Malaysian GP - MF1

Both Midland F1 Racing drivers were eliminated after the first 15-minute session of qualifying. Tiago Montiero was able to get back in his car after his injury on his back. Both drivers are happy with the performance of the team.

Adrian Burgess, Sporting Director “It’s been a difficult weekend so far, dealing with a new engine formula, and being the second weekend of the first two-race cycle has been challenging for a lot of teams. We’ve had a few mechanical problems, which we’re trying our hardest to get under control but then again, we’re not alone in that regard and we’ll be quite happy starting 15th and 16th on the grid tomorrow, if I’m not mistaken. We still have a lot of hard work to do, but if we can give our drivers two cars that can get to the flag, they’ll have a good afternoon’s race in front of them. We’ve just got to keep our heads down, improve the car, improve our reliability, and see where we end up.”

Tiago Monteiro (POR), #18
Chassis: M16-03
Best Time, Morning Practice: 1:37.900 (20th)
Qualifying Time / Classification: 1:37.819 (20th)
Tiago Monteiro “The good news is that my back felt much better today. Our physiotherapist did a great job with the treatment last night, and I was able to drive with a lot less pain. We still have little bit of work to do to fight our way further up the grid, but we knew from the start that we would be at a disadvantage on a high-downforce circuit like this, where aerodynamics play such a key role. There will be at least five cars behind us on the starting grid because of engine changes, and I’m looking forward to mixing it up with them for as long as I can. Hopefully, our reliability issues have been solved and we can be there at the end. After all, just finishing the race here is half the battle.”

Christijan Albers (NED), #19
Chassis: M16-02
Best Time, Morning Practice: 1:37.232 (18th)
Qualifying Time / Classification: 1:37.46 (19th)
Christijan Albers “I really have to give credit to the team, because in spite of our qualifying positions today, they really did a great job. Everyone is working very hard to squeeze more and more performance out of the car, and the gains are coming, slowly but surely. Maybe not as fast as the big manufacturer teams but then again, Formula 1 has probably never been so competitive. A little rain tomorrow wouldn’t hurt, either, because we know we have good ‘wet’ and ‘extreme wet’ tyres. That would be a great equaliser, from our point of view. Now we have to focus on running the best race we can, and I’m really looking forward to collecting as much data as possible to help us prepare for Australia and the rest of the season.”