Malaysian F1 Qualifing Results.
Ferrari champion Michael Schumacher secured pole position for tomorrow?s Malaysian Grand Prix here at the Sepang circuit, the German driver recording yet another new lap record in the process. His best time of 1:33.074 was over half a second faster than the second best man of the afternoon, Jaguar?s Mark Webber.
The Australian driver was the surprise of the afternoon, as were the Renault duo of Jarno Trulli and Fernando Alonso, who were strong in the opening session, were forced to settle for eighth and last, the latter losing control of his R24 on turn 14 and becoming beached in the gravel. Any hope of repeating last year?s pole position disappeared and he will now be forced to start from the back of the grid.
Jarno Trulli, 8th
?I am disappointed with my result. We had expected to do better, but I made a number of mistakes on my lap and that cost me several tenths. Nevertheless, I?m optimistic for the race: the car will be quick on the long runs, and I think we can get back tomorrow, what we lost today.?Fernando Alonso, 20th
?I made a mistake under braking for Turn 14, lost the back end and the car spun. Of course it?s frustrating, particularly for the team who have worked hard this weekend, but I?m still confident. We know the car is quick and even starting last, I think we can fight for points. You can be sure it will be an aggressive, attacking race.?
Source: GP 2004
Rubens Barrichello will start from row two alongside Juan Pablo Montoya who qualified fourth, one place ahead of his BMW Williams teammate, Ralf Schumacher. The two McLaren?s will line up fifth, Kimi Raikkonen, and ninth, David Coulthard, with the Toyota of Cristiano da Matta in tenth.
Jordan couldn?t get Pantano?s race car ready in time, so the Italian racer was forced to go out in the spare car, an instant demotion of ten places. However, his poor time left him at the bottom of the timesheets anyway, three seconds adrift of his teammate Nick Heidfeld.
Meanwhile, BAR?s Takuma Sato will also start from the back of the grid, alongside Alonso, the Japanese driver taking to the gravel on his flying lap, losing control of his 006 at turn 11 and red flagging the session. Prior to that, he was setting a very competitive time. Teammate Jenson Button salvaged the day to some degree for the Brackley based squad however, with a sixth placed finish.
