Top 10 could be on, reckons Stoddart

Melbourne hero Mark Webber and his team-mate Alex Yoong could only qualify on the back row at the Sepang circuit. But even if a repeat of Webber's fifth place finish in Australia looks highly unlikely, a top 10 placing could still be on, insists Stoddart.

"Qualifying both cars less than four seconds off the pole position time is not a bad result from our point of view," he said. "As for the race, the temperature could prove to be a 'car killer', in which case we might still have a chance at a top 10 result."

Webber said that the qualifying session had been a learning experience. "This actually was the first real F1 qualifying session I have completed, since Melbourne was a bit of a mixed-up affair," he said. "I have enjoyed the track quite a lot, although I still want to improve a little bit in myself in terms of getting more from qualifying. It's something I will be working on."

Yoong was disappointed to be slower than Webber in front of his home crowd. "I just didn't quite strong together the laps," he said.