4th Fernando Alonso (Scuderia Ferrari): “The points scored today are the result of a trouble free weekend, in which the small improvements on the car worked as we had expected and it ran very reliably. We definitely have a lot more work to do, because while we are moving forward, the others are doing the same. Everyone in our team is doing their utmost to close down the gap. There’s still a lot to learn in these early races, but it’s no secret that we definitely need to improve our top speed, as could be seen from my duel with Hulkenberg. I was able to get him thanks to fresher tyres, but we definitely need to up our performance right from the very next race. It will be very hot in Bahrain and the tyre compounds are softer. This might be an advantage to us, because on the harder tyres we are sliding a lot. Also, from the data we gathered there during winter testing, we might be able to extract more of our potential, but that will apply to everyone.”
5th Nico Hulkenberg (Sahara Force India): “Today was a super team effort and I’m very happy with fifth place. We were the only team among the frontrunners to do a two-stop race and we had good pace all afternoon. It shows that the team’s hard work over the winter is paying off and it feels great to be so competitive and fighting up at the front. We showed that we could manage the tyres well, although I felt a bit more comfortable on the medium compound tyres than on the hards, but we always had the tyre management under control. So I’m feeling happy that we can take all these positives to Bahrain and leave Malaysia with a good helping of points.”
6th Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes): “It was hot out there this afternoon! And when you’ve spent all that time watching the two Williams battling in your mirrors, it makes it feel even hotter. Still, it was an enjoyable race, and I couldn’t really have expected more. I think we got the most we could out of the package this afternoon, and I didn’t think I’d be finishing sixth after the way the car had performed earlier in the weekend. It’s encouraging for all the guys that we called both the pit-stops and the fuel usage perfectly throughout the race. I also want to say a big ‘thanks’ to everyone back at the MTC [McLaren Technology Centre] for working so hard to bring the updates to the track. Every little helps. Nonetheless, there’s no getting away from the fact that we’re still weak in the high-speed corners; this car does have its strengths, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. We got the best out of the car today, but we know we still need to improve.”
7th Felipe Massa (Williams F1 Team): “Two cars in the top ten prize – a good result for the team. I started well, already during the first lap played a few places, but prevented further breakthrough Kevin Magnussen, his McLaren had the best traction at the exit of the last corner, which complicated the attack. A little later, this same thing happened with Jenson Button – at a fresh set of tires I get to him, but was unable to overtake. In general, the Malaysian track is not well suited to our car, so we worked well, finishing in these positions. Sure, in Bahrain we will be more competitive!”
8th Valtteri Bottas (Williams F1 Team): “I think we can be satisfied – a breakthrough from 18th to eighth place and points at the finish is a good result . Yes, this weekend the car was not as competitive as in Melbourne, but the team worked well – like, FW36 able to qualify for a stable place in the top ten prize. I had a good start in the first lap played six positions, after which the pace was pretty sure I could without difficulty to break on through excellent speed on the straights. Qualifying showed that over individual regions need to work on the car, but until the beginning of the season is encouraging. ”
9th Kevin Magnussen (McLaren-Mercedes): “I’m sorry for the team that I messed things up going into the second corner, with the incident with Kimi. I think we could have scored some good points today, so I’m disappointed with and for myself, too. Grands prix are long races, so I shouldn’t have made a mistake like that so early on in the afternoon. But that sort of stuff happens sometimes – and, when it does, you just have to learn from it, and I will. After the incident, it wasn’t easy to recover, and we struggled with the high track temperatures, and in the high-speed corners, too. As I say, I’ll learn from this race and I’ll see what I can do at the next one. It’s good that the Bahrain Grand Prix is so soon; it’ll feel good to put this one behind me, and move on.”
