2002 Malaysian GP

Sepang circuit lies next to the city’s main airport, about forty five minutes south of central Kuala Lumpur, and was purpose-built for Formula One as a state of the art racing circuit, the first of its kind in Malaysia. This will be the fourth consecutive Grand Prix the track has hosted and its excellent facilities provide a high quality working environment for teams and drivers. Sepang has an unusually wide track which allows for good overtaking opportunities, but is still a challenge for drivers with its variety of tight and flowing corners and two fast and long straights on either side of the spectacular canopied grandstands. The hot track temperature creates low grip level, with the heat also making this race hard on engines. A good car balance is required for the quick corners although the track’s flowing nature makes it light on the brakes.

We asked Eddie Jordan, Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato for their thoughts on this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Eddie Jordan
"We need to get on and do the job in Malaysia after the disappointment of Melbourne. There was clearly nothing we could have done to avoid Fisichella being caught in the first lap crash, but we’ve been working hard to fix the problem that forced Takuma to retire. Hopefully all the drivers will be careful going into the first corner at Sepang, as I’m sure the fans want to see exciting racing with all 22 cars taking part."

Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello dominated first practice on Friday morning in Malaysia, lapping two seconds faster than their nearest rival. The DHL Jordan Hondas of Takuma Sato and Giancarlo Fisichella were 6th and 9th fastest respectively, the former having previously only driven around the Sepang track in a Honda NSX road car.

Finland's Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest practice time on the opening day of the 2002 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang near Kuala Lumpur. The McLaren driver was followed by team mate David Coulthard who recovered from a blown engine in the first session.

The DHL Jordan Hondas of Giancarlo Fisichella and Takuma Sato were 14th and 16th fastest, the Bridgestone contracted teams apparently being out-gunned by their Michelin-shod rivals on the hot track.

Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams set the fastest time in Saturday morning's practice session, and with Kimi Raikkonen's McLaren second it appears that Ferrari's reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher may have a significant battle on his hands in the battle for pole position. The DHL Jordan Honda team continued to have a trouble free practice, Giancarlo Fisichella professing himself delighted with the progress made since yesterday and hopeful of a solid top 10 qualifying position this afternoon.

Michael Schumacher claimed his first pole position of the season with a cool performance during qualifying in Malaysia, fending off a stiff challenge from the Williams team. DHL Jordan Honda achieved a predicted top ten qualifying position for Giancarlo Fisichella, the Italian setting the 9th fastest time, while team mate Takuma Sato was back in 15th spot.

Although the Michelin shod teams appeared to have an advantage, Michael Schumacher set a time of 1.35.266 to take pole position from Juan Pablo Montoya's Williams, the second Ferrari of Rubens Barrichello frustrating Ralf Schumacher by taking the third fastest time and demoting the World Champion's brother to fourth place on the grid.

The Ferraris of Rubens Barrichello and Michael Schumacher headed the warm-up times in Sepang this morning, with the McLaren of David Coulthard, the two Renaults and both Williams among the fastest. The DHL Jordan Hondas were down in 13th and 15th places, though both drivers were happy with their performance given that the team was concentrating on checking 1 versus 2-stop stategy options.

Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya made it a clean sweep for the Williams team in today's drama-filled Malaysian Grand Prix, reigning World Champion Michael Schumacher recovering from a first lap accident with Montoya to climb back to take third place on the very last lap. The DHL Jordan Honda team had a disastrous start to the race, Takuma Sato driving into the back of team mate Giancarlo Fisichella's car at the start of lap 2 damaging both EJ12s, but they recovered well after lengthy pit stops to finish the race in 9th and 13th positions.