The Formula One Grand Prix of Malaysia is usually conducted in a mixture of soaring temperatures and torrential rain, but what were the hot topics of conversation up and down the pit lane?
It’s the first time this year any of the drivers had really positive things to say about a circuit.
“It is really nice to drive. There are lots of different combinations of corners and it is very challenging. It is going to be tough for the drivers because of the heat but that’s why I did all of that training.”
Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
“It’s a very special circuit, it isn’t the usual start-stop-start-stop, you need to let the car flow, use all of the road and the curbs, and it’s never, ever easy. I like it a lot.”
Lewis Hamilton – McLaren
The other big topic of conversation was the rain
“The weather forecast isn’t exactly great, so I think we’re in for a ‘special’ race.”
Tonio Liuzzi – Force India
“It’s like the English tea – it arrives at 4pm every day and it’s about the same temperature, too.”
Franz Tost – Scuderia Toro Rosso
Meanwhile Red Bull were in grim mood after two bad races and a pasting in the media, particularly from a certain Mr Lauda
“Australia was tough. Frustrating. So much more could have happened. But you don’t get the results given to you, you have to go out and earn them.”
Mark Webber – Red Bull Racing
“Niki’s knows his own mind and he’s earned the right to have an opinion, but there’s 750-odd more points to play for and it’s April in a championship that doesn’t finish until November. No one is trying harder than us.”
Mark again, warming to his topic.
Meanwhile HRT’s problems gave Red Bull a bit of perspective…
“We are two months behind the programme, but we will keep chipping away and see where we end up. Unfortunately we are testing in public… and it is not easy, but these are the cards we have been dealt with, so we will do the best job we can.”
Karun Chandhok – HRT
Lotus, on the other hand, were enjoying themselves at their home grand prix
“I knew we would get support but I didn’t realize how much. I’ve found it overwhelming and the drivers have been blown away. Of course when we first announced the team six months ago I think most people thought I had gone completely nuts.”
Tony Fernandes – Lotus team principal
As expected, it rained a lot on during Practice and Qualifying
“You end up swimming more than driving…”
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
“You needed a canoe in Q2.”
Mark Webber
Mark got top spot by gambling on the Intermediate tyre when everyone else was using the extreme wets. Sebastian Vettel was third with Nico Rosberg between them
“I was the black sheep of the top 10.”
Mark Webber
“We were thinking about it, but it was difficult to foresee the conditions. The safe option was the extreme wets.”
Michael Schumacher – Mercedes
“For him [Mark] to do it straight way was very risky, because the last time we saw the track, it was torrential… That was pretty impressive. But pretty risky.”
Nico Rosberg – Mercedes
Meanwhile, Ferrari and McLaren stayed in their garages too long, and all ended up at the back
“We thought the first rainstorm was it, and there was nothing else coming, so we waited. I guess events proved it was the wrong thing to do.”
Jenson Button – McLaren
“*!@%”
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
Which was good news for Toro Rosso who qualified quite well, though not as well as they had been going in the dry
“Yeah, we are a bit faster than usual. I think we would have liked a dry qualifying, but we were quite happy to have the rain in Q1 as I don’t think we would have made Q3 in the dry…”
Jaime Alguersuari
“That wasn’t a very good qualifying session for me – we were expecting to be better after free practice. We had a good strategy for Q1 by going out straight away, that was the right decision. But then it started raining heavily, I went off and broke the floor of the car, but we didn’t have time to fix it, so I had to stick with it.”
Sébastien Buemi
And Lotus made it through to Q2 for the first time
“I’m so pleased! I really like these conditions – it’s very hard to judge your speed and you really have to take some risks, and all the time you’re feeling like you might lose the car, but that’s the challenge and I love it!”
Heikki Kovalainen – Lotus
Much to everyone’s surprise, it didn’t rain during the race, Vettel got a brilliant start, led into the first corner; Mark chose discretion rather than a massive accident
“Christian Horner had a chat with us at the start of the race and said ‘Boys, behave yourself…’”
Mark Webber
Vettel never looked back
“It’s a big relief! I feel a bit tipsy from the champagne.”
Sebastian Vettel
Webber followed him all the way to make it a Red Bull one-two.
“It was a good fight between Seb and I. The result could have gone either way. But in the end he did the job at a crucial stage and deserved the victory. A one-two for us as a team is sensational. I would like to be one spot further but a great result for the team.”
Mark Webber
…and Jaime Alguersuari drove his socks off to score his first ever point…
“I have to say I never expected to do it so early in the season. A big thanks to everyone in the team who have worked so hard to achieve this result.”
Jaime Alguersuari – Read the reaction from the rest of Scuderia Toro Rosso.
Read the race report on Red Bull Racing's one-two in Malaysia.
Last word on the Malaysian Grand Prix