10th Daniil Kvyat (Scuderia Toro Rosso): “Cool finish in the top ten for the second time in a row. Race was tense and difficult, with a lot of struggle. The first two segments, I tried to fight with Williams and McLaren, but they were faster than me on the straights. The final segment, I was quite pleased and was able to defend its position. Overall it was a good weekend and I hope that we will continue in the same spirit and further, because the car definitely has potential. So I’m looking forward to racing in Bahrain a week. It will be interesting to perform on the track on which we conducted tests of this car”
11th Romain Grosjean (Lotus F1 Team): “Eleventh place – a good result for me and the team . Finish the race was our primary objective, which allows to evaluate the performance of the car. Yes, the situation is not ideal, but the current position in this stage of the season is not so bad. For eight laps to go in the car lost much downforce, especially at the rear, which complicated the defense position. Without this problem I could finish higher, but still nice to be a step away from dozens of prize. Fighting on the last lap was interesting, and I tried to remember all the previous battles, not to allow Kimi to overtake me!”
12th Kimi Raikkonen (Scuderia Ferrari): “I am very disappointed with how this race turned out, because I got a good start, but then the collision with Magnussen damaged my right rear tyre, which meant I had to make an extra stop. That wiped out any chance I had of fighting for a good finish. After the accident, the car’s handling was not the same, as the tyre had caused damage to the floor, which led to a loss of downforce. On my first set of tyres, I had some difficulties and it was only after the final stop, when I fitted the Mediums that it went better, but by then it was too late. Hard to say how things might have gone without that problem, because our rivals were very quick, but maybe I could have finished close to Fernando. It was a really unlucky day, but overall we managed to improve our performance and now we must concentrate on the positive aspects of this weekend and work to improve starting already next week in Bahrain.”
13th Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham F1 Team): “Thirteenth place in the second race of the season – a good result, especially after a bad start of the weekend. I started well, this time problems with braking before the first turn was not, and by the end of the first lap I was riding 16th, just behind Adrian Sutil, and the car looked better than in the previous two days. We carefully monitor the situation and, as with tire wear problems have arisen, adjusted strategy, extending the first segment on the softer tires. Pit stop we had on the 15th lap, again putting set Medium, and it worked flawlessly from the first lap of the second segment. I went ahead Chilton took a good pace and quickly began to overtake the riders Sauber. Second pit-stop team held on the 32nd lap, putting tires Hard. We have seen that the final stretch will be very long, but understood that if we can reach the finish line, the result would be good – so it happened! Thirteenth place we returned tenth place in the constructors’ championship and gives strength. Yes, to be done, and for me today a lot was new: the first time I drove the car with a full fuel tanks on these tires. We need to add speed to be able to deal with a couple of teams ahead. It is realistic, well, today is the day, finally, has developed successfully, we can be happy!”
14th Marcus Ericsson (Caterham F1 Team): “First of all, I want to thank the engineers who spent a lot of effort to restore my car after yesterday’s incident. I felt depressed, but today finished first in the Grand Prix, once on the 14th place, which helped the team climb to tenth place in the constructors’ championship – it’s a great feeling for me and all employees Caterham! Start could hardly go better – I immediately went Marussia both riders and rode to the end of the lap for Kamui to 17th place, a total of five positions. I was able to quickly keep pace partner, but after ten laps the rear tires got worse to keep the track, which cost me the loss of time. I rolled into the pits at the eleventh lap, but during the pit stop there was a hitch, because of which we had checked out behind Chilton and Vergne. The second segment turned out good – I was surprised when was able to deal with Raikkonen and Vergne. I was able to reflect a couple of their attacks, and then I drove back to Chilton. At the 26th lap I put another set of soft tires, I checked out of the pit lane ahead of Marussia and began to break away. After the third pit stop, tire already on Hard, I still went to the Chilton and just wanted to bring the car to the finish. All went well, when for a couple of laps before the checkered flag began to decrease power. I crossed the finish line almost simultaneously with Marussia, Max almost passed me because of these problems with the ERS, but it is in 14th place with an advantage of 0.1 seconds allowed us to become the tenth in the Constructors’ Championship – great that I still hold the position! With such a high competition every important factor, even the slightest advantage can make a big difference. The weekend was very difficult for all of us, but we go to Bahrain with the thought that we have, on what a start and something to fight for. It’s very motivating – can not wait to return to the cockpit again and get to work!”
