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Daniel Ricciardo was in upbeat mood today after finishing FP2 in third place, behind Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen.

The Aussie said that the latest updates had improved the hitherto disappointing RB11, and it felt better to drive.

“It was definitely a positive day for us, we did more laps and [had] more understanding with those laps,” he said. “I think on both tyres, also on short and long runs, we’re pretty happy. New parts on the car, they all seemed to work as hoped.

“I definitely feel more confident, even my satisfaction when driving the car this afternoon. I felt the grip and I really feel the improvement, so that’s always nice, to feel that as well from the driver’s side, not only the lap time. I’m positive that it can be good weekend.”

Regarding Ferrari’s form he said: “They always seem to come on a bit stronger on Saturdays, but for now we seem to third best team, and we’ll try at least to hold that.”

Plans for teams to be allowed a fifth engine for each driver in 2015 remain in limbo pending a formal proposal from the engine manufacturers.

Although team bosses agreed in principle to the idea in Malaysia – on the basis that it will be necessary to encourage teams to run on Fridays rather than save mileage – it has not yet been formally presented to the FIA.

“My understanding from the meeting is that a proposal will be put together by the engine manufacturers,” Force India’s Bob Fernley told this writer. “And once we get that it will go to the next strategy group meeting in the middle of May.

“To me it doesn’t matter either way, whether they fast track it through or it goes through the strategy group and follow the process. The important thing is that we are being proactive and not reactive. It’s about addressing a potential problem that’s not even there at the moment. What we want to make sure is that towards the end of the season there isn’t any issue, as long as it’s sorted out mid-way through the year.”

Fernley is adamant that n extra engine should only be available for Friday running: “The proposal was very clear, it was to ensure that the fans have good value on Fridays in terms of the amount of running they see. Therefore we’re dealing with Fridays and not a full weekend. I suspect that part of the proposal is that it is limited to Friday in terms of running.”

Fernley made it clear that teams won’t be obliged to take a fifth engine, and the situation is complicated by the extra cost to customers.

“The manufacturers are looking at how they can support it. The answer is really to wait until their proposal is out, and only then can we judge fairly what people are looking for.”

Sebastian Vettel is keeping his feet on the ground about prospects for the rest of the season despite the huge boost that his Malaysian GP victory gave Ferrari.

Everyone is eager to see if the Italian team will have the speed with which to challenge Mercedes at other circuits.

“I think we are realistic about where we are and what we want to achieve,” he said in China today. “I think the targets haven’t changed. Obviously it was a great victory we had in Malaysia and great for us as a team, and especially for myself a very emotional day – my first win with Ferrari. And then coming back to the factory and to see all the people there was quite special. There are a lot of people working there, so you can imagine, and of course they were very, very happy.

“The team hasn’t won for quite a while, so I think they enjoyed the fact that they had something to celebrate, there are a couple of rituals involved and it was nice for them to get that feeling again, but as I said, for the next races nothing has changed: we want to confirm that we have a strong package, we have a strong car and we want to make sure that we stay ahead of the people we stayed of in the last couple of races, but knowing that obviously Mercedes is in a very, very strong position.”

Asked if the Malaysian pace was “for real” he said: “I think it was for real two weeks ago. I don’t think Mercedes backed off, and everyone else. It was obviously nice for us to see that we were so competitive but I think there were also a couple of circumstances coming together but most important we managed to capitalise and get a very good result and win the race.

“But for here and for the next races, I think in general [at] the start of the season, things can be up and down. We want to make sure that there is quite a lot of up, not so many downs but it’s normal that some races you are more competitive than others, so I think, as I said, that we managed to do a very good job in Malaysia but for here and for the next races we have to be realistic about what we want to achieve.”

Vettel made some interesting observations about the celebrations in Maranello.

“I was there anyway to do some work. It was planned [for me] to come on the Wednesday to be in the simulator. but obviously it was also quite nice to receive a bit of a welcome after the win. All the factory got together for a quick lunch which was quite nice, to have all the people in one room – it was a big room – all together and able to celebrate a little bit.

