Formula One news
Ferrari relieved to be back on top
03 April 2009 / Results / PhotosThe Ferrari team was satisfied to be back on top of things in second practice for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. Kimi Räikkönen, who won at Sepang last year, set the fastest time of 1.35.707 which was just over a tenth of a second quicker than team-mate Massa. The Italian team completed a productive day which saw a total of 107 completed between the duo.
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| Räikkönen's KERS fails in first practice |
Finn and 2007 Champion Räikkönen did not enjoy a completely trouble-free day, as smoke began to rise from his cockpit towards the end of the first timed session. "We had a problem with the KERS," Kimi explained. "It cost us a bit of time, but we managed to make up for most of it in the afternoon. We had felt that the situation here could be different to Melbourne, but it is still too early to say where we are up against the opposition. What we can be sure of is that, when the car runs without troubles, we are competitive - we hope we can do a good job in tomorrow's qualifying."
There is a debate now ongoing as to whether or not the team will use its KERS system in the race, particularly after this morning's problems, which confirmed worries of how the device may react amid the high temperautres. "The tyres are operating differently to how they were in Australia," explained Felipe Massa, who struggled with tyres at the first race. "There is more grip and the softer tyres work well, even over a long distance; at the start of the long runs, I had a bit of understeer in the high-speed corners, and oversteer in the slow ones. Towards the end, though, the handling of the car improved continuously and I could set some great times. Clearly, looking at the timesheets today, there's a slight feeling of relief, even though it has to be treated with caution. We are very motivated, and the whole team will be trying its best."
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