15th Max Chilton (Marussia F1 Team): “Difficult race. I’m not the best start and waited for problems in the first turn, but managed to escape. In the course of most of the distance we were a tight fight with Erickson and finished with a difference of one-tenth. Today I was a little disappointed, but we will focus on preparing for the stage in Bahrain, where we hope to achieve more”
16th Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing, DNF): “It seemed that today we will earn a lot of points, because the first race was excellent. I had a good start, played several positions – it was great. It’s nice that I fought in the leading group, but on the last pit stop having problems, then I punctured tire. I believe the cause was a damaged nose cone. Then I got a fine Stop & Go, and then the race was over for me quickly. At first everything was great, but in a short time the situation was reversed. I’m disappointed, but at the same time happy because the first two races held exactly the way I wanted – did everything in my power. Of course, I want to do better, but it is important that we are moving in the right direction. I would like a little more luck, but I am sure that the situation will change soon, and I earn points. I like to fight in the front row – it’s an honor for me and I am glad that the first races were very interesting. In fact, it’s addictive, and now I want more. This year, you will often see me among the leaders.”
17th Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber F1 Team, DNF): “After a long interval, I made a pit stop, but then could not engage first gear. I tried several times but nothing happened. Nevertheless, this weekend, we still made progress. Yes, the race was unfortunate, but we have to be optimistic. The main thing – to eliminate the problems that we have been consistently fast and reliable on the road and did not encounter a problem with your. Ahead of a long season – sure, we are able to add.”
18th Adrian Sutil (Sauber F1 Team, DNF): “In my last lap I lost power and then suddenly the car switched off. I don’t know what happened, so we need to analyse it. It is a shame. Many things don’t work well at the moment, so we need to learn from that. In general, our pace was too slow and the grip level was poor. This was unusual for us and we didn’t expect that. We will keep working on the issues we have and we will be back stronger for the next races. We don’t have much time until Bahrain, so we don’t expect to have many updates there. However, for the upcoming races we have a plan which we are working on in order to improve.”
19th Jean Eric Vergne (Scuderia Toro Rosso, DNF): “I think I had a great start today but very soon I felt some problems with the car. I lost power in the car and I just saw everybody overtaking me. Then I found myself in a sandwich between a Caterham and Bianchi and maybe I was a bit too ambitious to think I could try and pass the two cars. It was just not possible and this resulted in the collision, which damaged my front wing. At this point I knew that my race was compromised, so I was hoping for some rain and maybe a safety car to change the cards on the table and re-join the pack. But then I continued to suffer with the car and my race was over. It’s really a shame, as this was a race in which we could have been strong and achieve a good result. The race pace on hard tyres was pretty good. On the positive side, we have a good car and we won’t have to wait long before being back on track, as Bahrain is just around the corner.”
20th Jules Bianchi (Marussia F1 Team, DNF): “Unfortunately the situation with Maldonado was a consequence of what happened off the start, when Vergne hit me from behind and punctured my left rear tyre. Quite simply I could not avoid Maldonado; there was nothing I could do. We came in to change the tyres and to fit a new front wing but when I returned to the track the car was not easy to drive and we suspected a problem with the brakes. We could not continue to drive this way and had no choice but to retire. It was disappointing to end my race after 8 laps and this is not the reward the Team deserves after a week where we seemed to make good progress through the sessions.”
21th Pastor Maldonado (Lotus F1 Team, DNF): “After the start we were losing a lot of power so we’ll have to investigate later to see what the issue is and analyse the data. This problem meant I had to retire in order to protect the engine. Despite that, this weekend has been clearly a step forwards. Since Saturday, we’ve been able to run far more with the car and Romain was able to finish the race. Today obviously was not so good for me, but we’re not the only ones with issues so early in the season. This is all related to all the complex packages in the car, but we have learnt a lot this weekend and will make progress for the next.”
22th Sergio Perez (Sahara Force India, not started): “I’m disappointed not to have a chance to race today. We are still investigating the cause of the problem but the car kept going into neutral when I was downshifting on the way to the grid. I made it back to the garage but we could not find a solution. I need to focus on the positives because we learned a lot from the weekend so I hope we can come back stronger in Bahrain. It’s been a frustrating weekend for me but at least we are racing again in seven days and can look forward to putting the disappointment behind us.”
