The team have already scored one podium finish this season with Earl Bamber in China last October and are seeking to end the season on a high note at this important event for My Qi-Meritus.Mahara, the only team with strong links to the Middle East through their Saudi partner, Raad S. Abduljawad. They have nine points and sit eighth in the standings.

Qualifying remained dry and hot which saw Parente take 10th place on the grid with a lap of 1m 44.321 and Bonanomi take 12th with a lap of 1.44.477.

Parente, however, will start eighth after Jérôme  d'Ambrosio, who clocked the fastest time of 1:43.572 was dropped 10 places following a black flag received in Sepang's sprint race. Pastor Maldonado, who was fifth quickest in 1:44.101, was handed a five position grid penalty.

The Friday morning free session saw Alvaro Parente go fourth fastest with a lap of 1.44.805 while Marco Bonanomi was 10th with a time of 1.45.227. Both drivers completed 13 laps each, a trouble free practice session.

Parente commented: “I made a mistake in the morning, but at the end I pushed as hard as I could. I would not say that everything went well because Maldonado was in my way during my fast lap and that slowed me down. But I am confident we can have a strong race.”

Bonanomi commented: “I am a bit disappointed just to be 12th on the grid as the car was very competitive early on, then on the second set of tyres the performance dropped away a bit. We will be working hard between now and the first race to ensure we are in good position to score points.”

Team founder Peter Thompson commented: “There is a lot of work to do after this qualifying. The pace is there. The weather was cooling down for qualifying and the cars would have been faster as their times have all been in the top ten so far which is positive. The two cars can score points tomorrow.”

Raad S. Abduljawad, Team Chairman, My Qi-Meritus.Mahara commented, “The middle sector speed was the weak spot of our qualifying today. With a good strategy, race one should bring points for the penultimate race of our season.”

              Driver                        Team                              Time       Laps
* 1.   Jérôme d'Ambrosio             Dams                         1:43.572         9
2.     Kamui Kobayashi               Dams                         1:43.863         9
3.     Roldan Rodriguez              Piquet GP                    1:43.910        13
4.     Diego Nunes                   Piquet GP                    1:44.014        11
** 5.  Pastor Maldonado              ART Grand Prix               1:44.101        12
6.     Luiz Razia                    Arden Int. Motorsport        1:44.141        13
7.     Giedo van der Garde           GFH Team iSport              1:44.174        13
8.     Davide Valsecchi              Durango                      1:44.310        12
9.     Javier Villa                  Super Nova Racing            1:44.319        12
10.    Alvaro Parente                My Qi-Meritus.Mahara         1:44.321        13
11.    Karun Chandhok                Ocean Racing Technology      1:44.472        13
12.    Marco Bonanomi                My Qi-Meritus.Mahara         1:44.477        12
13.    Sergio Perez                  Barwa Int. Campos Team       1:44.546        12
14.    James Jakes                   Super Nova Racing            1:44.552        11
15.    Davide Rigon                  Trident Racing               1:44.649        13
16.    Hamad Al Fardan               GFH Team iSport              1:44.673        12
17.    Sakon Yamamoto                ART Grand Prix               1:44.705        12
18.    Rodolfo Gonzalez              Fisichella Motor Sport Int.  1:44.747        12
19.    Edoardo Mortara               Arden Int. Motorsport        1:44.864        13
20     Vitaly Petrov                 Barwa Int. Campos Team       1:44.879        11
21.    Michael Herck                 DPR                          1:44.921        11
22.    Giacomo Ricci                 DPR                          1:45.676        12
23.    Fabrizio Crestani             Ocean Racing Technology      1:45.837        12
24.    Kevin Nai Chia Chen           Fisichella Motor Sport Int.  1:46.428        14
25.    Ricardo Teixeira              Trident Racing               1:46.485        13
26     Michael Dalle Stelle          Durango                      1:46.702        13

* Penalised 10 places
** Penalised five places