By Jamie Makin
March 19 2005

Team SAUBER PETRONAS drivers Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve achieved 13th and 16th positions respectively after this afternoon's first qualifying session, so tomorrow they will start final qualifying eighth and fifth in the running order. Under this year's new rules, Saturday qualifying is run with a fresh set of tyres and low fuel loads, giving a clearer comparison of where the teams and drivers stand in terms of pure speed. Rain in Melbourne a fortnight ago wrecked havoc on the Saturday session, making Malaysia the first chance to see how the cars actually compare. It was a revealing, albeit scrambled, result that has left some teams scratching their heads.

The SAUBER PETRONAS team had expected better results but have found themselves languishing in the lower half of the grid. They are running a comparable pace to World Champions Ferrari, yet are lagging seriously behind their own primary rivals - Toyota and Red Bull.

"After our good result yesterday we expected better today, to be honest," remarked team principal Peter Sauber. "Now we must concentrate on our race preparation, and choosing the right strategy for what we all know will be a very tough race."

Felipe Massa was the surprise winner in Friday's second practice session but his Saturday practice times were not nearly as competitive. Those more recent times were a more accurate predictor of his qualifying speed. "I wouldn't say mine was a perfect lap, but at the maximum I only lost two-tenths of a second in Turns 7 and 8," explained Massa. "The balance was fine, but we just weren't fast enough. But our car is more consistent in the race, so I am optimistic for Sunday afternoon."

Meanwhile, concern over Villeneuve's pace continues. Despite his claims that he is adapting to the car, he has been consistently slower in all of the weekend's sessions than his younger teammate. "The car was a lot better this afternoon, but we had plenty of problems in practice this morning and that wasn't the best way to prepare for first qualifying," said the former World Champion. "It would have been nice to get a better run beforehand, but the tyres were working pretty well this afternoon and that helped the performance of the car."

The final qualifying session will be run on Sunday morning and drivers must use their race tyres and fuel loads which will add another twist to the final grid as the times from both sessions will be combined.

Although the outlook may seem bleak for the race, the SAUBER team has several factors working in their favor. Their Petronas-badged Ferrari powerplant has historically been one of the most reliable in the field. Although they are running the same engines that were used in Melbourne, their innovative "V" shaped cooling system should nurse the engines to the finish of the race. Should a number of their rivals fail to finish, reliability could boost the SAUBERS into the points. The team has also been happy with the consistency and low degradation of their new Michelin tyres which look well suited to the searing heat of the Malaysian circuit.

Saturday, Qualifying 1:

s

Driver	Chassis	Best Time	Position
J. Villeneuve	C24-03	1:34.887 (+2.305)	16
F. Massa	C24-02	1:34.151 (+1.569)	13
Spare Car	C24-01	-	-

Saturday, Free Practice 3:

Driver	Chassis	Position	Best Time	Laps
J. Villeneuve	C24-03	16	1:37.850 (+3.135)	6
F. Massa	C24-02	13	1:36.987 (+2.272)	6
Spare Car	C24-01	-	-	-

Saturday, Free Practice 4:

Driver	Chassis	Position	Best Time	Laps
J. Villeneuve	C24-03	15	1:35.532 (+2.700)	9
F. Massa	C24-02	13	1:34.002 (+1.170)	10
Spare Car	C24-01	-	-	-

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