Lewis Hamilton took pole position in a rain-delayed qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.
The session was stopped for half an hour before the final round of qualifying began and Sebastian Vettel was able to split the two Mercedes with a time just 0.074 seconds behind Hamilton.
Nico Rosberg admitted in the post-qualifying press conference that he was "annoyed" by not "driving well enough" and was a second behind his team-mate on the first run of final qualifying. Hamilton was improving on his second run but had to back off after passing a slow Rosberg through Turns 7 and 8 and Hamilton remained coy afterwards when he couldn't recall the incident during the press conference.
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| Vettel showed skill in the rain to split the Mercedes pair |
Traffic had earlier cost Kimi Raikkonen a likely second row grid slot after Marcus Erikkson slowed Raikkonen going round the final corner and the 2007 World Champion couldn't improve on 11th when the downpour curtailed the second qualifying period.
The qualifying session had started in tropical sunshine and McLaren continued their fight at the back of the grid. Fernando Alonso returned behind the wheel this weekend following his pre-season accident in Barcelona that Alonso blamed on a car steering issue. The double world champion also rubbished wild rumours of the concussion he suffered after the accident. Alonso had the measure of his team-mate, Jenson Button, all weekend but a mistake caused Alonso to run wide and allowed Button to out-qualify his team-mate with a time of 1 minute 41.636 seconds. This underlined McLaren's lack of pace with a time that was almost 2.5 seconds off Hamilton's time at the top of the Qualifying One timesheets.
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| Manor hit the tarmac in Malaysia for the first time this season |
Manor returned to the track after not racing in Australia but only Roberto Mehri could post a time after Will Stevens suffered a fuel system problem. Mehri's time was outside the 107% classification rule but stewards cleared the team to race after Manor had earlier posted practice times that was within 107% of the fastest driver's time.
Felipe Nasr was unable to continue his form from Australia and finished half a second behind the cut-off point and didn't progress into the second round of qualifying.
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| Tropical storm clouds gather over the Sepang circuit |
Rain can often be a great equaliser and the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Dannil Kyvat qualified in 4th and 5th in a turbulent week for the Milton Keynes-based team. Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul told Friday's press conference that Renault may quit the sport after earlier accusing Red Bull Technical Director, Adrian Newey, of lying about their engine performance.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Abiteboul was "brave" to sit between him and Torro Ross team boss, Franz Tost, at the press conference as the two teams are unhappy about the quality of their Renault engines.
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| Unhappy couple - Renault's Cyril Abiteboul and Red Bull's Christian Horner |
Abiteboul said that Renault "are looking at a lot of options, including getting out of Formula One" as well as purchasing a team. Horner joked that Renault's lack of power had left him "depressed" and contemplated the possibility of Red Bull being "forced" out of the sport if they cannot find an engine supplier. Despite achieving four consecutive Constructor's and Driver's titles, Horner conceded it's now "worrying times" for the Red Bull brand in F1.
It's also worrying times for the future of the German Grand Prix with the announcement on March 20 that owners of the Nurburgring have backed out of staging the race. The German Grand Prix had been alternating between Nurburgring and Hockenheim and it had been hoped that Hockenheim could step in but track officials were unable to come to an agreement with F1 commercial boss, Bernie Ecclestone.
Hockenheim officials may have been hesitant in promoting a race in just four months after last year's race brought low crowds. It's hard to understand why the Germans have quickly turned away from F1 after the success of German drivers, Michael Schumacher and Vettel, still fresh in their minds. The current German combination of Rosberg in a Mercedes racing for the championship should inspire the imagination of German motorsport fans but it hasn't.
There has been a German Grand Prix every year since 1960 and it's removal from the calendar once again highlights race entrance fees and the disappearance of F1's European race tracks.
Max Verstappen showed maturity beyond his 17 years by qualifying 6th in Sepang and, not only equalled his father Jos' best grid position, but he became the first teenager in 54 years to qualify in the top six. Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas will line up on Row 4 after Lotus' Romain Grosjean received a two-place grid penalty after queue jumping in the pit-lane before the start of the rain affected second qualifying period.
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| Drivers line up in the pit lane below the oncoming storm clouds |
The second of the 19-race 2015 season will see Hamilton looking to continue his successful start but Vettel and Rosberg will have other ideas going into Turn One.
Grid for Malaysian Grand Prix:
Hamilton (Mercedes) Vettel (Ferrari)
Rosberg (Mercedes) Ricciardo (Red Bull)
Kyvat (Red Bull) Verstappen (Torro Rosso)
Massa (Williams) Bottas (Williams)
Ericsson (Sauber) Grosjean (Lotus)*
Raikkonen (Ferrari) Maldonado (Lotus)
Hulkenberg (Force India) Perez (Force India)
Sainz (Torro Rosso) Nasr (Sauber)
Button (McLaren) Alonso (McLaren)
Merhi (Manor) Stevens (Manor)
* After two-place grid penalty
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