18/03/2005
NEWS STORY
The 2005 Malaysian Grand Prix got underway today with teams participating in two hour-long free practice sessions. The Red Bull Racing trio of David Coulthard, Christian Klien and Tonio Liuzzi powered their way around the 5.543km Sepang circuit facing the challenges of the searing equatorial heat in order to find the best possible set-up for the Malaysian race. At the same time it was vital to preserve the engines of the cars, which are now beginning their second race of running under the new FIA two-weekend per engine regulations.
The weather remained hot and dry throughout the two sessions, although drivers reported that the track was slippery. First practice went without incident, with third driver Liuzzi recording the third fastest time in his RB1. Coulthard and Klien finished 12th and 14th respectively, albeit completing less than half the amount of laps than Liuzzi. During the second session Liuzzi unfortunately spun off the track after suffering a rear suspension breakage. Klien's afternoon session also came to a premature end just prior to the close of the session when he had an electronic problem. Coulthard rounded off the second session with the tenth fastest time, with Klien in 12th and Liuzzi, who only completed half of the session due to his spin, in 20th.
David Coulthard: It was a tricky session trying to find clear laps. Obviously it is the nature of this track that it is very demanding on the balance of the car, which means finding stability and consistency is the key here. We have more practice time tomorrow so we will see what that brings us.
Christian Klien: To start with today there was no grip on the circuit and it was really slippery, but that did improve throughout the day. We tried a few different set-ups because the track was changing all the time. We did some long runs which gave us some useful information and it was a shame that we had to stop because of the electronic problem. I am quite happy with the lap times today and we will get some more time tomorrow to try things out.
Tonio Liuzzi: Overall it was a good day for us. During the first session we showed that we can be pretty quick but unfortunately in the second I had a suspension failure, which caused me to spin in the corner before the last, and I had to stop. But overall the car seems quite good and I think we are in good shape again for the race. David and Christian have some more time in the car in the morning and I think we have enough information to choose the tyres and get a good set-up for tomorrow.
Christian Horner, Sporting Director: Obviously we had all three cars out there and the drivers did a good job. Unfortunately Tonio's session was cut short because of a rear suspension problem and Christian also had a problem, but we did manage to work through the programme and have a good idea of what we want to do tomorrow.
Günther Steiner, Technical Director: All in all it was quite a good practice until we had the two problems with Tonio and Christian’s cars. Tonio’s problem was a breakage of the rear suspension before he went off and we will have to check exactly what caused it. On Christian’s car it was an electronic problem that we are investigating to see if it was due to the heat or something else. We are having a little bit of a problem deciding our tyres but we will get on top of that.