Sebastian Vettel led home teammate Mark Webber as Red Bull claimed a 1-2 in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Red Bull have claimed all three pole positions so far this season, with German Vettel heading the grid in the first two races and Webber starting first at Sepang, but had been hit by reliability issues priot to Sunday’s race.
However, they finally got their reward this time around, with Vettel outpacing his Australian colleague after the first lap, holding on for a comfortable victory.
“It was a great race for us and a great result for the team after the last two races when we just didn’t get the results we wanted,” Vettel said.
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg claimed third place—although it proved another disappointing race for seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher who was forced to quit the race early because of suspension problems. CNN International
“It is unusual for us to have a reliability problem,” he said morosely. “Last year, the team had no retirements at all, so it is a shame.”
Schumacher, once the top draw of grand prix racing, was little more than a sideshow once again as Formula One put on another thrilling event to follow the excitement of Melbourne a week ago.
This was always going to be an exciting race after the shenanigans of qualifying when Ferrari and McLaren hopelessly misread the weather conditions. Both teams held their cars back in the first qualifying session as the rain started to fall – but the rain got heavier and three world champions, along with Massa were dumped to the back of the grid.
With the McLarens of Button and Lewis Hamilton starting seventeenth and twentieth respectively, and Fernando Alonso on the grid at 19, two ahead of Felipe Massa’s Ferrari, four of the quickest cars on the circuit were going to be forced to go on a charge. And they did.
Hamilton’s roaring pace was spectacular as he sliced his way through the field from the start, taking on car after car with Massa and Alonso giving chase.
This was another of those days when everybody wondered what the fuss over the new regulations was about. Alonso had even said before the race that overtaking was one of Formula One’s myths, yet there was the Spaniard showing how it should be done, along with Hamilton. Times Online
Jaime Alguersuari again drove an excellent race for Toro Rosso and was rewarded with two points for ninth, with Nico Hulkenberg taking the final one for Williams thanks to Alonso’s misfortune.
Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi was 11th from Rubens Barrichello, whose Williams bogged down so badly at the start that Alonso had to make a phenomenal avoidance.
Despite a wing-damaging brush with Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus, Lucas di Grassi brought his Virgin home 14th and best of the newcomers after a strong drive, while Karun Chandhok also beat the Lotuses on their home ground to bring his HRT home 15th ahead of team mate Bruno Senna. Jarno Trulli was 17th as Lotus’s better finisher, with Kovalainen taking 18th after a long pit stop for mechanical attention.
Vitaly Petrov ran well initially, earning Hamilton a stewards’ warning after the Briton weaved too much keeping him at bay down the pit straight, but retired his Renault with mechanical trouble. Vitantonio Liuzzi also ran well, ahead of the Russian, before his Force €ndia retired. He was classified 20th ahead of Schumacher and Kamui Kobayashi, who also suffered engine trouble in his BMW Sauber.
Virgin’s Timo Glock also failed to finish after a spin which put him into Trulli, spinning the Lotus. And Pedro de la Rosa did not take the start after his BMW Sauber stopped out on the circuit on the grid formation lap. Formula 1
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