Marussia driver Timo Glock had a “shocker” in qualifying for Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix as he struggled to cope with the faster of two tire types, he said Saturday.
Glock will start 20th on the grid for the Russian team, with his rookie teammate Charles Pic one spot further back.
The German’s car was thrown off balance by the medium-compound tires, the softer and faster of the two types available in Malaysia, he said.
“I went slower on the medium, compared to anyone else, so that was a bit of a shocker,” he said on the team’s website.
“I managed to do two good laps but didn’t really have the confidence with the tire.”
Marussia are still discovering their car’s capabilities after missing all of the pre-season testing due to failed crash tests, team principal John Booth said.
“The developments that we added to the car yesterday have meant our overall gap to the leaders and our closest competitors ahead has reduced,” he said.
The car is reliable, allowing the team to make swift progress, he added.
“Touch wood, we haven’t yet experienced a single car-stopping issue and this has enabled us to crack through our program and make the same steady progression towards the race as we did in Melbourne.”
In the first race of the season in Melbourne last week, Glock finished 14th, his highest result since joining the team in 2010, while Pic was 15th in his first F1 race.
Marussia was previously known as Virgin Racing, and finished last in the constructors’ championship in both of its previous seasons in the sport.
