Sepang: Team Canada qualifying notes

Everyone was expecting a big difference in conditions at the Malaysian event -- with both track characteristics and weather. Renowned for hot humid condition, Sepang hasn't disappointed with air temperatures of 30 degree and upwards while track temperatures have exceeded 40 degrees. But no one predicted quite how much the weather would dictate the qualifying results.

Following the first session, Canada was lying 11th when a huge tropical storm hit just as cars were on a dash to complete the second segment before the downpour started but it was too late for Canada and driver Sean McIntosh slid off the wet track. The remaining two sessions were then going to be slower given the wet so no position improvement could be made but the team decided to take a run out to try to get an advantage in case the rain returns for the races tomorrow.

Sean McIntosh: "We took a bit of a conservative approach with a set-up that we knew worked on old tyres so we knew we'd got time to come for the final two sets of slicks. Then the rain came and I slid off the circuit which cost us ten seconds or so which puts us back down the grid but we have two races tomorrow and that's the main thing. We just need to move up in the Sprint and then get a good pit stop in the Feature race. I'm definitely disappointed where we are because we know the car's good enough to be in the top three but that's the way circumstances can affect what happens."

-team canada-