22/03/2008
NEWS STORY
Both Ferraris will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from the front row: Felipe Massa set the best time in Q3 and alongside him on the grid will be Kimi Raikkonen. This is the seventh pole from ten starts at this circuit for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro and it brings the Scuderia's overall total to 196. Felipe took the tenth pole of his career, the second one in a row at this circuit.
"Today we worked well and up to our usual standards and the results prove it," commented Stefano Domenicali. "We have now made just a small step in terms of the Grand Prix with the longer one still needing to be accomplished in tomorrow's race. If all elements – team, drivers, cars – work at their best, then we can aspire to a good result. Congratulations to Felipe, who really produced an exceptional qualifying lap."
Felipe Massa: "I am very happy! In the final part of qualifying, I managed to put together two really good laps after struggling a bit in Q2. Right at the end there were a few drops of rain, but it had no effect whatsoever on the performance. It is very important to start from the front and I hope I can have a good race. We know our car is very competitive over a long run, but it is also clear we face a long tough race. All the same, we can only be confident about tomorrow."
Kimi Raikkonen: "Of course, I would prefer to have taken pole, but second place is definitely not bad and I am happy that the team got the best result possible. In Q3, I was not able to get the tyres to work as well as possible, especially on my second run, after having had a good lap in Q2. The track seemed to be a bit more slippery and I was not able to get everything out of the car. Tomorrow's race will be very tough: I made a good start in Melbourne and I hope I can do the same tomorrow."
Luca Baldisserri: "Finally, a trouble-free day. Car performance was good and it worked well as can be seen from the result. There are a few unknowns regarding the various sets of tyres, which seem to be a bit up and down and we will have to study that carefully. The threat of rain meant we operated differently to usual, going out on track at the start of all the sessions. We expect a very difficult race tomorrow because of the weather which will be tough on cars and drivers. Clearly our aim is to do the maximum, which is to say to repeat this afternoon's result."