Mark Webber in action Photo Jaguar Racing, Mark Thompson/Getty Images

I stayed up until 2 in the morning to watch qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix, round 2 of the 2004 Formula One Season... After barely staying awake during the first half hour or so while the not so fast drivers completed their single lap qualifier, Mark Webber second sector time got my full attention as he was quick... quickest than all the first 13 drivers so far and almost on par with the Ferrari of Rubens Barichello. Seconds later, by the end of lap, the magical P1 number flashed on the screen indicating that the Australian had been quicker than the Ferrari and with only 4 more cars to go was at least guaranteed a repeat of his 3rd row start two weeks early.

It was no surprise to see him drop to second a couple of minutes later when world champ Michael Schumacher jumped to the top, just over 6/10" faster. It was however a big surprise to see neither of the Renault or the McLaren of Kimi Raikonen top the Jaguar's time and by the time the checkered flag fell on the session, Mark Webber had secure his (and Jaguar's) first front row grid position. Impressive.

Not so impressive was Christian Klien's 13th place, his teammate, over 2 seconds off Webber's pace...

It all become a pointless achievement on Sunday, race day, you know... the day that actually counts... when both Jaguars where dreadfully slow off the line. It was painful to see the green cat on the front row moving away slowly and being passed left and right by a dozen cars... Christian Klien fared no better, dropping almost to the rear, a clear indication that something was really wrong with the R5's software... Renault on the other hand got it right with both cars gaining places by the first corner; do they know launch control is illegal this year?

For Webber, it was all downhill from that point on... a questionable blocking move on Alonso's Renault, taking the Spaniard all the way to the pit wall... clipping the front wing of Ralf Schumacher's Williams a few lap later at turn one resulting in puncture and a slow lap back to the pits, a lap down. Speeding in the pit lane cost him a drive thru penalty before putting himself out of his misery on lap 24 spinning in the kitty litter... What a waste of a brilliant qualifying effort!

Christian Klien finished the race one lap down in 10th place, way out of the points, leaving the team with 0 points in two races.

The big story of the week end was once again the Ferrari victory with Michael Schumacher taking the checker for the second race in a row despite the fact that the Bridgestone tires were expected to be off the pace in the extra hot conditions... Not so and with Ferrari's competition faltering (one blown engine each for McLaren and Williams, Renault's Alonso starting from the back), the German heads to Bahrain with already a solid lead in the championship.

Next up, Barhain April 4th, for the first Grand Prix in the Middle East; a new track and all the questions this brings...

Malaysian GP Results