Saturday: Mercedes and Hamilton unsurprisingly, but by a hair
If the pole position for Mercedes does not surprise many people, the gap with Sebastian Vettel is very small. While Hamilton and Rosberg think that the W05 still had more potential, the competition is not that far behind.
Lewis Hamilton: 2nd and 1st
It’s an obviously very happy Lewis Hamilton with his performance who got out of the car at the end of the qualifying session of the 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix: « I’m delighted with today’s result. It was a very tight session and I’m relieved to finish with pole position because it was really intense until the end. »
The gap with Sebastian Vettel is indeed very small, but Hamilton thinks that his Mercedes W05 still had more to give: “My lap was far from perfect, I could have found a bit more time but fortunately it wasn’t necessary. The conditions were tricky and it was easy to make mistakes. Towards the end, it was almost impossible to see if I had someone behind me. The team did an extraordinary job once again. We have a great car, and now we have to make the most of it tomorrow.”
Nico Rosberg: 1st and 3rd
Third as in Australia, Nico Rosberg is satisfied with his starting position even if he wasn’t completely at ease with his Mercedes in Q3: “I wasn’t really comfortable with the tires for extreme conditions [the rain tires], mainly during braking, but I was still able to improve enough to take third position from Fernando [Alonso], which is positive for me.”
It is from this same position that he won the inaugural race of the season 15 days ago, so all hopes are allowed for tomorrow even though Rosberg is aware that the Malaysian race will not be easy: « This will be a difficult race full of twists and turns as the weather forecasts are the same as today. But it will give me the opportunity to gain positions. I look forward to the race and want to give my best, as I did in Melbourne. »
