2014 Malaysian Grand Prix Friday - Practice
Live Text
Sort by
Stopwatch
Button goes quickest on a 1m42.445s, 1.6s up on Grosjean.
Perez, Bianchi, Vergne, Hulkenberg, Ericsson and Massa are the others with times on the screens.
Stopwatch
We've had our first few times on the board, with Grosjean quickest for now on a 1m44.005s.
Chilton is the first driver to spin out today at Turn 3. He's stuck on the inside of the corner and looks to have beached his Marussia.
No hurried exodus from the pits this time: Grosjean, Perez, Magnussen, Ericsson, Chilton, Bianchi, Hulkenberg and Vergne head out in the opening three minutes.
EDD STRAW: "Maldonado's problem this morning is apparently related to the turbo. The team doesn't expect him to run this afternoon."
Good sign for Lotus as Grosjean goes straight out, but doubts over whether Maldonado will be ready to run this afternoon.
FIA information screen claims a 40 per cent risk of rain for this session.
Green flag
Green lights are on and we're underway for practice two.
One team we'll be keeping an eye on in this session is Lotus after the torrid time it had in FP1.
Grosjean came to a halt just halfway around his second lap, while team-mate Maldonado hit trouble with his car visibly smoking on the back straight.
They amassed just six laps in total.
Grosjean came to a halt just halfway around his second lap, while team-mate Maldonado hit trouble with his car visibly smoking on the back straight.
They amassed just six laps in total.
Twitter
Kamui Kobayashi
Bad news for Kobayashi fans out there (of which there are many) as Caterham confirms that he won't be participating in FP2 today:
"Unfortunately @kamui_kobayashi's bad luck continues. We're still working on his car & he won't be back out for FP2."
More pictures constantly being added to our gallery from the whole Malaysian Grand Prix weekend as well, with on-track shots from this morning coming in thick and fast.
Breaking news
If you're just joining us ready for practice two, here's the full report on a session that ended with Lewis Hamilton on top ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, and featured more problems for Lotus.
Ambient temperature up to 33C here. Track temp now at 50C.
Breaking news
Williams flew during the winter, and showed great race pace in Australia with Bottas. But the team has had a habit of failing to keep up when the seasons get going in recent years, and Felipe Massa is concerned that could happen again:
Massa fears Williams could slip back
Massa fears Williams could slip back
Just over half an hour remaining until practice two begins.
After our live commentary on that session, stay with AUTOSPORT Live for all the reaction from the Sepang paddock, plus GARY ANDERSON and EDD STRAW's in-depth form guide.
Then tomorrow after qualifying, look out for CRAIG SCARBOROUGH's technical blog detailing all the updates evident on the cars in Malaysia.
After our live commentary on that session, stay with AUTOSPORT Live for all the reaction from the Sepang paddock, plus GARY ANDERSON and EDD STRAW's in-depth form guide.
Then tomorrow after qualifying, look out for CRAIG SCARBOROUGH's technical blog detailing all the updates evident on the cars in Malaysia.
Sergio Perez
Sign of the problems Perez encountered in practice one, or just some Malaysian heat? Our snappers caught this smoky Force India in the pitlane earlier.
Quote
Lots of teams and drivers are sending messages of support to the families affected by the missing Malaysian Airlines plane during the Sepang weekend. Felipe Massa summed up drivers' feelings before practice began.
"It's a very difficult moment for everybody," said the Williams driver.
"What's happened is amazing. We lost a plane for more than one week and now we're trying to find out what's happened.
"The families and the people inside the plane are in my mind and for sure we're going to use the sport to show nice things for the families."
"It's a very difficult moment for everybody," said the Williams driver.
"What's happened is amazing. We lost a plane for more than one week and now we're trying to find out what's happened.
"The families and the people inside the plane are in my mind and for sure we're going to use the sport to show nice things for the families."
Breaking news
Jenson Button has been sharing some more details of the upgrades McLaren brought for this race, and his hopes for them:
Button: McLaren can catch Mercedes
Team chief Ron Dennis declared after Melbourne that his squad could be half a second quicker at Sepang.
Button: McLaren can catch Mercedes
Team chief Ron Dennis declared after Melbourne that his squad could be half a second quicker at Sepang.
McLaren's Magnussen wasn't the only rookie sensation of the 2014 opener, with Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat also starring as he became F1's youngest ever points-scorer at the age of 19 years, 10 months and 11 days.
This week he reflected on that achievement - and a lot more - in an interview for The Racer's Edge with AUTOSPORT and F1 Racing:
This week he reflected on that achievement - and a lot more - in an interview for The Racer's Edge with AUTOSPORT and F1 Racing:
Twitter
Not sure if this is what our European readers will want to be eating at approaching 4.30am, but McLaren has tweeted its lunch menu:
"For you foodies, the @AbsoluteTaste menu today is beef rendang, seared tuna w. crispy Asian salad, spaghetti aioli & chicken caesar salad!
"lunchtime pudding is creme brulee with a raspberry compote... Don't say we don't spoil you!"
