Toro Rosso duo blame traffic, timing

Although the pair had headed into the Malaysian Grand Prix bullish about their chances after a strong showing in Bahrain, they just missed the cut in the first stage of qualifying.

Speed, who set the 17th fastest time, said: "We did not do anything wrong in terms of my strategy for tackling the session. But I had traffic on both my quick laps.   

"Basically, we have not shown good pace here since the start of the weekend and that shows up most in qualifying. In terms of aero, we are losing out down the straight, but that is partly due to the (engine) restriction we run under to comply with the rules."  

Liuzzi ended the session 18th but had been on a quick lap when the session ended, having got out of the pits a few seconds too late.

"This was a difficult session and the car felt different to the way it did in the morning," he explained. "On top of this, we misjudged the tactic for my car a bit and we had not left enough time.   

"So when I went out on new tyres I missed getting my timed lap into the 15 minutes by about ten seconds, so although it was quicker it did not count. We did not change anything from the morning, so now we have to find out why it felt different."