It was a tense session today with a constant threat of heavy showers, but they didn't materialise. Giancarlo lost some track time with a throttle pedal problem, but recovered well to place a time just 0.05secs faster than Adrian. We're expecting an interesting race tomorrow and we know from last weekend that our race pace coupled with strong straightline speed and a creative strategy could be good enough to score points."

Hirohide Hamashima (Bridgestone - director of tyre development):

"Today showed us that the cars are very close to each other on lap times. For example, in FP3 the top thirteen cars were covered by a second. In terms of tyre performance, the soft tyre has an advantage of about around 1.0-1.3 seconds over its best lap. The soft is able to deliver its best lap time generally on its first flying lap and the performance drop-off does not appear to be as extreme as we saw with the super soft tyre in Australia. The hard gives its best lap time after around 3-4 laps and we have seen very durable performance from it, so it should be the better race tyre."

"Sepang is an interesting circuit as the track surface improves a lot over the course of the race weekend. This is because the high temperatures mean that the rubber laid melts into the track surface allowing very good surface from a grip point of view. Race strategy should be interesting here, as the difference between the tyres in terms of performance drop-off is not as great as in Australia, so there could be more strategy options."