Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying as it happened

Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying as it happened

All the action as it happens from the Saturday qualifying session in Sepang (All times GMT).

Full qualifying times

Latest news appears first.

Latest leading times:
1 Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:37.044
2 Jarno Trulli (Renault) 1:37.217
3 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:37.393
4 David Coulthard (McLaren) 1:37.454
5 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) 1:37.579
6 Nick Heidfeld (Sauber) 1:37.766

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0655: Schumacher is fastest of all in the middle sector but cannot beat the Renaults over a lap. He finishes third.

0653: Barrichello can only manage fourth in the Ferrari - only Michael Schumacher can now displace the Renaults at the front. It appears as if Ferrari have had to take a harder tyre to make it last the race.

0651: Montoya is only sixth in the Williams - but way ahead of team-mate Ralf Schumacher in 15th at the moment.

0649: Raikkonen can only manage fifth fastest in the second McLaren - 0.4secs behind his team-mate Coulthard.

0647: Coulthard slots into third place behind the two Renaults.

0643: McLaren's David Coulthard heads out on to the track for his qualifying run as the session moves into its five final cars.

0641: Jarno Trulli slots into second place in the second Renault - 0.2secs off his team-mate Alonso. Ralf Schumacher is now down in 12th place in the Williams - ahead only of the Minardis and rookie Ralph Firman in the Jordan.

0638: Heidfeld goes second in the Sauber.

0636: Frentzen's Sauber goes into sixth place. Ralf Schumacher is now 11th.

0634: Jenson Button goes second in the BAR - 0.2secs quicker than team-mate Jacques Villeneuve.

0632: Fernando Alonso sets the fastest time so far in the Renault - more than a second quicker than anyone else. Ralf Schumacher is now bumped down to eighth.

0630: Renault's Fernando Alonso - who was third quickest in the morning session - sets off on his lap.

0627: Cristiano da Matta misses out on taking pole from Toyota team-mate Olivier Panis by just three-thousandths of a second.

0625: Fisichella sets third fastest time in the Jordan - pushing Ralf Schumacher down to sixth fastest.

0622: Ralf Schumacher sets a very unimpressive fifth fastest time in the Williams.

0620: Panis takes top spot in the Toyota, displacing his former team-mate Villeneuve.

0618: After an untidy lap, Villeneuve takes pole - but probably not by as much he will need to get him into a competitive grid position.

0617: Villeneuve locks his brakes going into turn nine, which could prove costly.

0614: Jacques Villeneuve sets off on his run in the BAR.

0612: Webber is up on team-mate Pizzonia at the second split, but loses out by a 10th of a second as he crosses the line and slots into second place.

0610: British rookie Ralph Firman sets the slowest time in the Jordan - behind both the Minardis and Mark Webber in the Jaguar starts his lap.

0608: Verstappen beats Wilson by just over 0.1secs to go second last - as Ralph Firman sets off in the Jordan.

0606: Wilson sets a time of 1:40.559 which puts him slowest of the two drivers so far. His Minardi team-mate Jos Verstappen is next.

0604: Pizzonia sets what for the moment is the fastest time and British rookie Justin Wilson starts his lap in his Minardi.

0600: Jaguar's Antonio Pizzonia leaves the pit lane for his run, after failing to set a time on Friday because his car would not start.

Qualifying starts at 0600, with Michael Schumacher favourite for pole position having set the fastest time in qualifying on Friday.

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However, the McLarens of Kimi Raikkonen and David Coulthard were fastest in Saturday morning's free practice session.

And the Renaults also appear to be quick this weekend.

It all depends on how the teams decide to run their strategy - a new rule this year dictates that teams cannot refuel between qualifying and race.

So their speed in qualifying depends on how much fuel they want to take into the first part of the race - the more fuel they use, the more flexible their strategy, but the slower their car will be in qualifying.