“Also I learned that when you win with Ferrari, they put a Ferrari flag right at the entry gates. Obviously the last couple of years… it has been a long time since there has been a flag. I think some ten years ago there were a lot of flags, especially at the end of the season, so this flag will stay for the rest of the year. We will of course try to maybe put another one sometime soon, but it’s tough right now.”

Red Bull endured one of its toughest races in some time in Malaysia as Dany Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo finished only ninth and 10^th, behind both Toro Rosso drivers.

Both RBR suffered with brake problems from an early stage, while Ricciardo was also compromised by aerodynamic damage. Team boss Christian Horner admitted that the team has a lot of work to do in order to get on top of the brake problem.

“Daniel damaged the front wing in the first turn touching the back of Nico,” said Horner. “The first couple of laps seemed to be settling down, seemed to be pulling away. Dany Kvyat ran wide into the first turn but again was recovering quite nicely. Then the safety car came out. We pitted both cars, and we effectively made a place because we jumped Rosberg with Ricciardo and we didn’t drop any places with Kvyat.

“But then as soon as we started to run into traffic temperatures started to get out of control, particularly the brakes. Then we really didn’t have any pace. We were trying to manage our way through the second half of the race to make sure we got to the end.”

Horner said the brake problem was not just down the high temperatures, thus implying that there are more fundamental issues.

“I think it was a contributing factor, I don’t think it was all of the issue. So I think we need to go away and understand some of the issues of the weekend and make sure we address them, hopefully in time for China.

“We changed brake supplier this year. We just need to understand how we got into the situation we have, and engineer our way out of it.

“They’ve been tricky to manage all weekend, but I think it took us by surprise that we got into as much issue as we did, especially when we were in dirty air. But we need to learn from that and do a better job in China.”

Horner said it was too early to tell whether the brake issue had in turn given the tyres a harder time.

“I think the honest answer at this stage is we don’t really know. We saw quite high deg, and here you could see there was quite a lot of brake dust coming out early on, and we were concerned at one stage that we wouldn’t get to the end of the race. It was a question of damage limitation, manage our way to the end of the race. To be honest with you at know point did we have any real pace this afternoon.”

Fernando Alonso insists he has no regrets about leaving Ferrari, despite Sebastian Vettel’s second place on the Malaysian GP grid emphasising the Italian team’s improved form.

The Spaniard made some interesting observations about the risks McLaren and Honda have to take in order to beat Mercedes.

“I want to be in pole position, not second,” he said. “It’s a long way to go for us, we start now quite far behind, but I have so much trust and confidence in this team, we have such a talented team and engineers inside McLaren, and we saw the progress in the last two weeks. To beat Mercedes you need to do something special, not to follow them, because if not you will be behind all the time.

“It will take some time, but we will grow up together. There are a lot of young people in the team, a lot of Japanese coming new to this world of F1. 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.”

The FIA has taken a lenient approach with Manor Marussia and has allowed both drivers to start despite neither officially qualifying for the Malaysian GP.

Roberto Merhi did not make the 107% cut while Will Stevens did not run at all in qualifying after suffering electronic problems in FP2.

The stewards noted however that the two Marussia-Ferraris “had set satisfactory times in practice at this event” after both men had been inside the 107% in a particular practice session.

Team boss John Booth noted: “We knew our first weekend of running would not be without its challenges and although we had a positive day yesterday, it has been important to keep our expectations for qualifying in check. Our two drivers have done a solid job in their debut and Friday’s practice showed promise in terms of having the pace for the 107% time, but today underlined that we have a lot of work to do.”

Romain Grosjean has been given a two-place grid penalty in Malaysia for a pitlane offence during Q2.

The Frenchman was reported after he left the pit exit with his car not in the same order in the queue as when he arrived, which is a breach of Article 23.6 of the sporting regulations.

The thus drops from eighth to 10^th, and both Valtteri Bottas and Marcus Ericsson gain a place apiece.

