Swiss racer Fabio Leimer took the spoils as the GP2 season kicked off in Malaysia. Leimer passed pole sitter Stefano Coletti with five laps remaining while the Rapax driver was also passed by James Calado as he struggled with his tyres. It was the Racing Engineering driver's first win since Barcelona 2011. "It feels really great because last year we were fighting every time for the win but unfortunately we could never win," said Leimer. "Now it’s the first race of the season and I […]

McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez say they are encouraged after an improved qualifying performance in Malaysia. Button set the eighth fastest time in Q3 while Perez was a couple of places further back in tenth. "I don’t think we can really expect to qualify any better than P8 right now – but, having said that, to be just two-tenths off the guy who won last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix [Kimi Raikkonen] in Q3 can’t be too bad," said Button. Button also believes that […]

Rapax's Stefano Coletti has taken the early lead in the GP2 championship after setting the fastest time in qualifying in Malaysia. Coletti's time edged out James Calado by 0.004s, with the same difference separating Calado from Felipe Nasr in third place. Fabio Leimer was fourth, ahead of top rookie Mitch Evans in fifth place. The main talking point from the thirty minute session revolved around an incident between Sam Bird and Johnny Cecotto. Bird held Cecotto up through the fast Turn 6, for which he […]

As Melbourne winner Kimi Raikkonen continues his top form in Malaysia, Lotus' rivals are beginning to wonder if the team has an unfair advantage. At Sepang, arguably even more than in Australia, the keyword is tyres. "Tyres, tyres, tyres, tyres, tyres," grumbled Red Bull's Mark Webber on Friday. Pirelli's more extreme 2013 product could be clearly seen flicking off the wheels on every one of the 15 corners at Sepang during Friday practice. Yet serenely at the top is Finn Raikkonen. Germany's Auto Motor und […]

After Kimi Raikkonen eased to victory in Australia, and set the pace in Malaysia on Friday, the forgotten man of Lotus is Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman suspected his problems in Melbourne were due simply to going the wrong way on setup in limited practice running. But "We're seeing the same phenomenon as in Melbourne and we just don't understand it," Germany's Auto Motor und Sport quoted Grosjean as saying on Friday. Team technical boss James Allison has one explanation -- 2007 world champion Raikkonen was […]

Kimi Raikkonen continued his fine start to the 2013 season by setting the fastest time in second practice ahead of this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix. Raikkonen's time of 1:36.569 was set on the medium compound tyres - this weekend's option tyres - shortly before a heavy shower affected parts of the circuit. Sebastian Vettel was just 0.019s down on Raikkonen, while the Ferrari's of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso were third and fourth. Morning pacesetter Mark Webber was fifth in the sister Red Bull. Rain […]

Nico Hulkenberg admits he is heading into this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix blind after failing to make the start in Australia. Hulkenberg qualified in eleventh place in Melbourne but an issue with the fuel tank forced him out prior to the start of the race. "Melbourne qualifying was pretty unique: Q1 on Saturday and then the rest of it on Sunday morning. The conditions were pretty difficult, with all the rain and then it drying up again," he told the Official F1 website. "Sure we […]

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA Drivers - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Giedo Van Der Garde (Caterham), Jules Bianchi (Marussia), Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), Max Chilton (Marussia). Q: Kimi, great win for you and the team to start off with, in cold conditions. How do you and the team feel about being able to repeat that performance level in the heat of Malaysia? Kimi Raikkonen: We don’t know yet. Last year we were pretty good when it was hot and actually it was […]

Humidity? Check. Constant threat of biblical rain? Check. Colourful gravel? Check. It must be Sepang...

Marussia President Graeme Lowdon has confirmed that discussions with rivals Caterham regarding a merge of the two teams were held over the winter. Today's issue of The Times claims that 'Talks between the Marussia and Caterham teams started over the winter as they tried to find common ground so that they could guarantee survival. But the talks foundered and the two teams are now in a dogfight for tens of millions of pounds in prize money'. "I have everything prepared here for them to sign. […]

The ninth season of the GP2 Series roars into life this weekend in Malaysia. Here's our preview.

Giedo van der Garde believes that high temperatures in Malaysia this weekend will help his team. Van der Garde finished in eighteenth place in Australia, the last of the classified runners. "On track Sepang gives us an interesting challenge", said the Dutchman. "We haven’t seen track temperatures in pre-season or in Australia close to what we’ll have this week and as the circuit evolves quite a bit over the weekend managing degradation levels from Friday through to Sunday will be critical, but we saw in […]