Malaysia GP – Friday Practice Results: P2/P1

| Source: autosport.com | lotusf1team.com | twitter |

Kimi Raikkonen beat Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa to the top spot in a close second Formula 1 practice session in Malaysia before rain intervened. A heavy shower approaching the hour mark ensured that the 1m36.569s that Raikkonen had done on medium tyres 36 minutes in would stand as the fastest lap of the day.

Pos Driver                Team                    Time       Gap      Laps
 1. Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault           1m36.569             28
 2. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault        1m36.588s  + 0.019s  27
 3. Felipe Massa          Ferrari                 1m36.661s  + 0.092s  33
 4. Fernando Alonso       Ferrari                 1m36.985s  + 0.416s  23
 5. Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault        1m37.026s  + 0.457s  29
 6. Romain Grosjean       Lotus Renault           1m37.206s  + 0.637s  26
 7. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes                1m37.448s  + 0.879s  32
 8. Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes    1m37.571s  + 1.002s  30
 9. Lewis Hamilton        Mercedes                1m37.574s  + 1.005s  32
10. Adrian Sutil          Force India-Mercedes    1m37.788s  + 1.219s  10
11. Sergio Perez          McLaren-Mercedes        1m37.838s  + 1.269s  21
12. Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        1m37.865s  + 1.296s  29
13. Nico Hulkenberg       Sauber-Ferrari          1m38.068s  + 1.499s  31
14. Esteban Gutierrez     Sauber-Ferrari          1m38.645s  + 2.076s  23
15. Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m38.738s  + 2.169s  31
16. Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault        1m38.801s  + 2.232s  27
17. Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari      1m38.904s  + 2.335s  31
18. Jules Bianchi         Marussia-Cosworth       1m39.508s  + 2.939s  30
19. Valtteri Bottas       Williams-Renault        1m39.660s  + 3.091s  28
20. Charles Pic           Caterham-Renault        1m40.757s  + 4.188s  29
21. Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault        1m40.768s  + 4.199s  32
22. Max Chilton           Marussia-Cosworth       1m41.438s  + 4.869s  23

Free Practice 1 – Report:

Pos  Driver               Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m36.935s            15
 2.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m37.003s  + 0.068s  15
 3.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m37.104s  + 0.169s  21
 4.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m37.319s  + 0.384s  13
 5.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m37.588s  + 0.653s  19
 6.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m37.769s  + 0.834s  17
 7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m37.771s  + 0.836s  15
 8.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m37.773s  + 0.838s  15
 9.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m37.840s  + 0.905s  18
10.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m37.915s  + 0.980s  17
11.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.173s  + 1.238s  16
12.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m38.673s  + 1.738s  16
13.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.830s  + 1.895s  17
14.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.054s  + 2.119s  17
15.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.204s  + 2.269s  16
16.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m39.208s  + 2.273s  19
17.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m39.284s  + 2.349s  17
18.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m39.567s  + 2.632s  16
19.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m40.728s  + 3.793s  17
20.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m40.996s  + 4.061s  14
21.  Charles Pic          Caterham-Renault      1m41.163s  + 4.228s  18
22.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m41.513s  + 4.578s  14

Friday Team Quotes: Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen – 2nd/1st: “It was a pretty good day. We tried changing a few things on the car and made progress with where we wanted to be at the end of the sessions. We had some running in the wet which you often get around here and the car feels fine. We ran pretty heavy today so I don’t know how we’ll be when everyone is light for qualifying, but I’m happy with where we are and expect we’ll be reasonable tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean – 10th/6th: “We’re still working on the setup of the car as it’s not quite right for me and it’s difficult to understand why exactly. The new front wing does feel better than the one before so that helps. Kimi was running an updated aero package which looks to be an improvement so we know there’s more pace to come in that area, but there are still things we can do with the current specification once I get everything working for me. It was pretty hot out there – quite a contrast to Melbourne – but I felt comfortable and I’m looking forward to making some improvements tomorrow before we head into qualifying.”

James Allison, Technical Director: “I’m happy with our day’s work. We came here this week seeking reassurance that our car would be equally as competitive in a very different set of conditions to what we saw in Australia, and the early indications are that it looks reasonably useful. The upgrades we’ve trialled today also appear to be working well. Although both drivers ran the new front wing, Romain was at somewhat of a disadvantage in not having the latest exhaust variation and related bodywork on his car, so he can take heart from a healthy position on the time sheets.

“The only slight interruption to proceedings was a compromise to our long run programme once the rain arrived, but this actually proved to be pretty useful in itself as we now have a better understanding of the crossover point for the intermediate tyres. Overall it’s been a very productive day.”

Video: Sky Sports interview