Firman: Wheel nut cost us

Ireland's Ralph Firman said a wheel nut cost him a podium finish in Malaysia.

Team Ireland driver Ralph Firman was left ruing his luck in the Malaysian A1 Grand Prix, after a botched pit stop cost him a potential podium finish.

After a difficult sprint race that saw the 30-year-old struggle home in seventh place, Firman got off to a flyer in the feature event, taking fourth place at the first corner.

The former Jordan Formula One driver then proceeded to keep pace with the battle for second place between Great Britain's Robbie Kerr and Switzerland's Neel Jani.

But Firman's chances of securing his second podium finish in the 'World Cup of Motorsport' were ruined during his pit stop by a cross-threaded right rear wheel nut, dropping him down to 18th place.

Nevertheless Firman, who raced at Sepang in the 2003 Malaysian Grand Prix, fought his way back through the field to take an eventual ninth place finish.

"In the first race I had a bad first lap and far too much understeer in the fast corners which cost me a lot of time," said Firman, who lost five places on the opening lap of the sprint race after qualifying third.

"We made a few changes to the car which made it much better in the main race but there was still an understeer problem.

"The second race started well but the pit stop problem robbed us, probably of a podium.

"After that the car felt fine and I was able to produce good lap times, overtaking people like (Netherlands driver Jos) Verstappen and salvage a couple of championship points."

Wheel nuts have proved somewhat problematic in the series thus far, with Kerr suffering similarly during his own pit stop in Malaysia.

"Ralph's start in the second race put him in a very good position but unfortunately we had a problematic pit stop," reflected Team Ireland technical director Andy Miller.

"I think he did very well to get us back into the points, but what should have been a third or fourth was ruined by having a wheel nut cost us 25 seconds."