Qualifying At Sepang International Circuit

Round two of the 2012 Formula One season was underway earlier today at the Sepang International Circuit where we saw all 24 drivers take to the track in qualifying. With air temperatures expected in the mid 30's, track temperature in the high 40's and rain in the forecast, everyone was expecting the unexpected.

Case in point for the argument for qualifying tyres. Many of the teams and drivers were weary to head out early on track as the tyre ware was as unexpected as the weather. Track temperature can degrade the tyres quickly and teams are always afraid of running out of sets for the race.

Q1 and after a long seven minutes, some of the top names started setting flying laps. Many people were already wondering if the youngest ever, double world champion would be able to claim pole this weekend in Malaysia. After watching the Australian qualifier, Vettel seemed to be having issues with the RB8 but much of the media has been reporting that he is unhappy with 'Abbey'. By the end pf Q1 all 24 driver's made it by without being disqualified.

Q2 and all seemed to be going ok. Half way through Q2 and finally the top teams were sending their drivers out to track. With the top ten shootout on the line, drivers were trying to put in the best times available and a few were pushing too hard. Pastor Maldonado took his Williams offtrack and through the kitty litter on turn 11. Taking his car over the curb and causing a short yellow flag.

With Q3 only being 10 minutes long, it was nail biting to see that the driver's were not setting times until 5 minutes left. 10 drivers on track do not seem like many but with lap times shortening into the 1:36's, it doesn't really give drivers much room for error.

One of the biggest (and to some, superb) surprises to the fan community would easily be Michael Schumacher making P3.  To others, it would be seeing Mark Webber out qualifying his teammate for the second weekend in a row. With the impending weather holding off for all three session of qualifying in Malaysia, it was still an exciting (and unpredictable) outcome for all.

Lewis Hamilton	P1
Jenson Button	P2  Fan's Choice To Win
Michael Schumacher	P3
Mark Webber	P4
Sebastian Vettel	P5
Romain Grosjean	P6
Nico Rosberg	P7
Fernando Alonso	P8
Sergio Perez	P9
Kimi Räikkönen	P10
Pastor Maldonado	P11
Felipe Massa	P12
Bruno Senna	P13
Paul di Resta	P14
Daniel Ricciardo	P15
Nico Hulkenberg	P16
Kamui Kobayashi	P17
Jean-Eric Vergne	P18
Vitaly Petrov	P19
Timo Glock	P20
Charles Pic	P21
Pedro de la Rosa	P22
Narain Karthikeyan	P23
Heikki Kovalainen	P24

* Note - Kovalainen qualified 19th, but penalised five grid spots for safety-car infringement at previous round. Raikkonen qualified 5th, but penalised five grid spots for unscheduled gearbox change.