Reigning world champions finally reveal their true colours in one-sided Sepang qualifying battle.
Ferrari have expressed their relief after finally realising their true potential in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend - as Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen blitzed all comers in the battle for the top spot.
Indeed, the session turned into something of a scarlet demonstration as no one proved able to hold a candle to the reigning constructors' world champions, who had comfortably locked out the front row well before the chequered flag dropped. Contrary to expectations, however, it was Massa who made the running rather than team-mate Raikkonen, with the Brazilian producing a lap almost half a second quicker than anyone else could manage right towards the end to drive home his supremacy.
"I am very happy!" enthused the man who also took pole in Sepang last year, only to almost immediately relinquish his advantage on the opening lap and then go on to run off-piste whilst endeavouring to pass Lewis Hamilton. "In the final part of qualifying, I managed to put together two really good laps after struggling a bit in Q2. Right at the end there were a few drops of rain, but it had no effect whatsoever on the performance.
"It is very important to start from the front, and I hope I can have a good race. We know our car is very competitive over a long run, but it is also clear we face a long, tough race. All the same, we can only be confident about tomorrow."
Defending world champion Raikkonen blamed tyre woes for the gap that separated the two Ferrari drivers on the final timing screens, and insisted that - come rain or shine - he was confident of a far better result on Sunday than was the case in the season-opener in Melbourne.
"Of course, I would prefer to have taken pole," the Finn reflected, "but second place is definitely not bad and I am happy that the team got the best result possible. In Q3 I was not able to get the tyres to work as well as possible, especially on my second run, after having had a good lap in Q2.
"The track seemed to be a bit more slippery and I was not able to get everything out of the car. Tomorrow's race will be very tough, but I made a good start in Melbourne and I hope I can do the same tomorrow."
Team principal Stefano Domenicali - in only his second grand prix in the role - was similarly pleased with the Scuderia's seventh pole position in ten outings around the Sepang International Circuit, though of those races it has won only four. The Italian is hopeful of converting the qualifying result into victory number five on Sunday - and, ominously for Maranello's rivals, he insisted there was still more to come.
"Today we worked well and up to our usual standards and the results prove it," he underlined. "We have now made just a small step in terms of the grand prix, with the longer one still needing to be accomplished in tomorrow's race.
"If all elements - team, drivers, cars - work at their best, then we can aspire to a good result. Congratulations to Felipe, who really produced an exceptional qualifying lap."
"Finally, a trouble-free day!" added team manager Luca Baldisserri. "[The] car performance was good, and it worked well as can be seen from the result. There are a few unknowns regarding the various sets of tyres, which seem to be a bit up-and-down; we will have to study that carefully.
"The threat of rain meant we operated differently to usual, going out on-track at the start of all the sessions. We expect a very difficult race tomorrow because of the weather, which will be tough on cars and drivers. Clearly our aim is to do the maximum, which is to repeat this afternoon's result."
