01/10/2016
NEWS STORY
Having incurred a grid penalty totalling 45 places, Fernando Alonso has revealed that he will post a token time in Q1 this afternoon - in order to qualify for tomorrow's race - then watch the remainder of the session on TV.
Many of his rivals might be tempted to follow suit.
Clearly, on single lap pace the Mercedes is untouchable, though Max Verstappen gave it his best shot this morning.
On longer runs however, it's different, with Red Bull and Ferrari both capable of giving Mercedes a decent run for its money tomorrow.
In many ways, this morning's session posed more questions than it answered with Hamilton and Verstappen both very strong whilst their teammates struggled. And as Ferrari, once again it was Raikkonen who had the edge.
The force Indias and Williams look strong, as does McLaren, though we've yet to see what Alonso can really do.
Toro Rosso appears to have the slight edge on Haas and Renault, while Sauber continues to inhabit that other world between the midfield and the Manors.
The revision to the track have not proved universally popular, and having seen almost everyone lock-up, spin or head off into the countryside at one point or another, we can probably expect a few more hijinks in the coming hour.
Air temperature is currently 30 degrees C, while the track temperature is 42 degrees.
Definitely, after a couple of 'off' weekends, Hamilton looks to be back on form.
As in Singapore, the tyre options are hard, medium and soft. Meanwhile, in a change from recent years, there will be a single DRS detection point, 54m after Turn 12, though there are still two activation points, the first 104m after Turn 14 and the second activation 28m after Turn 15.
Wehrlein is first to head out, the German followed by his Manor teammate.
Hamilton is the third driver out, a surprisingly early start for the Briton, who performs a practice start from an area of the pitlane smothered in cement dust following a support race incident.
Rosberg is also out early as is Massa.
Hamilton asks about the weather, admitting that "it's very dark", he is told that there is "nothing on the radar". So that's the reason for the early appearance.
Curiously despite starting on the cement dust Hamilton is warned about more of the same on the pit straight.
Wehrlein posts 36.999, Ocon 37.441 and then Rosberg posts 34.460 before Hamilton bangs in a 34.444.
As Magnussen runs wide in the final corner, Button has a full 360 spin, the Briton subsequently complaining about the amount of traffic.
Vettel goes third (35.566) and Raikkonen fourth (35.903).
As Verstappen goes fourth (35.443), Raikkonen complains of poor grip at the rear.
Hulkenberg goes third (34.827) and Ricciardo fourth (35.079) as the cooler temperatures are catching out a number of drivers.
Poor Grosjean has now lost his right mirror, the Frenchman having a hard time of it lately... though some of that is of his own creation.
A 35.391 sees Perez go fifth.
Most are on softs bar the Red Bull and Ferrari duos who are both on mediums.
Raikkonen improves, but only leapfrogs his teammate to ninth, the Ferrari pair demoted when Bottas and Massa go sixth and seventh.
"The Manor, even though he'll be at the back, has to get a penalty, he wouldn't move out of the way, he was on a slow lap and I had to overtake him." Told it was Ocon, he says; "he needs to pay a little bit more attention."
The Ferrari pair are back on track, now on the softs, the mediums clearly a gamble that didn't pay off.
With 2:40 remaining, Gutierrez, Ericsson, Wehrlein, Nasr, Alonso and Ocon comprise the drop zone, with Palmer, Button and Kvyat hovering.
Alonso is out of his car and no doubt looking for a TV set.
Currently eighth, Verstappen heads out again.
Raikkonen improves to third and Vettel fourth, so a good decision for Ferrari, both within 0.113s of Hamilton's time.
Kvyat improves to thirteenth with a 35.695 as Button goes tenth with a 35.267.
A late surge sees Nasr go sixteenth, but is it enough.
No, Ericsson improves to 17th but so too does Gutierrez, thereby consigning the Swede to the drop zone.
Quickest is Hamilton, ahead of Rosberg, Raikkonen, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Perez, Ricciardo, Bottas, Massa and Button.