"For you foodies, the @AbsoluteTaste menu today is beef rendang, seared tuna w. crispy Asian salad, spaghetti aioli & chicken caesar salad!
"lunchtime pudding is creme brulee with a raspberry compote... Don't say we don't spoil you!"
Breaking news
One of the spiciest press briefings of the build-up day on Thursday was world champion Sebastian Vettel's.
In his dominant recent seasons, it's often been hard for Vettel to find new things to say when he meets the press (in fairness, that has a lot to do with the questions he's asked...)
But his tough start to 2014 has left him in sparky form, and he was not holding back at all about the much-criticised sound of this year's V6 engines:
Vettel hits out at 2014 F1 engine noise
In his dominant recent seasons, it's often been hard for Vettel to find new things to say when he meets the press (in fairness, that has a lot to do with the questions he's asked...)
But his tough start to 2014 has left him in sparky form, and he was not holding back at all about the much-criticised sound of this year's V6 engines:
Vettel hits out at 2014 F1 engine noise
Sergio Perez
Sergio Perez was one of the drivers in trouble in this morning's session, not managing any more running after a reported fuel system issue on his Force India's installation lap.
But at least that gives him more chance to rest the knee he injured during a training run on Wednesday, which caused a flurry of excitement in some quarters yesterday before Perez played it down:
"We did some running and it was a bit sore, so it inflamed my [left] knee. There will be no problem."
Has that practice session given you enough hints for a Malaysian GP prediction?
There are prizes to be won at every race with the Castrol Edge Grand Prix Predictor - find out more and start playing here.
There are prizes to be won at every race with the Castrol Edge Grand Prix Predictor - find out more and start playing here.
EDD STRAW: "FIA has put out a technical bulletin confirming that Kamui Kobayashi was using a new energy store already heading into this session - his third so far.
"So if Caterham has to put in a new one, that will be the fourth of his permitted five energy stores."
"So if Caterham has to put in a new one, that will be the fourth of his permitted five energy stores."
Breaking news
Replays of Hamilton's little off at the end of the session seem to support his theory about driving on marbles. A small lock-up leads to him sailing off the road, with no grip whatsoever from the front end.
Six Mercedes-powered cars in the Top 10 in that session. Best of the rest was Raikkonen's Ferrari in second, while Jean-Eric Vergne was the best Renault-powered car, sixth for Toro Rosso.
As for most laps, Marcus Ericsson's 24 is the leading number for that session. He finished 17th with a best of 1m45.775s.
His Caterham team-mate Kamui Kobayashi did significantly less running, an energy store problem leaving him out of the session after just five laps.
His Caterham team-mate Kamui Kobayashi did significantly less running, an energy store problem leaving him out of the session after just five laps.
Main speed trap figures (located 207m before the final corner) ended the session as:
1 Rosberg, 315km/h
2 Bottas, 315km/h
3 Massa, 315km/h
4 Hulkenberg, 315km/h
5 Button, 315km/h
6 Magnussen, 312km/h
So the six fastest cars were all Mercedes-powered.
1 Rosberg, 315km/h
2 Bottas, 315km/h
3 Massa, 315km/h
4 Hulkenberg, 315km/h
5 Button, 315km/h
6 Magnussen, 312km/h
So the six fastest cars were all Mercedes-powered.
Despite the spin, significantly better start to the weekend for Hamilton than he had in Melbourne, where he didn't manage a timed lap in FP1.
Hamilton blames marbles for his off while explaining it over the team radio.
We'll have a full report online soon, and AUTOSPORT Live will keep rolling all day to bring you the latest from the paddock.
Leading results:
1 Hamilton 1m40.691s
2 Raikkonen 1m40.843s
3 Rosberg 1m41.028s
4 Button 1m41.111s
5 Magnussen 1m41.274s
6 Vergne 1m41.402s
7 Vettel 1m41.523s
8 Hulkenberg 1m41.642s
9 Massa 1m41.686s
10 Bottas 1m41.830s
1 Hamilton 1m40.691s
2 Raikkonen 1m40.843s
3 Rosberg 1m41.028s
4 Button 1m41.111s
5 Magnussen 1m41.274s
6 Vergne 1m41.402s
7 Vettel 1m41.523s
8 Hulkenberg 1m41.642s
9 Massa 1m41.686s
10 Bottas 1m41.830s
Checkered flag
The flag is out.
Hamilton has had a bit of an off. Understeers off the track and into the gravel at Turn 11.
Across the whole lap though, Raikkonen is a couple of seconds off his previous pace, which has him in second right now with two minutes left.
Although everyone out on track now is doing longer runs and lapping up to 5s off the pace, Raikkonen has just done a rapid first sector.
Perez looks to be getting ready to head out for the last four minutes of the session. He's yet to set a time, thanks to fuel issues with his Force India.
Grosjean looked like he might push on for a flying lap, but he slows and returns to the pits.
By: Matt Beer, Ben Anderson, Andrew van Leeuwen, Edd Straw, Jonathan Noble, Dan Cross
Published:
Page:
