Sebastian Vettel made it two wins out of two in today’s Malaysian Grand Prix to lead the World Championship by 24 points. Mclaren’s Jenson Button finished second for his first podium of 2011 while Renault’s Nick Heidfeld took his first podium since the same Grand Prix in 2009 largely due to his super start from sixth on the grid. He held off the challenge of Mark Webber to secure Renault’s second podium in as many races while Ferrari’s Felipe Massa rounded out the top five. Lewis Hamilton was running second for much of the race before his switch to the harder tyre on lap 37 led to a dramatic downfall in performance, which culminated in a collision with his old nemesis Fernando Alonso on lap 46 at turn 3. Alonso misjudged his overtake on the Mclaren which broke his front wing. Both were penalised 20 seconds after the race and although Alonso retained sixth place, Hamilton’s woeful afternoon continued as he was demoted to eighth.
Melbourne provided fairly inconclusive results two weeks ago as to how the new rules for 2011 will fair. However, todays Grand Prix delivered exactly what was expected prior to the start of the season. The combination of KERS, the DRS adjustable rear wing and the lack of endurance in the Pirelli tyres lead to lots of overtaking, which resulted in a thrilling race. At the start, Vettel once again got away cleanly from pole position and while Hamilton was busy trying to find a way past the Red Bull, he was given an almighty shock by the quick-starting Renaults of Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov. They both took to the outside into turn 1 and Heidfeld and Petrov emerged from their first corner squabbling second and fifth from sixth and eighth on the grid respectively. Behind them Webber had a poor start and without KERS, he was swamped by the cars behind him. Both Ferrari’s past the struggling Red Bull and Vettel was down to ninth. Once again, Massa was ahead of Alonso by the end of the first lap. Webber’s lack of KERS wasn’t just a hindrance at the start; Kobayashi diced with the Australian for 9th and unlike Webber the Japanese had KERS in arsenal, much to the chagrin of the Red Bull driver.
Like Melbourne, Webber was tougher on his tyres and was the first of the serious runners to pit on lap 11. As I mentioned in my preview, this could be a four-stop race and Webber’s very early pit stop indicated he was following this particular strategy. Mclaren were holding out for rain before they brought Hamilton in on lap 14 and it was ironic that as soon as he exited the pit lane the rain began to fall, albeit very lightly. Vettel didn’t seemed too troubled by the spots of rain and also pitted for dry tyres the following lap as did Button. Alonso pitted a lap later and despite Ferrari toiling behind the Red Bull and Mclaren for much of the earlier sessions, in Alonso they were able to match the front running pace. A welcome boost no doubt for all concerned at Ferrari. Heidfeld was the biggest loser after his first stop and emerged behind the leading pack, giving Hamilton clear air.
Hamilton briefly threatened the lead following the second round of stops as Vettel became stuck behind the later stopping Massa. On lap 29, the reigning World Champion also lost his use of the KERS system, but once in clear air Vettel was able to pull clear as Hamilton struggled on the harder tyre. Despite their lack of KERS, this is a massive bonus for the Red Bull team; Vettel dominated the first two races last season and only had a fourth place to his name in what was clearly the fastest car. In spite of their reliability problems, the Red Bull is still quick enough.Button and Alonso began closing in on the 2008 World Champion, leading to a humorous piece of team radio from Alonso: “I'm already pushing, don't worry."
Hamilton’s third pit stop on lap 37 was the turning point in the race. His slow 6.9 second stop cost him dear as Button easily passed him after pitting the following lap and now had to fend off Webber in his four-stopping Red Bull. Once Webber pitted, it was his old rival Alonso charging up behind him. Hamilton was defending brilliantly from his former team-mate but it seemed inevitable that the Spaniard would get past. Yet unbelievably, as Alonso pulled out from Hamilton’s tow on the run up to turn 4, the two collided. Alonso, who was handicapped without the DRS system, misjudged his overtake and smacked his front wing into Hamilton's right rear tyre.
Hamilton was able to continue but Alonso had to pit for repairs to his damaged front wing, knocking him down the order. Alonso It appeared Hamilton was now comfortable in third but a mixture or aerodynamic problems and tyre issues meant he was easily caught and passed by Heidfeld and Webber. Hamilton reluctantly pitted for a fourth time on lap 52 and rejoined eighth. In fifteen laps, a possible victory had turned into a mere four points. The Mclaren did manage to pick up a place following Vitaly Petrov’s bizarre retirement with just three laps remaining, however a steward’s enquiry into the Hamilton-Alonso incident saw both drivers docked 20 seconds from their overall race time, meaning Kamui Kobayashi was promoted to seventh ahead of a disconsolate Hamilton.
Hamilton’s penalty seemed odd at the time but he was in fact charged with making more than one change of direction in his attempt to fend off Alonso on the previous lap. Although it appeared a fairly small movement by the Mclaren – he initially moved to the right to hold off Alonso and then to the right – it was enough in the eyes of the stewards.
Vettel was in cruise mode despite his lack of KERS and comfortably won ahead of Button and Heidfeld. Nevertheless, it was clear that Red Bull’s advantage has diminished slightly since Australia. Vettel did not show the same qualifying dominance we had seen in Australia despite the sweeping curves of Sepang suiting the characteristics of the Red Bull perfectly. Moreover, Red Bull’s recurrent reliability problems reared their ugly head once more, albeit not at fatal, but still enough to encourage their rivals. Mclaren are much closer, while Renault and Ferrari are much improved. Those who feared a ‘Schuey-esque’ level of dominance from the early 00’s shouldn’t panic. However, it seems nothing can halt Vettel right now.
Malaysian GP results
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull 1hr 37mis 39.832secs
2 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren + 3.261
3 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Renault + 25.075
4 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull + 26.384
5 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari + 36.958
6 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Ferrari + 37.248 *
7 Kamui Kobayashi Jpn Sauber-Ferrari + 1:07.239
8 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren + 49.957 *
9 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Mercedes GP + 1:24.896
10 Paul di Resta (Gbr) Force India + 1:31.563
11 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India + 1:45.000
12 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP +1 Lap
13 Sebastien Buemi (Swi) Scuderia Toro Rosso +1 Lap
14 Jaime Alguersuari (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso +1 Lap
15 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) Team Lotus +1 Lap
16 Timo Glock (Ger) Virgin Racing +2 Laps
17 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) Renault +4 Laps
Not classified
Vitantonio Liuzzi (Ita) Hispania 46 laps completed
Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel) Virgin Racing 42 laps completed
Jarno Trulli (Ita) Team Lotus 31 laps completed
Sergio Perez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari 23 laps completed
Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Williams 22 laps completed
Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Hispania 14 laps completed
Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams 8 laps completed
* Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton given post-race 20-second time penalties.
Josh.
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