Sauber fails to turn good qualifying into points
After a promising qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix neither driver could take advantage of this in the race, as both retired due to a technical failure. Pedro de la Rosa stopped when on his way to the grid, Kamui Kobayashi had to park the car on lap nine. Both cars had engine failures because of a problem in the pneumatic system.
Kamui Kobayashi: DNF (on lap 9, position 11) C29.01 / Ferrari 056 “The retirement came as a total surprise to me. After turn one I suddenly had no more power. This is really bad luck. Today I was in a good position to fight for points, although I lost two positions at the start when Rubens Barrichello didn’t move in front of me when the starting lights went out. It is a real shame I retired from today’s race, but now we have to concentrate on the next one in China and do better.”
Pedro de la Rosa: Did not start C29.03 / Ferrari 056 “Of course it is very disappointing not having competed in this race. This Grand Prix is one you prepare for all year because of the physical demands and you really want it to be driving in it. The failure was unusual, unexpected and unlucky.”
Willy Rampf, Technical Director: “A very disappointing race after promising starting positions. Pedro was forced to stop on his lap to the grid, and Kamui, who started from ninth, had to give up on lap nine. In both cases the engines failed due to problems with the pneumatic system. We have to analyse everything in order to understand the reason behind it.”
