Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Sepang

"With Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari on the front row and the McLaren-Hondas at the back, it was inevitable that Fernando Alonso would be asked whether he regretted his decision to leave his former team at the end of last season to pursue his much-desired third title. 'I guessed I would have this question for some races but I want to be in pole position, not second,' Alonso said. 'It is a long way to go for us. We start quite far behind but I have so much trust and confidence in this team.

"'We have such a talented team of engineers inside McLaren and we saw the progress in the last two weeks. To beat Mercedes you need to do something special, not to copy them because otherwise you will be behind all the time. It will take some time but we will grow up together. We will look at each other in a couple of months when we are in the points or on the podium or something and we will tell each other it was an exciting trip and we are doing it together.'"

Image source, McLaren

McLaren: Off to the grid. Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso fire-up their cars and head out on track.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Sepang

"The Malaysian Grand Prix promises to be an interesting strategic battle, with teams split between doing two or three pit stops. Lewis Hamilton said: 'It's close between a two and a three. Initially I heard it was a three and then I heard it could be a two.'

"Mercedes are believed to be too strong for Ferrari, despite Sebastian Vettel's front-row starting position but Kimi Raikkonen - who has free tyre choice for the start of the race - will be worth watching from his 11th place start. Ferrari have good tyre degradation so they may lean towards a two-stop, but for that to work for those starting in the top 10 the medium tyres would have to last until around lap 15 in the first stint. Much before that, and you are probably locked into a three-stopper."

David Coulthard spots Red Bull boss Christian Horner, who says: "We have conversation with the drivers about behaving themselves going into that first turn - but you know that goes out of the window as soon as the red light goes out."

Image source, Mercedes

The 19 cars have rolled out on to the circuit to take their place on the grid. An opportunity for David Coulthard to head on out and grab a few words from the key figures...

A quick look at what the papers are saying today before we get down to some racing:

Bernie Ecclestone is planning an all-woman F1 championship to boost the sport's flagging popularity. But Britain's Susie Wolff, the sport's best-known female driver, says it is "not the right direction". [Daily Mirror], external

Ferrari have improved more than any other team and are "coming" for Mercedes this season, says three-time world champion Niki Lauda.[The Guardian], external

A great shot of the paddock and circuit as the start of the race draws closer. Just under 20 minutes to go...

Image source, Willams/Twitter

Wouldn't like to be the person who mops down the seats in the cars at the end of this race. Crikey...

Colm: Re Eddie Jordan on Verstappen (see 07:17). Rightly so, amazing talent at such young age, imagine when he has even a season worth of experience.

James Rowe: Very interesting insight into the life of a rookie. It showed off, I think, just how nervous Verstappen was on Sunday morning.

Nathan Stalker: Actually feel sorry for Max Verstappen the media relate everything to his dad. Let him get on with it.

Image source, Getty Images

Ferrari's Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello recovered from an early off-track excursion to record a Ferrari one-two in a classic race at Sepang.

Schumacher had made a great start to build a large gap at the first corner but rain started to fall by the third lap and both Ferraris ran wide, allowing Jarno Trulli to take the lead. It looked like the chance for a Ferrari win had passed when stops for Barrichello and Schumacher ended up being a bit of a mess, before the pair were sent back out on intermediate tyres with the other leading runners on full wets.

The circuit was well and truly soaked but the deployment of the safety car worked in Ferrari's advantage. It stayed until the rain had stopped meaning conditions were ideal for Schumacher and Ferrari to cut through the field and secure a one-two.

Image source, Red Bull Racing Spy

Red Bull Racing Spy: Chris threatens to tell Dan the cricket score if he doesn't finish on the podium this afternoon…

For the rest of you, we also have live updates on the Cricket World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand.

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer at Sepang

"It is a much better Red Bull at Malaysia, following improvements to the drivability of the Renault engine after the problems in Australia caused public frictions between the team and their engine partner. Daniel Ricciardo, who starts fourth, said the difference was 'night and day - it's still not perfect but we've made the best step we can ask for in a two-week period.'

"Ricciardo has had a good half-second on team-mate Daniil Kvyat so far this weekend, the Russian still finding his feet, and the margin was the same in qualifying. But Kvyat starts right behind the Australian in fifth."

Image source, Getty Images

Daniel Ricciardo will be hoping for better luck on this circuit than he has had in the past. He has never scored at Sepang and failed to finish the race last year.

Since the beginning of this decade Red Bull have only failed to score a podium once on this track, when Mark Webber was fourth in 2012, and Ricciardo might fancy his chances of getting on the podium as he starts fourth on the grid.

Formula 1 journalist Adam Cooper:, external So no Will Stevens in the race. Interesting that we never seemed to see two Marussias running at the same time this weekend.

BBC weatherman Ian Fergusson: "Track temp currently 64.3C. Race more likely to be dry, but risk of showers grows and especially later during event."

Image source, Getty Images

In just his second race, Max Verstappen has equalled his dad's best-ever grid position when Jos started from sixth at the 1994 Belgian GP for Benetton.

Love this. Most drivers appear to have been provided with a car get to get them to and from the circuit. Max Verstappen, though, is sat in the back as his dad Jos drives him in.

Just like any other 17 year old. Oh, except he is about to race in a grand prix!

One race down and Lewis Hamilton leads Nico Rosberg by seven points. Can he extend that advantage in today's race? Trouble-free, and it is surely hard to see beyond a Hamilton win, but then he was not without his problems in practice.

Various issues kept him in the garage for almost all of FP1, will that hamper him today?

denise topping: Ferrari has its work cut out for it. Merc still so strong.

Steph: Losing an hour of precious sleep is balanced by the fact it's #F1 time. Cups of coffee at the ready.