Vettel wins Malaysian Grand Prix!

Sebastian Vettel won Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Jenson Button and Nick Heidfeld.

The Red Bull driver drove a calm and controlled race to take his second win in a row and increase his lead in the championship.

Rather unexpectedly, no storm interrupted the race… which was still action-packed.

How the race unfolded:

Conditions were dry when the cars lined up on the grid, but rain was looming and few would have bet on a fully dry race.

Sebastian Vettel had a clean start from pole position while his fellow front-row starter Lewis Hamilton came under pressure from Nick Heidfeld. Sixth on the grid, the Renault driver passed the Briton to emerge out of Turn 1 in 2nd position.

Behind the top three, Button held off a challenge from Petrov. They were closely followed by the Ferraris of Massa and Alonso. Red Bull’s Webber was very slow at the start and completed the opening lap in 9th position. He found himself embroiled in a battle with Sauber’s Kobayashi and they kept on passing and re-passing each other in the first part of the race.

Further down the order, Rubens Barrichello picked up a puncture on the third lap and had to do a full lap at slow speed before pitting for a fresh set of soft tyres. Up front, Lewis Hamilton closed in on Heidfeld but couldn’t attack him despite the KERS and DRS systems. This allowed race leader Vettel to pull away at the front. He had a 7.4s led on lap 10.

His teammate Webber pitted on lap 11 and rejoined in P17. Hamilton pitted on lap 13 as 4th-placed Button came under pressure from Massa’s Ferrari. Vettel stopped on the next lap and was followed by Heidfeld, Button and Massa… as drops of rain started to fall on the track.

Alonso and Petrov were next to pit, handing back the lead to Vettel. Hamilton was back in P2 ahead of Sauber’s Kobayashi – who was yet to stop. Behind them, Alonso attacked Button for P4 and was quickly all over the rear of Kobayashi who was 4 seconds slower. The Japanese stopped on lap 18.

So after the first round of pitstops, Vettel was leading from Hamilton, Alonso, Button, Heidfeld and Webber.

Hamilton started to slightly reduce the gap to Vettel, but was advised by his team to look after his tyres. And the McLaren driver had to pay attention to Alonso who was coming back strongly and was the fastest man on track at that point.

Having just lost sixth position to Massa, Webber stopped for a second time on lap 23. Button followed suit on lap 24. Hamilton pitted on lap 25 and rejoined right behind Petrov. Vettel pitted from the lead at the end of this lap and rejoined in P4 behind Heidfeld and Massa. The Red Bull driver passed the Brazilian on lap 27 and retook the lead as Alonso and Heidfeld made their second pitstops.

Halfway through the race, Vettel had a four second lead over Hamilton. Button was up in third place ahead of Alonso. Webber was fifth with Heidfeld sixth and Massa seventh. Behind the Ferrari driver, Kamui Kobayashi was locked in a battle for eighth with Mercedes’ Schumacher.

Up front, Vettel was managing the gap with Hamilton… and told by his team not to use his KERS anymore. McLaren hoped to take advantage of it… but the Red Bull driver slightly upped the pace and set the fastest lap of the race on lap 33. He was, by then, enjoying a 6.4 second lead over the chasing Hamilton.

Webber stopped for a third time on lap 33. Hamilton pitted on lap 38 and took on another set of hard tyres. He rejoined right in front of the Australian. It was Button’s turn on lap 39 as Vettel now had a 15s-lead over 2nd-placed Alonso. The Briton rejoined ahead of the battling Hamilton-Webber and quickly set a new fastest lap of the race.

Vettel pitted on lap 41, so as Alonso. The Red Bull driver safely rejoined in the lead, while the Spaniard fell behind Hamilton and Webber.

With thirteen laps remaining, Vettel was leading Button by 8.8s. Hamilton was third but under pressure from Webber. Alonso was fifth, less than two seconds behind the duo. The Australian stopped for a fourth time on lap 44 and rejoined in eighth place.

Alonso then put a lot of pressure on Hamilton and attacked him several times but couldn’t make it stick and eventually hit the rear right of the Briton’s McLaren. There was no apparent damage on Hamilton’s car but Alonso damaged his front wing and had to pit for a new nose. He rejoined in seventh place.

Making the most of fresher tyres, Webber closed in on Massa and passed him for P5 on lap 50. In the meantime, Hamilton’s third place came under pressure from Heidfeld. The Renault driver had a much better pace and passed him on lap 52. The McLaren driver lost another position to Webber on lap 53 and decided to pit for another set of tyres.

Petrov ran wide on lap 54 and ran over a big kerb. His Renault’s steering column apparently broke when he landed and he was forced to retire. In the meantime, his teammate had to hold off the challenge of Webber for third place.

The Australian couldn’t make it and had to content himself with fourth place as Vettel took his second win of the season. The reigning World Champion crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of Button. Heidfeld took third.

Massa was fifth ahead of teammate Alonso. Hamilton was seventh. Kobayashi, Schumacher and di Resta completed the top ten.

Malaysian Grand Prix classification: