Malaysian GP: Bridgestone Qualifying

Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing) used Bridgestone's Intermediate tyre to blast to pole position by a massive 1.3 seconds at a treacherous and wet Sepang circuit for the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Webber set a time of 1min 49.327secs for his second-ever pole and first of 2010. He will start tomorrow's race alongside Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team driver Nico Rosberg, who used Bridgestone's Wet tyre to go second fastest. Webber was also fastest in the earlier practice session, using the soft compound for a 1min 33.542secs in dry conditions.

Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development

What was significant about today's running?
"The weather and timing of when to go out on track were both very important today in qualifying, and this is best illustrated by the grid we will see for tomorrow's race. The weather was very variable and it was difficult to make the correct decision for when to go out on track and which tyre to use. Mark Webber made a very good call for his pole position. Both the Intermediate and wet tyre worked well in the conditions today and the cross-over between the two was around where we expected. If we have weather like this tomorrow, being on the correct tyre for the conditions will make all the difference."

What are the tyre strategy considerations for tomorrow's race?
"As qualifying was held in wet conditions all drivers are free to choose which tyre they will use to start the race. We have gained good data of both dry tyres and the soft is quicker and will work best when the cars are lighter. This means we would expect many to start on the hard tyre if the race starts in dry conditions. If it is wet at the start, then it is very difficult to say, as it depends how wet the track becomes, and if there is any standing water. No matter what the conditions I think we will have a very exciting race with the grid line-up on this challenging Sepang circuit.""

Stats of the Day 
Practice Three 13:00 - 14:00
Driver             Team                    Time        Tyre
Mark Webber        Red Bull Racing 	   1m 33.542s  S
Lewis Hamilton     Vodafone McLaren	   1m 33.559s  S
Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull Racing 	   1m 33.587s  S

Qualifying 16:00 - 17:20
Driver             Team                    Time        Tyre
Mark Webber 	   Red Bull Racing 	   1m 49.327s  I 
Nico Rosberg 	   Mercedes GP F1 Team 	   1m 50.673s  W
Sebastian Vettel   Red Bull Racing 	   1m 50.789s  W

Compounds used: Medium / Super Soft
Temperatures 	   Ambient   Track	 Weather
PM - Practice 3    32C-34C   42C-43C-41C Sunny / Cloudy
PM - Qualifying    30C-28C   35C-30C     Drizzle / Cloudy / Rain