Salo pleased with top 10 slot

Salo, who was sixth in Australia two weeks ago, finished fifth fastest after yesterday's (Friday) practice and the Finn managed to carry his speed into qualifying and will line up 10th for Sunday's race.

Salo said: "I am very happy. To have our first ever top 10 qualifying is good for the team. We have a strong race car and when you start from 10th position you are actually in the race, so we have a good opportunity to score more points tomorrow."

Technical director Gustav Bruner was full of praise for the Salo's driving. He said: "The crew obviously worked very well too, but a lot of it is down to Mika. We were dreaming of the top 20 but now it seems we've scratched the top 10. It's a good effort from everyone."

Team-mate Allan McNish was less happy in the second TF102. The Scotsman had a torrid time after an engine problem during his first qualifying run brought him back into the pits and forced him to use the spare car.

McNish, who was caught in the first-corner melee Down Under and crashed out of his debut GP, will start 19th in Malaysia after struggling to find a suitable set-up for his first outing at the Sepang circuit.

"It was not a good session today," he said. "Tomorrow we need to have a good clean start and keep out of trouble on the first corner and see what happens from there."