MOTOR SPORT MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX

RED BULL dominated yesterday’s practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix but refused to be drawn on whether they would use Kers in tomorrow’s race.

Australia’s Mark Webber topped the timesheets in the morning and afternoon sessions, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel fourth in the latter run.

Red Bull opted against using the Kers power-boost system in Australia, but it did not prevent Vettel from opening the defence of his title with a comprehensive victory a fortnight ago. However, team principal Christian Horner was tight-lipped over whether they would employ the system in Malaysia despite Webber hinting it was necessary for a circuit like Sepang with its long straights and tight corners.

“We took a decision not to use Kers in Australia on Friday because of a reliability issue, but we ran it today and it ran well, so we will make a decision later today on whether or not to use it here,” Horner said.

He was more forthright when asked about his car’s front wing, the legality of which has been questioned due to its flexibility.

“There’s been so much said about the front wing that I don’t really need to add any more,” Horner said. “At the end of the day, our car conforms to the regulations and I am very happy with that.”

Horner was otherwise left to reflect on a fine opening day at Sepang. “It was a good day for us really,” he said. “We worked on a programme for both the drivers, the soft and the hard tyre and some other bits and pieces. It has been a productive day.

“We covered a lot of laps to try to understand the characteristics of the tyres. So it adds an extra dimension this year with the strategy. It’s going to be fascinating to see how that pans out, but on top of that we also have the weather. I expect an interesting weekend.”

Webber finished 1.665 seconds ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton in the morning, suggesting a massive gulf between the Red Bulls and their rivals, but Horner was not getting carried away.

“You can’t read too much into the margin in morning practice, different people are running to different programmes and there was even a big margin between our own cars,” he added.

“This afternoon, you could see McLaren looking competitive and Mercedes were not too far behind, but I don’t think Ferrari have shown their full hand yet.”