Giorgio Pantano finished the Malaysian Grand Prix in 13th position today, improving on his last result despite starting from the pit lane, while Jordan Ford team mate Nick Heidfeld retired with a transmission problem.  Heidfeld had enjoyed a competitive pace in his first stint, reaching 8th position before his first pit stop (lap 12), when a fuel rig failure meant he rejoined the race with no extra fuel.  A cautious lap back to the pits and the additional stop lost him time and race positions until a gear problem occurred and worsened until eventually his EJ14 stuck in fifth gear and he had to retire on lap 35. 

Following smooth-running free practice sessions this morning, Nick Heidfeld qualified in 15th place for Jordan Ford at the Malaysian Grand Prix while Giorgio Pantano became the first driver to experience the new penalty for using the spare car and as such a different engine during a Grand Prix weekend.  Forced to abandon his race car immediately before first qualifying due to a gearbox problem which the team could not resolve in time, Pantano chose to miss the first session in the hope it would be fixed.  As it happened, he had to use the spare car in the second and will start the race from the back of the grid, as stipulated by the regulations.  

A technically trouble-free day for Jordan Ford allowed all three drivers to complete their planned laps for tyre evaluation and race set-up preparation.  However in the searing heat at Sepang International Circuit, with track temperatures rising as high as 56ºC, both Heidfeld and Pantano felt they had not yet found the best balance for the EJ14 at this circuit.  The team will analyse today’s data carefully to understand and make the best choices for the rest of the weekend.

Nick Heidfeld said, “It’s positive that we had no technical problems today and did the planned amount of laps.  However, the car is quite difficult to drive and we are struggling to find a good balance.  We were hoping for some different tyres this weekend however Bridgestone are working hard to achieve this for us at the next race.  We will look at the data now.”
 

Giorgio Pantano
“I think the track looks beautiful and hopefully will be easier to learn than Albert Park. The heat and humidity is a little bit worrying but have I travelled to Kuala Lumpur early to train in these climate conditions.  It’s my second Grand Prix and I’m keen to see what we can do - I know the car and team better so I hope we can achieve an improved result.  The last race was a good experience for me and for sure, there’s a lot more to come."

Nick Heidfeld
"I am looking forward to this race very much.  I scored points here the last two seasons and of course I would like to do it again.  I hope that we have more success than in Melbourne and I am optimistic because there are some differences with the tyres and the car for this weekend and hopefully we will get something out of analysing our last race."

James Robinson, Head of Race and Test Engineering
"We were encouraged by our experiences in Melbourne and it's great that Giorgio has a Formula One race under his belt, a well-driven one at that. We fully understand the cause of Nick's clutch problem and have implemented changes for this weekend.   This race will test the drivers and cars to the limit, with track temperatures of up to 54ºC and very high humidity levels. One of our strengths is our young and fit driver line-up as these conditions play heavily on driver fitness.  The track is challenging, very modern with good facilities and technically is a circuit that is very rewarding if everything comes together and you get it right. It will be interesting to see Bridgestone's continuous improvement with the tyres and weather changes are usually a big factor here, something we expect may come into play with our strategy on Sunday."