Heidfeld gives Lotus Renault another third place finish in Malaysian Grand Prix 2011

Nick Heidfeld was second Lotus Renault podium, as he yesterday in the Petronas Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix in third place at the Sepang Circuit. 

Two weeks ago in Melbourne, the first race, it was team-mate Vitaly Petrov, who took third place. Heidfeld in the race 12th. 

But Petrov crashed on lap 52 when he was in eighth place yesterday. 

Sepang proves a good track for Heidfeld, as well as on the podium in 2009 when he finished second for BMW Sauber. He did not run last year. 

Heidfeld started the sixth on the grid yesterday and moved like a bullet through the first turn, he moved into second place behind Sebastian Vettel. 

He later asked to fifth place before the ground up to third place, despite intense pressure from Red Bull Mark Webber in the final two rounds. 

Heidfeld said: "It was fantastic for us the race and I am satisfied with the performance of the car from Melbourne." 

"It's an amazing achievement for me and the team. We earned our place on the podium a second. It was a good start for me to move to the second position from the outset and Sebastian (Vettel) challenge," said Heidfeld. 

"But there were moments in the race where we had it again and I are lucky if one or two other cars had problems. 

"In the last two rounds there was pressure from Mark, but I managed to contain. 

"It means a lot to the team that we showed the consistency of our races. We can be better and hopefully be competitive." 

Heidfeld and Petrov are fourth and fifth constructors' standings with 15 points, while the Lotus Renault was fourth in the class constructor.

Sepang's Circuit

Malaysian Grand Prix 2011: Red Bull team give their reaction to a great start to the weekend in Sepang:

Car 1 Sebastian Vettel

“It was a challenging weekend until qualifying today. I was happy with the car, but we never really got into a rhythm. Yesterday wasn’t as smooth as we hoped for, but we knew the car had speed, so the main thing was to keep believing in it. In qualifying everything worked out straight away. It was very close in the end with the McLaren guys, so I’m happy to get pole. Big compliments to the guys in the team - especially those working on KERS, they did a lot of work since Australia. If we wouldn’t have had it today, we wouldn’t be sitting here now, neither me nor Mark, so compliments to the guys – it’s a good reward. It’s very hot in the garage for the boys during this race, the air is pretty humid, so at least tonight they will get some good sleep ahead of tomorrow.” 
Qualifying
Position: Pole, Q3 Time: 1:34.870
Third practice session
Position: 5, Best Time: 1:37.175

Car 2 Mark Webber

“I knew it would be very tight; everyone was on a single pace after the first flying lap on the option tyre in Q3. It was pretty straight forward for us; you have to just drive as quick as you can when it’s like that. We can’t control how tight it is, to get a few tenths more, you have to just do your best. It was a better performance from me today compared to Melbourne and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I’m starting on the clean side of the grid and it should be an interesting race – I think there will be a lot of pit stops.”
Qualifying
Position: 3rd, Q3 Time: 1:35.179
Third practice session
Position: 2, Best Time: 1:36.630

Christian Horner, Team Principal

“It was a great team performance today. To get first and third on the grid after a fascinating qualifying session, which was really tight with the McLarens today, is a great start to the weekend. On the final run and under huge pressure, Sebastian delivered just enough to get pole. Mark also improved his time and for the team to take P1 and P3, sets us up well for tomorrow.”

Cyril Dumont (Renault)

“It was a tough qualifying session, tougher than in Australia I would say. We had to do some set-up work engine-wise in order to improve the car from yesterday, so we’re happy it was working well today. We have a one and three again for the start of tomorrow’s race, like last year – although then the drivers were the other way round. Hopefully we’ll get the same race result too – with a one and two finish.”
 

Malaysian Grand Prix 2011: Leading Position, Sebastian Vessel is the fastest, Leading position after qualifying

Beating Hamilton into second place by a mere 0.104 seconds means the top five on the grid tomorrow are the same five which started the Australian Grand Prix and in exactly the same order with Mark in P3, then Button and Alonso.

We used our Kers system on both cars this weekend and, as Sebastian said, it turned out to be a necessity. He said: “Big compliments to the guys in the team – especially those working with Kers, they did a lot of work since Australia. If we wouldn’t have had it today, neither me nor Mark would be sitting here now, so compliments to the guys.”
Webber himself saw an improvement since we left Albert Park.

He said: “It was a better performance from me today compared to Melbourne and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I’m starting on the clean side of the grid and it should be an interesting race – there will be a lot of pit stops.”

Today was a closer battle with Hamilton and Button McLaren, as our team principal explained: “To get first and third on the grid after a fascinating qualifying session, which was really tight with the McLarens today, is a great start to the weekend,” said Christian. “On the final run and under huge pressure, Sebastian delivered just enough to get pole. Mark also improved his time and for the team to take P1 and P3, sets us up well for tomorrow.”

Both Renaults again looked strong, but for the second time this season, Michael Schumacher failed to make the cut for Q3, while his team-mate did. Neither of the drivers in Scuderia Toro Rosso made it through to final ten, Sébastien Buemi having the more dramatic outing in the second period when a piece of sidepod bodywork flew off the side of his STR6 causing the session to be briefly red-flagged.

The good news at the bottom of the screen was that HRT made the 107% cut-off point and so both Tonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan will start a grand prix tomorrow for the first time in 2011.

So… the rain held off (for the second day running) and we’ve yet to get the Pirelli wets out of their warmers. But who knows how things will fare tomorrow. We’re forecast thunder and showers.