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After Sebastian Vettel’s flying start to Red Bull’s Formula One title defence in Melbourne two weeks ago, where he led from start to finish, the team is hoping their Sepang outing will be even better, with a one-two podium finish.
This is despite the likelihood of wet track conditions.
“Both drivers need to acclimatise to the heat. With Vettel and Webber in good shape, as they have taken their fitness seriously, the team will be in good form this weekend,” Team Principal, Christian Horner, said.
Currently, defending world champion Vettel is leading the driver’s standing with 25 points ahead of McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton with 18, while Webber is in fifth place with 10.
With Red Bull setting a blistering pace in the season’s opener, all eyes are on the team to keep the momentum going in Sepang. Bernama
Hamilton added: “I know we’ll be competitive. I’m hoping we’ve closed the gap a bit more.”
Hamilton agreed it was difficult to make predictions about what lies ahead in the second race weekend of the season.
“We might have to rely on very good strategic plans,” said Hamilton, whose best result in Malaysia was second in his debut 2007 season. BBC Sport
Vitaly Petrov reckons he will have a difficult job to replicate his Melbourne podium in this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
The Russian was one of the revelations of the Australian weekend, qualifying sixth and taking his first top-three finish, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.
However, the 26-year-old remains unsure of where his Renault team sits in the pecking order for Sepang, with the circuit’s long straights, searing temperatures and oppressive humidity providing a very different environment.
“It is difficult to talk about the podium because we need to be realistic: Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari are quite quick. Maybe we’ll have good tactics during the race to try and fight with them.” Yahoo! Eurosport UK
Pos Driver Team Points 1 Sebastian VettelRBR-Renault 25 2 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes18 3 Vitaly Petrov Renault 15 4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 12 5 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 10 6 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes8 7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 6 8 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 4 9 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 2 10 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1 11 Jaime AlguersuariSTR-Ferrari 0 12 Nick Heidfeld Renault 0 13 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 0 14 Jerome d'AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth0 15 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 0 16 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 0 17 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 0 18 Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth 0 19 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 0 20 Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault 0 21 Michael SchumacherMercedes 0 22 Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth 0 23 Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth 0 24 Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth 0
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