Giancarlo Fisichella has had a difficult time so far this season but an engine change after Bahrain, allowed because his car failed to finish for other reasons, meant that the Italian went to steamy Malaysia with the potential to outshine his rivals. And so he did in the final minutes of the qualifying session as he took third career Pole Position away from Jenson Button by two-tenths of a second. The Renault driver’s final lap in the third and final phase of qualifying stopped the clocks in a 1:33.840s, a tenth clear of the field. Jenson button starts a cool second in his Honda while Nico Rosberg did a sensational job in what is his second Grand Prix weekend to qualify his Williams Cosworth third.
It is a great result for me and a great answer after the last race. We made a big mistake in Bahrain, but anyway now the package is fantastic and the reliability and performance is good and I am sure now I will have a chance to do well said Fisichella.
While the Italian celebrates his Pole Position, no less than five drivers suffered at the hands of the rules due to engine changes and failures. Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa both had new V8 Ferrari engines fitted ahead of qualifying, while Rubens Barrichello had a new Honda. David Coulthard had an engine change prior to the Grand Prix weekend itself, while Ralf Schumacher suffered a big blow up in qualifying the second phase of qualifying.
Michael Schumacher was fourth, just a few hundredths slower than Rosberg but we all knew that he would have to drop 10 places on the grid because of his engine change and so he will line up 14th. With two engine changes under his belt Felipe Massa starts at the tail of the field undoubtedly very heavy on fuel.
The complicated penalty format in qualifying meant that there was considerable confusion as to who would drop to where on the grid, because Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello had to each take a penalty of 10 places on the grid. In theory therefore Schumacher should drop from fourth to 14th. However, there is an argument that because Ralf dropped out after the start of qualifying his penalty applies after those who had penalties from earlier problems and started qualifying with the penalty already decided. There is no official grid until Sunday morning because of parc ferme and any drivers who change their cars overnight must go to the back with Ralf and line up in number order, with the lowest number first. Massa will likely to this and will start 21st. The true grid won’t be published until Sunday morning, and there are numerous complications in determining where the drivers with engine changes will ultimately be placed for the start of the eighth Malaysian Grand Prix.