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Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the final practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix. One hour remains to perfect the set-up ahead of qualifying this afternoon |
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Fresh off the back of the first GP2 race of the season, the teams are preparing their cars for FP3 which starts in 25 minutes. We're expecting a dry final session but qualifying might be a different story |
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If that sounds cryptic, it's not. It's solely because rain is always a threat in Malaysia and the chances are increased later in the day. Qualifying starts at 1600 local time... |
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As always, we'd love to hear from you during this session with any questions or comments. Get in touch either using the link above or via Twitter @ESPNF1 |
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The F1 teams do keep an eye on the GP2 races...
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'Home' races for Caterham and Mercedes this weekend, and Caterham owner Tony Fernandes is back in the paddock to support his team today:
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This is likely to be a busy session as the teams missed out on the chance to do long runs yesterday as rain hit FP2. The report is available here, with Kimi Raikkonen quickest on Friday |
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The air temperature is up to 33C right now and track temperature nudging 40C. It. Is. Hot. |
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Obviously track temperature varies depending on where it's measured from; Williams actually says it's 46C! |
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Heikki Kovalainen is also in the Caterham garage laughing with Tony Fernandes. Heikki's interest might be as much in this week's Malaysia Open golf tournament than the grand prix but it's good to see him back |
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Raikkonen heads to the end of the pit lane but finds Bianchi already waiting there... |
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Sutil leaves the Force India garage, and as he pulls out of the garage it leaves a big gap between the mechanics which deputy team principal Bob Fernley strolls through on his way to the pit wall |
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As the drivers complete installation laps, we've got the first GP2 report of the season for you as Fabio Leimer wins the Malaysia feature race |
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Looks like some trouble at Force India with mechanics working away on the back of di Resta's car |
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Webber begins a timed lap immediately after his installation lap - he's on high fuel as Pic is catching him |
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Webber sets the first timed lap of the day with a 1:44.486 |
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Van der Garde goes above Webber with a 1:41.348 |
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Interesting stuff from Renault on Twitter: "Managing the engine pool here in Sepang gives two options - either use the Oz engine or switch to a new one. If you keep the Oz engine for the second consecutive entire weekend you have an engine with up to 1,600km at the end of the Sepang race. Or introduce a fresh engine for Sat and Sun in Sepang to avoid high mileage at the end of the race here. The second option gives more flexibility to use the first engine as a Friday engine for longer" |
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Van der Garde and Pic separated by just 0.14s now. Red Bull trying to make up for time lost yesterday as Webber and Vettel are both in the 1m43s |
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Shahnawaz emails in to ask: "During a season a driver is allowed 8 engines, does this include the friday practice or the team can use extra engines on fridays?" That includes the engine it uses on Fridays. At this early stage of the season teams tend to be using new engines turned down on a Friday, but later in the year the teams will be using engines which they have already used in races |
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Raikkonen goes top with a 1:38.474, but then Rosberg beats it with a 1:38.218 |
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Apologies for that last Twitter picture from Lotus not appearing - we'll try and make sure all images are visible in the commentary |
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Like this one:
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Raikkonen is working hard at the wheel of his Lotus and he pits |
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Sutil goes fastest with a 1:37.933 |
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It may only be practice but that Force India does impress me - it looks to be the strongest of the midfield group (including Sauber, Williams and Toro Rosso). Another team looking good this weekend is Marussia - specifically Jules Bianchi |
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Rosberg goes top again with a 1:37.916, but Hamilton's on a quick one |
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All times being set on the hard tyre at this stage |
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Hamilton goes quickest with a 1:37.527 |
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Grosjean locks up in to turn nine and runs wide |
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Deepraj asks: "What kind of pace do u expect from the Mercedes team and who is the best in the wets??" I think Mercedes will be second/third row in qualifying and looking to hold that position in the race. As for the best in the wet, it's hard to call a front runner but McLaren and Toro Rosso both clearly improve when it rains |
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Sutil goes just 0.014s slower than Hamilton while di Resta goes third |
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Ricciardo with a lock-up and he runs wide at turn 14 |
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Button, Massa, Maldonado and Perez yet to set a time. as they wait for the track to rubber in even more |
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Robert emails in from Darwin to ask: "Any reason why Massa is still in the garage?" It's an approach Ferrari often takes, waiting for the track to gain more grip as the teams run on it. The thinking behind it is that the track is most like its race condition that way |
