Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (1st)
“What a day! At the start, I realised that I had a good start past Nico (Rosberg). I was then able to gain on Mark (Webber); it’s a long sprint down to Turn 1 and I had an advantage, so I took the chance into Turn 1 and just made it through! Mark had a better exit out of Turn 2 though Turn 3, but it was very slippery and we both tried to push. We are here to fight, but you should always keep respect and I think we both had respect for each other. If Mark had been in my position I’m sure he would have done the same. After that it was a question of getting away from our competitors. I could see that Mark and I had the same pace - he was a little quicker in the beginning, but I was trying to save my tyres so I could pull away before the stop. The second stint was extremely long and it’s very hot here - I didn’t stop sweating. It’s very physical and at some stages I was hoping for rain just to get a bit of a cool down! Yesterday was extremely difficult with the conditions, but today it stayed dry. We have a magnificent car and the key once again was to pace yourself and watch your tyres. Bridgestone did a good job bringing two compounds here that worked well. It’s a very good result for us after two races where we didn’t finish where we wanted. Thanks to the team - it’s crucial not to panic in that moment and stay relaxed as it’s a long season. Sitting here on Sunday afternoon after finishing in first position is the best result we can get. On top of that, Mark is in second place. It’s a big plus for the team and a lot of points for us, I’m very, very happy.”
Mark Webber,Red Bull (2nd)
“We know these days with the strategy and the way the races unfold that the first part of the race is crucial. I got a bit of wheel spin at the start and Seb got a tow into the first corner. I didn’t know where Nico was, so I braked late. Both Seb and I were on the limit to make the first corner. I had a little bit better exit coming out of Turn 2 and the fight continued into Turn 4. We had a chat to Christian (Horner) at the start of the race and he said ‘Boys, behave yourselves!’ and we did. The spirit and the chemistry in our team is awesome and we fight very hard. You saw that today - it was a good fight between Sebastian and I. It could have gone either way, but in the end he did the job at the crucial stage and deserved the victory. A one two finish for us as a team is sensational. The cars ran very well and it was a nice come back for us after a tough few races where we didn’t finish as we wanted to. I’d like to be one spot further up, but it’s a great result for the team. We executed a beautiful weekend, so well done to Red Bull and also to Renault, the engines were great today.”
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP (3rd)
“It’s a fantastic result today to achieve our team’s first podium at the home race for our title partner, Petronas. I want to thank the whole team for all of their hard work this weekend and over the winter. This result is the start of the reward for our efforts. It’s a great feeling to be back up on the podium again and to have so much support from the Malaysian fans here. My start didn’t go that well today as I had a bit too much wheelspin and once I was in third place, I knew it would be difficult to follow the leading cars. I struggled a little with the options in the first stint which allowed Robert to stay quite close but once we switched to the primes, I felt really comfortable and we could manage the race home to third place. This is a great end to a strong weekend for us. We’re not quite where we want to be yet so we need to push on but I’m confident that we’ll get there soon.”
Robert Kubica, Renault (4th)
“It was another enjoyable race and the car was consistent with good pace all afternoon. The start of the race was really important because I managed to get ahead of Hulkenberg into turn 1, and then I got a good exit out of Turn Two, which helped me overtake Sutil. After that I managed to build a good gap to the cars behind me, but we didn’t have the pace to catch Rosberg. Fourth place is a good result and gives us some more important points.”
Adrian Sutil, Force India (5th)
“The race was exciting and fifth place in the end was a great achievement. I was hoping for a good race as we were so close in the first two races but then had a little bit of back luck that stopped us scoring. It was a good overall performance from the team. It was always very close with Lewis (Hamilton) just behind in the closing stages but I knew that if I didn’t make any mistakes I wouldn’t have any problems, so it was just trying to concentrate. I had to push, of course, but it was under control. I think we can now carry this forward to China: we are still a good top 10 competitor and we need to continue like this - Q3 and a few points each race would be great at this stage in the season.”
Lewis Hamilton, McLaren (6th)
“I had a great start, went down the inside and got past a lot of cars on the first lap. I was able to keep going for much of the race on my first set of tyres, and even nearly got past Sebastian (Vettel) after his pit stop. After my pit stop, I tried my best to get past Adrian (Sutil), but he was very smart at getting clean exits and was simply too fast down the straights. He drove a fantastic race, actually; faultless, in fact. From 20th on the grid, I think sixth was a brilliant result. I reckon we showed today that we were fast enough to compete with the guys at the very front - and, that being the case, if we’d started farther up we could’ve had an even better result this afternoon. Overall, then, I’m well happy with my race - I couldn’t ask for any more to be honest. The team really deserved this, and we’re now closer to the top in the constructors’ championship than we were before the race. So we’ll take forward a lot of positives with us into the next race.”
Felipe Massa, Ferrari (7th)
“All things considered, we did a good job in these first three races, as proved by the fact we lead both championships. However, there are still sixteen races to go and we know there is much room for improvement in terms of car performance and in making it totally reliable. Given where we started from, seventh place is probably the best we could hope for. We tried to delay the tyre change as much as possible, also because over the past days it has always rained in the afternoon and if that had happened today, we would have been able to exploit any opportunity. Unfortunately, for once, the rain did not come. The soft tyres were quicker but probably at the start, the track was not rubbered in enough to get them working at their best, so our strategy was the right one. The duel with Button was very complicated: down the straights, he could always pull away, but when he made a mistake at the final corner, I was able to get close enough to overtake under braking for the first one. Today’s race proves the need to fight on every lap of the championship: we have a lot of work to do, so we must keep focussed and not lessen our efforts.”
Jenson Button, McLaren (8th)
“My first stint was very tough. I went for the outside at the first corner - and as things turned out it wasn’t the right place to be. So I fell back, and was then stuck behind Fernando, who I just couldn’t overtake. I found the option tyres quite difficult in the early laps - I had no rear grip in the high-speed stuff. I couldn’t overtake, and lost lots of time, so I took the gamble to pit early and drop back into a clear track. I made up a lot of ground, but I was on the Primes for so long that it became difficult to hold back cars that were two seconds a lap quicker than me. Felipe (Massa) eventually got past. Fernando (Alonso) tried a couple of times - the last time he went really deep into Turn One, but I managed to repass him on the exit - and then suddenly his engine was gone. I don’t know what happened to him, but we had a good fight. I didn’t realise that fighting for eighth was going to be so difficult! However, it’s good to get some points again.”
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