Minnows show some improvement at Sepang.

Formula One's minnows made steady progress in the second round of the FIA Formula One World Championship in Malaysia, with Scuderia Toro Rosso, MF1 Racing and Super Aguri Racing all proving more closely matched.

Having qualified in the bottom six places, albeit with each driver moving up at least four spots courtesy of the engine changes ahead, there was a hope that a potentially high attrition rate could play into the hands of STR, MF1 and SAF1 but despite a total of eight retirements, the highest they could manage between them was 11th for Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Although Malaysia perhaps signalled something of a dip in form for STR, the round proved a promising exercise for MF1 and SAF1 who appeared far more on the pace at Sepang than they were in Bahrain.

Indeed, STR endured a difficult race from the start when Liuzzi was forced into the pits for a new nosecone when he collided with another car on the first lap, while Scott Speed had a promising run cut short when a suspected clutch paddle failure put him into retirement.

Both cars, particularly Speed, proved to have consistent pace but a combination of bad luck and poor set-up prevented them from featuring in the top ten.

"It was a real pity that I had a tangle with another car on the first lap and had to lose time pitting for a new nose," said Liuzzi. "Apart from that, the car was difficult to drive all through the race, as I was not happy with my brakes or the balance of the car, which meant I kept locking the inside front wheel, which was too light. I could not keep up a good pace and I also seemed to luck out with a load of blue flags. It's been a race to forget so I'm already thinking about Melbourne."

"I did not get off the line too well, because of the way we had the system set up," Speed added. "It's too bad that I did not finish the race because this was the track where we expected to struggle the most. We were overgripped aerodynamically, but me and my engineer got the set-up about right in the end."

Still, Speed was confident ahead of the next race in Australia. "After a poor qualifying, we ended up doing a good job, showing decent pace and having a good track position. It's a shame, but I think we can come back stronger in Melbourne, as this place was never going to suit us."

MF1 bounced back from their reliability issues in Bahrain to get both of their cars to the finish, with Chritijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro coming home 12th and 13th respectively and doing a better job of taking on STR than they had in the first round.

Nonetheless, both drivers admit that they race was far from ideal and although they were pleased to both reach the finish line, they insist that they are yet to show their true potential.

"We had bad luck with the start," said Albers, "because both Tiago and I ended up being held up for a few laps. Afterward, we got caught up in traffic, so that limited what we were able to do for the rest of the race. That part was unfortunate, but it was nice to finally run a full race without problems. My crew did a great job, and I think we can have an even better result in Australia in two weeks."

"It was kind of a tough race for me," admitted Monteiro. "I got stuck behind a couple of slower cars at the beginning, so I think my engineers made a good decision to bring me in early. I really felt I had the pace to get by them, but it was difficult because I was losing ground on the straight sections. I was also disappointed not to be able to put in any quick laps on my fresh tyres because of all the traffic, but that's the way it goes, I guess."

Takuma Sato meanwhile brought one Super Aguri home and even ruffled a few feathers by briefly mixing with the competition. The former BAR driver even had the audacity to keep the STR of Liuzzi behind him for a significant few laps, the Honda engine seemingly making up the time down the straights what the chassis loses in the corners.

"Great team work has meant that we have been able to improve on our pitstops since Bahrain and as a result I lost no time and was able to get back into the race and actually challenge a few cars," Sato said.

"Of course we struggle on the high downforce corners with our pace, but I had another exciting race and at least we managed to finish the race once again. We still have a lot of hard work to do if we are to catch up to our nearest rivals, but we showed good teamwork today and I am very happy and proud of the team."

Yuji Ide however is still searching for his first Grand Prix finish after retiring with a problem similar to what forced him out in Bahrain. "The balance of the car was not good from the start and I had the same mechanical problem as I had in Bahrain. The problem got worse as I continued the race and gradually the car's pace got slower and I could not accelerate on the straight, then I stopped. I really wanted to finish the race, so my goal is to finish the race in Australia and then move on from there."