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2014 Malaysian Grand Prix Saturday - Qualifying
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Alonso splits the Mercedes, going second with a 1m40.736s on the softer of the two tyres.
Vettel improves to fifth place, slotting in behind his team-mate.
Ricciardo is informed he used "too much brake pressure at Turn 4". "I got a bit carried away" is his cool response.
Here's the full order at the halfway mark:
1 Hamilton 1m40.552s
2 Rosberg 1m40.946s
3 Raikkonen 1m41.835s
4 Ricciardo 1m42.072s
5 Bottas 1m42.158s
6 Alonso 1m42.293s
7 Vettel 1m42.309s
8 Hulkenberg 1m42.520s
9 Vergne 1m42.745s
10 Perez 1m42.770s
11 Massa 1m42.855s
12 Kvyat 1m43.449s
13 Gutierrez 1m43.754s
14 Grosjean 1m43.869s
15 Sutil 1m44.176s
16 Maldonado 1m44.622s
17 Chilton 1m45.528s
18 Bianchi 1m45.844s
19 Kobayashi 1m46.015s
20 Ericsson 1m46.377s
Button has only done a 2m05s, Magnussen yet to do a flyer with his power issues.
1 Hamilton 1m40.552s
2 Rosberg 1m40.946s
3 Raikkonen 1m41.835s
4 Ricciardo 1m42.072s
5 Bottas 1m42.158s
6 Alonso 1m42.293s
7 Vettel 1m42.309s
8 Hulkenberg 1m42.520s
9 Vergne 1m42.745s
10 Perez 1m42.770s
11 Massa 1m42.855s
12 Kvyat 1m43.449s
13 Gutierrez 1m43.754s
14 Grosjean 1m43.869s
15 Sutil 1m44.176s
16 Maldonado 1m44.622s
17 Chilton 1m45.528s
18 Bianchi 1m45.844s
19 Kobayashi 1m46.015s
20 Ericsson 1m46.377s
Button has only done a 2m05s, Magnussen yet to do a flyer with his power issues.
First flying lap from Grosjean puts him 15th.
EDD STRAW adds to the hard tyre observations:
"The Ferrari looks like one of the most convincing cars on the hard compound Pirellis. Some others were finding it difficult to get the tyre working and sliding around a lot, accelerating degradation and wear. Alonso was fastest on the primes yesterday.
"It will be interesting to see how the Williams treats the rears. The rear-end moves around a fair bit in a controllable way, but that could hurt in the long runs."
"The Ferrari looks like one of the most convincing cars on the hard compound Pirellis. Some others were finding it difficult to get the tyre working and sliding around a lot, accelerating degradation and wear. Alonso was fastest on the primes yesterday.
"It will be interesting to see how the Williams treats the rears. The rear-end moves around a fair bit in a controllable way, but that could hurt in the long runs."
Ricciardo goes fourth, Vettel into seventh.
The Red Bulls are onto what should be their first flying laps of the day.
Speaking of Marussia, it's currently ahead in the tail-end battle, where Chilton and Bianchi lead Kobayashi and Ericsson.
EDD STRAW: "Marussia has made some big set-up changes overnight, particularly in terms of rear downforce level. Team is much happier today."
BEN ANDERSON is also taking in the action track-side:
"Maldonado is pushing in the Lotus, making up for lost time. The car looks tidy considering the lack of running, although Grosjean is crossed up coming into Turn 5. Maybe the car is a handful as it builds up speed.
"The McLaren looks noticeably pedestrian on the harder tyre. The Ferrari looks much stronger in the high-speed stuff on the same rubber."
"Maldonado is pushing in the Lotus, making up for lost time. The car looks tidy considering the lack of running, although Grosjean is crossed up coming into Turn 5. Maybe the car is a handful as it builds up speed.
"The McLaren looks noticeably pedestrian on the harder tyre. The Ferrari looks much stronger in the high-speed stuff on the same rubber."
Only drivers yet to do proper flying laps are the McLarens, Red Bulls and Grosjean.
Stopwatch
Hamilton fights back and goes quckest by 0.394s, setting a 1m40.552s.
