Maldonado hails 'clear step forward'

On the up side, this time around Pastor Maldonado posted a time; on the down side it was only good enough for 17th place on the Malaysian GP grid. Having failed to set a time in qualifying for the Australian GP and then retiring on lap 29, Maldonado has been keen to spot any sign of improvement from Lotus this weekend in Malaysia. And, thankfully for the Venezuelan, there were some. Unlike in Australia, the 29-year-old put his name on the board in qualifying at the Sepang circuit, posting a 2:02.074 to finish 17th, one position behind team-mate Romain Grosjean. "I think it was much better than last weekend," he told the BBC. "It was a clear step forward. We had so many issues yesterday on both cars, but today was much better." And even without Lotus' car and engine troubles, qualifying on Saturday was no easy feat as the rain came down heavily forcing the FIA to delay Q1 by 50 minutes. Once underway, conditions were still difficult for the drivers while a red flag with 35 seconds on the clock put paid to Maldonado's chances of improving. "It was a bit of a lottery in qualifying. We stopped too late so we weren't able to finish lap because of the red flag. I'm a bit disappointed but there are positive things for the team." He now enters Sunday's Malaysian GP hoping to once again see signs of improvement. He added: "Hopefully tomorrow will be good for the team."

Malaysian GP: Bottas hit with grid penalty for impeding Ricciardo

Valtteri Bottas has been given a three-place grid penalty for the Malaysian Grand Prix for impeding Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying. The Red Bull driver complained that he had been blocked by the Williams in Q2. "He was on his out-lap," said Ricciardo of Bottas. "I'll have a word with him. There were a lot of times last year, to be honest... "We raced each other a lot in the junior categories and I thought we had a lot of respect for each other, but it's a little difficult how many times he's done that now." Bottas had been nonplussed by Ricciardo's charge. "I think there was nothing special," said the Finn. "We were both pushing. For me, there was no incident." The penalty will drop Bottas from 15th to 18th on the grid, and he admitted to being surprised at its imposition. "I thought it would be OK and there would be no penalties," he said. "It was a difficult situation - we had a radio problem and in Turn 9 the team told me that I had either a gap in front or behind Ricciardo. "So I thought I would try to stay in front. Obviously he was coming very quickly and it was a bit closer in the last few corners than maybe it should've been. "It didn't cost him anything in the end and I wasn't sure whether he was on a timed lap or not."

Malaysian Grand Prix - Hamilton matches Clark record with Malaysian pole

Lewis Hamilton will start on pole in the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang after coming out on top of rain-soaked session. Sebastian Vettel qualified second, just five hundredths behind, and Nico Rosberg third, making the top three a replica of the front of the grid in Australia two weeks ago. With rain intensifying in the final moments of Q3 it looked as if Rosberg, Vettel and Alonso would all have chances to go quicker - but Rosberg and Alonso both failed to improve their times. Vettel never even got a chance to improve, in the end: a terrible blunder of timing as he tried to wait for a clear track ahead meant that he crossed the start-finish line a few seconds too late, and missed the chance to squeeze in his final flying lap. Hamilton's pole was the 33rd of his career, equalling the British record that had been held by Jim Clark since 1964 - though Clark's poles were earned in just 73 races compared to Hamilton's 131. Fernando Alonso was third fastest with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo fifth, while Jenson Button finished 10th in Q3 after a gamble on using intermediate tyres backfired on him. Torrential rain left Sepang under several inches of water, delaying the start of the session for almost an hour. But once things got under way, Hamilton was the fastest man on the circuit almost from start to finish as he showed yet again that the Mercedes seems to be the .

Mercedes have discussed team orders in Melbourne

'No team orders' is too simplistic a headline in the intricate world of formula one. Earlier, we reported that dominant Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg's charge for victory this weekend would be unfettered by team play. "We are going to try and avoid such measures," German Rosberg said, while chairman Niki Lauda added: "They can race against each other". But when also asked on Friday if 'conversations' about team orders have taken place behind closed doors in Melbourne, team director Toto Wolff admitted: "Yes, we had those conversations, and I think it's important to have those conversations." Wolff said Hamilton and Rosberg are not only fast but "very intelligent". "They treat each other in a very fair way. We went through some scenarios and I think we're in a good place," he added. So what exactly does that mean? Last year, Rosberg was unhappy when he was ordered to stay in third place behind Hamilton in Malaysia. "We got caught out by surprise last year," Wolff said at Albert Park, "and we don't want this to happen again. It's just very good discussions we've had." So, Wolff suggested to Germany's Bild newspaper that the pair will not necessarily have a free hand to go wheel-to-wheel in Melbourne. "Their first opponents are not their teammates, but everyone else," he said. "We have explained to them how to respond in more than two dozen scenarios, for example if one of them is ahead but suddenly has a fuel problem. They have to be clear what to do."

Lewis Hamilton on Australia pole, with Sebastian Vettel down in 13th

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton grabbed a last-ditch pole position in a thrilling wet qualifying session at the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton edged out Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo by 0.317 seconds with the very last lap of the session. Ricciardo's world champion team-mate Sebastian Vettel was only 13th. Hamilton's team-mate Nico Rosberg took third ahead of an impressive debut from McLaren's Kevin Magnussen in fourth and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso in fifth. It was an exhilarating way to start a new season that has seen the introduction of the biggest rule changes in F1 for a generation. Red Bull's recovery from a troubled pre-season programme has been impressive but Vettel was not the beneficiary. The German, who has won the last four world championships, had a scrappy qualifying session. It was the first time he had failed to make it into the top 10 shoot-out since the 2012 Belgian Grand Prix. Vettel pitted towards the end of the second session for a fresh set of intermediate tyres, hoping to benefit from their increased grip on the slippery track. But while Ricciardo, who stayed out on track on his tyres, finished the session second fastest behind Rosberg, Vettel could not improve.