We lose Ericsson, Nasr, Palmer, Ocon, Wehrlein and Alonso.
Check out our Saturday gallery from Sepang, here.
Q2 gets underway and the Mercedes duo is first out of the box, Rosberg leading the way.
As Rosberg begins his flyer, Hamilton is told not to forget that he is using his potential race set. The words "so no lock-ups" are omitted.
Rosberg posts 33.609, the fastest time of the weekend thus far. Moments later Hamilton posts 33.046, over half-a-second quicker.
Sainz momentarily goes third (35.374), before being demoted by Verstappen, Ricciardo and Hulkenberg.
Bottas goes fifth and Button seventh as the Ferraris head out.
As he goes fifth (34.422), Massa is told "that was a cracking lap", and indeed it was.
Vettel can only manage fifth (33.972), almost a second off the pace. Moments later, the German is demoted by his teammate again, Raikkonen posting 33.903.
Asked how his lap was, Raikkonen is as uncommitted and infuriating as ever (for his crew). "It was OK," is about all they get.
With less than two minutes remaining, the top seven - Hamilton, Rosberg, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Vettel and Massa - have settled for their times... but is it a gamble too far.
Bottas, Hulkenberg, Perez and Kvyat all post PBs in the first sector. Most of th maintaining the pace in S2.
Bottas improves to tenth but is demoted when Hulkenberg improves. There's another demotion when Button goes eighth with a 34.431 and Perez tenth with a 34.538.
"Ooh, that was good lap," admits Button.
Quickest is Hamilton again, ahead of Rosberg, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Vettel, Massa, Button, Hulkenberg and Perez.
We lose Bottas, Grosjean, Gutierrez, Magnussen, Kvyat and Sainz.
Ahead of Q3, the pressure is on Rosberg. Clearly Hamilton has rediscovered his mojo, while the Red Bull duo is looking very quick.
The lights go green and Perez is the first to head out. Soon the Mexican is joined by all but Button who will probably only do one run.
Perez posts 35.173 as the benchmark.
Verstappen posts 33.420 and Vettel 33.916, but the pair are split by Raikkonen's 33.632.
A mistake by Rosberg in T6 means the German runs wide and can only manage 33.761 which means sixth. No such problems for Hamilton who bangs in a 32.850.
Verstappen goes second (33.420) ahead of his Red Bull teammate (33.526), the Dutch youngster subsequently warning of a "light drizzle in T2/3".
After that first run, it's: Hamilton, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Vettel, Massa, Perez, Hulkenberg and Button.
Unsurprisingly, Rosberg is first out for the final assault, as eyes are cast to the heavens. The German is on a new set of softs. Indeed, as more drivers head out they are all sporting new sets of the yellow banded rubber.
Asked if there is rain at T4, Verstappen says that there aren't. Hulkenberg also told that "the weather is good".
While the Red Bull duo posts PBs in S1, Rosberg is off the pace.
The German is quicker in S2 but fluffs it in T15. He crosses the line at 33.264 to take second, still shaking his head at that mistake.
Vettel leapfrogs his teammate but remains only fifth, as Raikkonen aborts his lap.
Though he closed to within 0.404s of his teammate, and helped lock-out the front row for Mercedes, one has to wonder what might have been but for that mistake in T15. One that visibly angered the German.
Ahead of his 300th Grand Prix, Button's sole lap sees the Briton leapfrog Massa to take ninth.
So, Hamilton will start from pole tomorrow, ahead of Rosberg, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Raikkonen, Perez, Hulkenberg, Button and Massa.
Bottas starts eleventh, ahead of Grosjean, Gutierrez, Magnussen, Kvyat, Sainz, Ericsson, Nasr, Palmer, Ocon, Wehrlein and Alonso.
As we said earlier, the Mercedes has the single lap pace - as convincingly by Hamilton - however, the Red Bull, in particular, and especially young Max, is looking very good on the long runs.