Ferrari showed their true colours in Sepang qualifying, McLaren-Mercedes star admits, but we will fight back...

Heikki Kovalainen has admitted that McLaren-Mercedes simply had no answer to Ferrari in qualifying for this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix - the second round of the 2008 Formula 1 World Championship - though he added he hoped his prediction that Sepang would provide a more accurate picture of the true pecking order than did Melbourne would be proved wrong.

Kovalainen and team-mate Lewis Hamilton initially qualified third and fourth behind the two unassailable scarlet machines, but they were subsequently demoted five places apiece after being deemed to have impeded Nick Heidfeld on his final Q3 run, potentially costing the BMW Sauber ace a second row start. As a result the Finn will begin the race eighth and the Briton ninth, a far cry from their performance Down Under just seven days ago.

"Of course we were hoping to be a couple of places better," Kovalainen reflected afterwards, "but obviously the Ferraris have both been very fast here all weekend and we had nothing more to give today. I think third place was the maximum we could achieve.

"Our balance is very similar to what it was in Melbourne; the fact is we didn't see the true pace of Ferrari in Melbourne. They both had some problems in qualifying or in the race, so I think this is more representative of the pace of the teams.

"I hope the prediction I made in Melbourne is not correct. Certainly today - and to be honest all weekend - the Ferraris have looked strong, but we will see tomorrow how the strategies pan out and how the race pans out. The race is long. We will still attack and aim to do the maximum job tomorrow and see what happens.

"Everybody has a different prediction [regarding the weather], and obviously today we were a little bit concerned just from looking at the sky. In Q3 we thought it might start to rain, so we went early and I think tomorrow the best we can do is look up to the sky 15 minutes before the start and see what happens. I need to just keep the focus on the race tomorrow, and that's the best we can do.

"We are still in a good position to fight. We know they [Ferrari] are going to be strong all the way through the year, but we can improve our package as well, so there's no concern. By no means is the game over."

Kovalainen was similarly keen to play down the significance of his having out-qualified Hamilton in only his second race for McLaren, courtesy of what he called "a clean lap without any big mistakes, pretty much the same story as I had in Melbourne, just trying to go step-by-step and increase the pace as I get used to the team and the car".

"For me, I must stress that my primary target is not to beat Lewis," the 26-year-old insisted. "I would rather be in first position than third position. Lewis is a great driver - a very fast driver - and it's always difficult to beat him. To be ahead of him is always good, but of course as a team we want to do better. We want to be higher than third, so I'm not making a big number out of it."