Lotus and Virgin each got one car to the finish in Malaysia, a feat neither Hispania nor Williams managed to achieve...
Team Lotus:
Heikki Kovalainen: "That was a pretty good race all round. The balance was good on both sets of tyres and I think the strategy worked well for us - we pitted at the right times and we didn't have any problems all afternoon. I think we can be pleased that after a difficult Friday we showed the sort of performance that the winter tests had given us hope we could do so now it's about continuing development of the car and keeping up the pressure on the guys ahead. China will be a good test of how the car behaves in cooler conditions so the goal will be to repeat this kind of performance there and keep on pushing."
Jarno Trulli: "Unfortunately a clutch problem brought my race to an early end which is pretty bad luck as we were looking ok at our home grand prix. I had a tricky start with the anti-stall kicking in but I recovered and then after the first pitstop I locked a front wheel coming out and had to make up ground again. I got past Timo but then the clutch gave up, which is a shame as we looked like we have started to show what the car is really made of."
Virgin:
Timo Glock: "I got a good start and got ahead of Trulli in the Lotus into turn one and everything was going well, but I was only able to defend the position for so long before he was able to get past. The car was working well and we were able to look after the tyres, so we were able to stick to a two-stop strategy. My engineer did a great job to get me through the traffic and it was a very straightforward race for me. Great job by the pit stop crew as a very smooth stop helped me to get back out ahead of Trulli. Apart from the steps we still need to make in performance terms, everything is working well, so we are looking forward to what our development package can bring after China in time for Europe."
Jerome D'Ambrosio: "I'm quite happy with this weekend. I won't be remembering the fact that I stopped with less than 15 laps to go but my goal was to improve on Melbourne on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was definitely much better - and the race as well. I was able to keep up a good pace, especially in the second and third stints, so I must say I'm pretty happy about that. But this is just the beginning and I have to keep on working and improving all the time. I've made a step in the right direction so that's good."
Hispania:
Tonio Liuzzi: "It's a shame we didn't finish by 8 laps because our target was to reach the checkered flag. We had a small issue with the rear wing and were forced to stop. It's a shame because we had a really good start where I was able to pass a few cars. It was an interesting first lap but then our pace wasn't too competitive and those cars were able to overtake me. After that, it was a really complicated race because the car was struggling with the rear end, it was drifting a lot during the three stints we did. We have to work a lot on the balance and the set up for the future. We knew we weren't exactly where we wanted to be but today it was important to achieve mileage and get some information on the car. So now we have some data to work with for the future."
Narain Karthikeyan: "I would have definitely liked to have finished the race and done more miles but this was not the case. There were some problems with the water temperatures so we had to abandon in order to not damage the engine. The car balance was not the best but we have some information from Tonio because he almost completed the race. It's a shame because I was just settling in when I was forced to abandon but anyways, now I'm focused on China where I will be looking to finish the race."
Williams:
Rubens Barrichello: "A hydraulic problem forced us out of the race today. The team are still trying to identify exactly what the issue was. I was running at the back anyway when we had to retire because of an early stop to change a punctured tyre picked up after a collision. This wasn't the start of the season I was hoping for and we need to improve. Right now we don't have a reliable car and we're playing catch up, but the team back home are pushing hard to get things resolved and bring performance to the car. I believe they will be there soon."
Pastor Maldonado: "We had a misfire problem on my car from the third lap. I tried to stay out, but we had to bring the car in. I am now looking ahead to China where I will be pushing to complete a full race distance and get a better result."