The F1 teams look set to agree to a change in the power unit allocation for this season from four to five – despite the demise of the German GP dropping the race total from 20 to 19.

This year the allocation is supposed to be down to four after the FIA set it at five for the first season of the new formula in 2014. However, after teams experienced problems in Australia – notably Red Bull and McLaren – there are fears that there will be a gradual reduction in the amount of laps run on Fridays as everyone seeks to keep their engine allocation alive, and thus avoid grid penalties.

Concerns that fans will thus get a raw deal have thus been used to push forward the idea, which was discussed by team bosses this morning. If unanimous agreement on the details can be found, it could be implemented straight away.

“I suggested the idea,” Christian Horner told this writer. “The objective is really to make sure that cars are out on the track, otherwise as we get further into the year it’s going to become harder and harder and teams are going to become more restrictive. There seems to be unanimous agreement on it, so that’s a positive sign.”

It remains to be seen whether the extra power unit would simply be added to the current allocation, or specifically earmarked for Friday use.

“It’s to be decided,” said Horner. “I don’t mind whether it’s a Friday engine or we just go back to last year’s rule, it doesn’t matter.”

Adrian Sutil has joined Williams as its reserve driver for 2015, and thus the former Force India and Sauber driver has landed an unexpected chance to at least keep a foot in the F1 door.

In theory he would have stood in had Valtteri Bottas not been passed fit this weekend.

The team noted: “Adrian will spend time in the team’s race simulator to ensure he is fully accustomed to the Williams Mercedes FW37 controls and procedures, should he be required to step into the cockpit at any time during the current season. He has also spent time integrating himself into the team to ensure he is fully prepared to join Williams Martini Racing at any event, should the need arise.”

“I’m delighted to have Adrian join our stable of drivers for the 2015 season,” said Sir Frank Williams. “Adrian brings extensive racing experience, having competed 128 Formula One races during his career. Having most recently raced during the 2014 season also gives him excellent knowledge of the current generation of race car and new Hybrid power units, which is invaluable for anyone needing to step into the cockpit in 2015.

“The fight for a top Constructors’ Championship position will be intense this season, therefore we have selected a driver with recent race experience and are confident that if the need arose, he would be a solid pair of hands to race the FW37 and assist our 2015 campaign.”

Sutil added: “To work for Sir Frank Williams and his team means a lot to me. I would like to thank everyone at Williams for their belief in my qualities and the opportunity to work with such a successful and competitive outfit.”

Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley says that the small grid and other issues that surfaced at the Australian GP should be a wake-up call for F1.

While circumstances combined to provide the grid of 15 cars, Fernley agrees that it was a sign of the direction the sport could take if some teams collapse. In addition the Sauber saga and Manor’s failure to take to the track showed how tough teams are finding it as they try to survive.

“I think we’ve still got to focus on the fundamentals,” Fernley told this writer. “We need to get F1 in a position where it’s sustainable for all teams, and not just the four manufacturer teams. We’re seeing a situation where even Red Bull are reacting because they want to see a slightly different programme. That opportunity should have come a long time ago. Do we have to get into such a crisis before anybody reacts?”

Fernley is adamant that F1’s problems have been caused by all the power lying with Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull, the key players in the Strategy Group.

“The four manufacturer teams are not remotely interested in what happens to the other teams. In Australia Red Bull changed their position, and maybe that will be reflected in the future. And they also came out with banning wind tunnels. Red Bull have voted twice against that, and now all of a sudden we’re getting these things.

“There needs to be more momentum. The basic issue is that the four manufacturer teams are controlling F1, they’re not remotely interested in what happens to anybody else, and they think they can put the show on with or without anybody else.

“And I think we are starting to see some of the damage that’s been done over the Strategy Group’s decision. A lot of our situation today has come since the Strategy Group was put in place, because there’s no balance any more – it’s just four manufacturer teams dictating what’s going on in F1.

“It’s something that we’ve been very vocal about for two years. I don’t want to say I told you so, because you want to be constructive. It certainly needs to be looked at.”