Malaysia: Sunday news in brief

Ferrari chief excuses Massa mistake
Toro Rosso poke fun at buyout rumors
No Friday tester for BMW in Bahrain

Ferrari chief excuses Massa mistake
Ferrari's sporting director Stefano Domenicali has refused to point the finger at Felipe Massa after he went off the track trying to overtake Lewis Hamilton at Sepang on Sunday.

The incident was a major piece of the puzzle in Ferrari's failure to convert its dominance to victory in Malaysia, but Domenicali steered clear of publicly damning the Brazilian ace.

"Naturally we are not happy with our race," he told the German broadcaster Premiere. "We expected to be stronger, but that's formula one.

"Everyone has been saying we are already world champion but today's result proves that we must keep working hard."

Referring to the Massa slip, which relocated him to a hard race behind BMW's Nick Heidfeld, Domenicali said the 25-year-old was understandably trying to recover from a bad start.

"In those situations you can always lose control," he said.

"It was important that he try to pass Hamilton for our strategy."

Toro Rosso poke fun at buyout rumors
Toro Rosso has cast a predictably humorous light on rumors this weekend that the German race car builder HWA could launch a $150m bid to buy Gerhard Berger's 50 per cent stake in the team.

"Who is buying us today?" the Faenza based team's press department rhetorically asked in the headline of the post-race press release from the scene of the Malaysian grand prix.

STR forecast that "a consortium of Martians" could be among the next potential buyers.

"We are over the moon about buying the team," a phony spokesman said.

More seriously, however, the HWA speculation is thought to be genuine, and Berger at Sepang tellingly refused to discuss the issue with reporters rather than simply issue a clear denial.

"I don't want to talk about it," the Austrian, also a former GP winner, said.

No Friday tester for BMW in Bahrain
BMW boss Mario Theissen has confirmed that the German squad will not sideline a race driver in free practice for the Bahrain GP on Friday.

Test rookie Sebastian Vettel has assumed, respectively, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld's single seater for the initial 90 minute morning sessions in Australia and this weekend in Malaysia.

The policy has drawn particularly Heidfeld's ire, but the revised BMW policy is apparently not a back down from Theissen.

He explained on Sunday: "Sebastian has his debut (this) weekend in the World Series in Monza."

Second test driver Timo Glock, meanwhile, is also occupied for the Bahrain event as he races in the GP2 series.

"In Bahrain our race drivers, Nick and Robert, will take part in all free practice sessions," Theissen clarified.