"Very poor rear grip" says Button.
More track-side observations from from EDD STRAW:
"I'm starting to see a few cars lean on it. Both Saubers are a little hesitant in the change of direction, suggesting the rear isn't quite as planted as Sutil and Gutierrez would like.
"The Mercedes and the Ferrari seem able to take a tighter line on entry into Turn 5. Others have to go a bit wider to make the transition to Turn 6 less sharp."
"I'm starting to see a few cars lean on it. Both Saubers are a little hesitant in the change of direction, suggesting the rear isn't quite as planted as Sutil and Gutierrez would like.
"The Mercedes and the Ferrari seem able to take a tighter line on entry into Turn 5. Others have to go a bit wider to make the transition to Turn 6 less sharp."
"I want to talk about me seat" reports Hamilton over the radio.
Order after 22 minutes:
1 Rosberg
2 Hamilton
3 Raikkonen
4 Bottas
5 Alonso
6 Vergne
7 Perez
8 Massa
9 Hulkenberg
10 Kvyat
1 Rosberg
2 Hamilton
3 Raikkonen
4 Bottas
5 Alonso
6 Vergne
7 Perez
8 Massa
9 Hulkenberg
10 Kvyat
Stopwatch
He's beaten by his team-mate - Nico Rosberg does a 1m40.946s, exactly three tenths faster.
Stopwatch
Lewis Hamilton now puts Mercedes in front on a 1m41.246s, just under 0.6s clear of Raikkonen. That's ominous.
Valtteri Bottas to second for Williams on a 1m42.158s, 0.323s slower than Raikkonen.
Kevin Magnussen reporting he has problems with his McLaren's Mercedes engine.
Jean-Eric Vergne - the happiest man in Malaysia yesterday, so upbeat was he about Toro Rosso's pace - goes fifth.
Sergio Perez goes third in the Force India, pushing Massa back to fourth.
Ferrari one-two now as Fernando Alonso goes second, 0.458s down on Raikkonen.
EDD STRAW is braving the heat to watch this session track-side.
"I'm standing down at the rapid Turn 5/6 left-right sweeper. It's a fast corner that excellently highlights high-speed poise and direction change.
"The Caterham's Renault engine is sounding pretty rough when off-throttle, as is the Sauber. The great thing about the new engines is the variety of sounds. Great texture."
"I'm standing down at the rapid Turn 5/6 left-right sweeper. It's a fast corner that excellently highlights high-speed poise and direction change.
"The Caterham's Renault engine is sounding pretty rough when off-throttle, as is the Sauber. The great thing about the new engines is the variety of sounds. Great texture."
Stopwatch
Raikkonen locks up at the final corner but still does a 1m41.835s, fastest by 1.020s.
Kimi Raikkonen is now setting 'purples' in the Ferrari.
Kvyat's lap ends up 0.9s behind Massa for second.
Adrian Sutil jumps to second in the Sauber, 1.5s off Massa.
Stopwatch
Massa comes through with a 1m42.855s to take first by 1.8s over Maldonado.
Although Kvyat is beating Massa's time in sector one.
Massa on course to grab the top spot.
Stopwatch
Max Chilton puts the Marussia second, as Maldonado moves the benchmark to 1m44.622s.
Kamui Kobayashi pops into second between Maldonado and Ericsson.
Just under half the field now on the circuit.
Stopwatch
Maldonado improves to a 1m45.211s next time around, as Ericsson clocks in with a 1m47.302s.
Stopwatch
Maldonado does a 1m49.882s to set our first time, but he had a little off at Turn 8 along the way.
"There's something loose on the right hand side of the top cover. Looks like a sticker more than anything else," reports Vettel as he cruises into pit-lane.
Continuing that Renault theme, Ericsson and Romain Grosjean are out. Might see Lotus kicking the times off.
Lotus had another painful day on Friday, leading Renault to underline that the team wasn't getting any kind of raw deal because of its customer status compared to Red Bull.
By: Scott Mitchell, Edd Straw, Ben Anderson, Andrew van Leeuwen, Jonathan Noble, Pablo Elizalde
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