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Formula 1
Malaysian GP
2013 Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying
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4 min: Di Resta has been told on the team radio that rain is on the way.
Stopwatch
4 min: Sutil takes up where his team-mate left off. He quickly deposes Gutierrez with a time of 1m36.834s.
Stopwatch
4 min: Gutierrez sets the initial time at a 1m39.221s.
3 min: Di Resta was quick in both the first and second sector, but the Scot elects to pit.
3 min: Almost all the contenders building up to a flying effort now, needing to bank a time just in case that rain moves in.
2 min: Used medium tyres for the Force India pair, with di Resta coming towards the end of his first timed lap.
1 min: Rosberg and Hamilton join the circuit for Mercedes.
1 min: Grosjean heads out with the same medium tyres he used to escape Q1.
1 min: Di Resta and Sutil join the racetrack for Force India. Medium tyres on both cars.
0 min: Teams will hope to limit running here, with thoughts on saving tyres but also the chance of the weather changing quickly.
Green flag
But first it's Q2, and the pits are open.
The latest radar image shows an enormous storm just a few miles to the east of the circuit. Rain likely before the end of qualifying.
Meanwhile, thunder clouds are never far away here, with plenty of dark skies in the distance.
Red Bull either played it cool or the two drivers are struggling. All that to come, but here are the eliminated drivers after Q1:
17) Vergne 1m38.157s
18) Bottas 1m38.207s
19) Bianchi 1m38.434s
20) Pic 1m39.314s
21) Chilton 1m39.672s
22) van der Garde 1m39.932s.
17) Vergne 1m38.157s
18) Bottas 1m38.207s
19) Bianchi 1m38.434s
20) Pic 1m39.314s
21) Chilton 1m39.672s
22) van der Garde 1m39.932s.
That's a fine performance from Bianchi in the Marussia, who is told on the radio that he was just half a second from the cut-off.
Gutierrez clocks 1m37.707s to spring up to 11th, dropping Vergne out of the next segment.
Vergne is in 17th and comes back to the pits. He is eliminated. Vettel will be fine in 15th place.
Bianchi comes around in 1m38.434s to end up 19th, ahead of Pic, Chilton and van der Garde.
Bottas is down in 18th with no further chance to improve. He is eliminated.
19 min: The flag is out on Q1 with some laps still to be completed.
19 min: Webber is 15th in the classification, but he moves up to ninth spot with a time of 1m37.619s.
18 min: Gutierrez is now down in 16th and on the edge of elimination, also not set to improve on this lap.
18 min: Ricciardo goes 11th and that drops Maldonado to 12th and Vettel to 13th.
18 min: Vettel and Webber are both told that they need to go on and try and get more pace out of the RB9 on the next lap.
18 min: Grip levels continue to evolve here, with many drivers complaining of oversteer as the front tyres respond to increasing rubber levels.
18 min: Webber comes round in 1m38.020s and that is only 15th. What is going on here with the Red Bull duo!
17 min: Maldonado goes 11th with 1m37.867s and that drops Vettel down to 12th.
16 min: Vettel continues to complete the lap and moves into 11th spot with 1m37.899s. He'll need to improve on that.
16 min: Sauber not finding one-lap pace at the moment with Gutierrez in 13th and Hulkenberg 14th.
16 min: Webber has backed off in the middle of the Penang straight. He rounds the final corner and starts another lap.
15 min: And so is Vettel, as clouds continue to build around the Sepang circuit.
15 min: Webber is two-tenths of a second shy of Sutil's time in the first sector of the lap.
15 min: Traffic for Hulkenberg in the form of ex-Sauber man Perez, with the German not happy about being slowed by the McLaren.
14 min: Di Resta improves with a time of 1m37.493s and is up in seventh spot.
14 min: Raikkonen comes around in 1m36.959s to take second place in the ever-moving order.
14 min: Webber is now into his first timed lap of the session.
14 min: Grosjean is also on mediums and clocks 1m37.363s to go fourth fastest.
13 min: The Red Bull drivers have yet to post a time on the board, but both are out there on medium tyres.
13 min: Raikkonen is the fastest man in the first sector on his medium compound tyres.
13 min: Hamilton is on the hard tyre and he moves back up the order to fifth with a lap of 1m37.513s.
By: Emlyn Hughes, Geoff Creighton
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