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Button goes up to eighth with a 1:38.313 |
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Raikkonen going quickly... |
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Webber pit after his long run with heavily worn rear tyres. He almost dropped it trying to get out of the way of a Force India out of turn 11 |
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Raikkonen goes third, just 0.074s off Hamilton's best |
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Bianchi also sticks on the mediums and does a 1:39.717 |
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It's close at the top - 0.074s covering the top three drivers |
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Rosberg is on the medium tyres ... and he goes fastest with a 1:36.949 |
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Massa's out on track and goes ninth with a 1:37.967 |
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Button - on mediums - does a 1:37.521 for second quickest |
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The FIA has confirmed that the telemetry link between race control and the cars has had to be disabled once again as in Australia. That means no warning lights in the cockpit and automatic DRS |
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I'm not sure Chilton has done a time on the medium tyres yet despite putting them on earlier. You'd hope not as he's 2.2s slower than Bianchi at present... |
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Now Chilton improves with three personal best sectors but he's still 0.8s off his team-mate |
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Hamilton heads out on medium tyres |
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Massa improves to a 1:37.845 |
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Alonso goes seventh on a 1:37.760 |
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Hamilton is the fastest man through the first two sectors |
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Three purple sectors put Hamilton top with a 1:36.568 |
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Webber now on the medium tyres, let's see what the Red Bull can do |
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Webber with the fastest final sector but he only goes second - 0.045s slower than Hamilton |
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Vergne's car is wheeled back in to the Toro Rosso garage with its exhaust overheating and mechanics spraying extinguishers over the rear bodywork |
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Vettel's turn to try the mediums and he's almost 0.2s down on Hamilton in sector one |
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Vettel's comfortably off the pace in sector two, though, and Vettel appears to be taking it easy as he only goes sixth fastest, a second slower than Hamilton |
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I think Vettel was taking it easy, but if he wasn't perhaps Red Bull is looking to set the car up best for improved race pace after losing out so much in Australia |
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Raikkonen's back in the pits after a long run which seemed to suggest Lotus is better at looking after its tyres than Red Bull once again here |
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Kimi radios in "Still a heavy nose, I can't understand how the car can change so much" |
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Button looking decent on the medium tyre, while Sutil sets the fastest first sector |
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Button goes third with a 1:36.850. That's 0.282s off Hamilton's best |
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Sutil up to second, just 0.020s slower than Hamilton after setting the fastest first and last sectors. The track is rubbering in at present |
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Perez on medium tyres and he was improving but got blocked by Bianchi in to turn 12 |
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Out go both Ferraris on medium tyres |
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Di Resta on the mediums, can he match his team-mate? |
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Not quite... di Resta goes fourth with a 1:36.807 |
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Massa - after a correction in the final corner - goes sixth with a 1:36.946 |
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Button was using the maximum fuel mix, but are we seeing McLaren moving in to Q3 contention? |
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Alonso completes a solid lap but only good enough for eighth quickest with a 1:37.302 |
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More medium tyre runs going on and Vettel goes fastest with a 1:36/435. Only 0.133s quicker than Hamilton though, and Grosjean is flying further back |
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Raikkonen improves to a 1:36.806 |
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Grosjean's lap is ruined by van der Garde as the Caterham is travelling slowly through turns seven and eight. |
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Grosjean has to back off again with his tyres going off. Vettel's done a slow lap to cool the tyres and goes again... |
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Maldonado struggling with the FW35 as it tries to get away from him in to turn four |
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Hamilton locks up at the end of a long run and he's hugely flat-spotted his front right. That's down to the canvas! |
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Hamilton was very slow in to the pits with the vibration terrible for him. His long run pace was looking good though and he was still just 0.133s off the best time despite setting his much earlier in the session |
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Notable mentions for Force India and Pic too - Pic was only 2.5s off the best time |
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If that session has taught us anything, it's that we've got a really exciting qualifying session to look forward to. Six different cars within half a second of each other - Red Bull, Mercedes, Force India, Lotus, McLaren and Ferrari - and realistically only one lap to get the best time out of the medium tyres. You don't want to miss it, so join us in 90 minutes for all the build-up for qualifying. Bye for now. |
In fact, Bianchi didn't even have to stop as the light goes green as soon as he pulls out of his garage. Time for the installation laps
Vettel can't improve but is only 0.1s off his previous best
