Lewis Hamilton
"Firstly, we shouldn't get carried away by our podium in Australia. Yes, we had a fantastic race but we're all aware that our car isn't capable of repeating that sort of performance on sheer pace alone. And Sepang is one of the tougher tracks on the calendar, one where we will probably be further from the frontrunners than we were in Albert Park. The track is both fast and technical so requires good mechanical and aero grip. It's much more aero-dependent and rear-limited than Melbourne so it may highlight some of the shortcomings in MP4-24. Nevertheless, we're all really encouraged by the progress we've made and I know we'll be pushing as hard as ever to put more points on the board in Sepang."
Martin Whitmarsh
Team principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
"Despite a good result in the race, our performance in the Australian Grand Prix was not what we would like it to be, and the reality is that this weekend's race in Malaysia is unlikely to offer a significant improvement in fortunes. Nevertheless, we are still pushing to introduce performance to the car - the close proximity to the opening race means there won't be many large changes to the car but there will be several upgrades to existing components. For us, the mission is clear: we must introduce laptime to our car faster than our rivals to enable us to, firstly, catch the leading runners and then to be able to compete against them. It's a task we take incredibly seriously and are confident that progress will be made sooner rather than later."
Norbert Haug
Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport
"With Lewis in third place, the season opener in Melbourne ended much better for us than we had expected after his 18th grid position. Compared to our test results in Barcelona two and a half weeks ago, we made a good step. This result was mainly due to Lewis's perfect drive and a good strategy by our team. Moreover, some of the incidents in the race went in our favour. However, we cannot expect the same again this coming weekend in Malaysia. We all will work flat out to improve our technical package further - that's a promise."
Sepang track facts
Length: 5.543 km/3.444 miles
McLaren-Mercedes in Sepang: Two victories. seven podium finishes
Race distance: 310.408 km/192.887 m
Laps: 56
Number of corners: 15
Lap record: JP Montoya 1m34.223s (2004)
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in Malaysia 2008: Third place on the podium for Heikki
2008 fastest lap: N Heidfeld 1m35.366
First Malaysian GP: 1999
Sepang track facts Lewis Hamilton
Starts 36
Wins 9
Poles 13
Fastest laps 3
Lead km 2,833
Pts 213
