Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W03 at F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying

Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W03 at F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W03 at F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying

Michael Schumacher locking the wheels in the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W03 at F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying

Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W03 at F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo1)

Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 W03 at F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo2)

Nico Rosberg : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 3)Michael Schumacher : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 3)Nico Rosberg : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 3)Michael Schumacher : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 4)

Michael Schumacher : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 6)

Nico Rosberg : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 5)Michael Schumacher : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 5)

Nico Rosberg : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 7)

Michael Schumacher : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 7)

Nico Rosberg : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 8)

Michael Schumacher : F1 2012 Malaysian GP Qualifying (Photo 8)

Michael Schumacher qualified in the top three for the first time since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix, while Nico Rosberg snagged 8th.

Michael Schumacher
“I am more than happy about my return to the top three today, and the fact that our guys here and back at the factories in Brackley and Brixworth have enabled me to be here with the superb work they have done. It felt nice being in the qualifying press conference for the first time in over five years! What is obviously more important would be sitting here again tomorrow, and I will certainly try to do my best to achieve that. From where we were last year, I think it is quite an achievement, and I am pleased for our title partner PETRONAS at their home Grand Prix here in Malaysia. I would also be happy to give a good result back to Mercedes-Benz who have been so strongly supportive of me.”

Nico Rosberg
“I would obviously like to be further up the grid, however unfortunately I lost some time on my quick lap after a poor first corner which cost me a few tenths and left me with a lot of tyre vibrations for the rest of the lap. However I’m quite confident that we can compete very well tomorrow as we have worked hard on our race pace over the weekend. I hope that I can move forward a few places and score some good points in front of our Malaysian supporters and our partner PETRONAS.”

Ross Brawn
“We are obviously delighted with the performance today and congratulations to Michael in particular. It’s really pleasing to see him put in such a good performance, and I hope we can consolidate that in the race tomorrow. We didn’t have the best of luck in Q2 as the yellow flag came at the worst time for us, meaning that both drivers had to go again on a second set of options, which left us only one set for Q3. So I’m pleased with what we managed to achieve, and we are in a good position for the race tomorrow. The competition is incredibly close with only tenths separating the top eight and that was enough to push Nico further down than he should have been after he flat-spotted his front tyre at turn one. However he is still in a good position and both drivers should be able to have a strong race.”