Vettel, Webber 1—2 in Malaysia Formula One Grand Prix

After retiring with mechanical failures while leading Bahrain and Melbourne, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel finished in first place at the Formula One Grand Prix of Malaysia on Sunday, with teammate Mark Webber right behind.

Red Bull’s speed has never been in question, but its lack of reliability in 2010 had cost the team two near-certain wins. Malaysia was the team’s chance to get it right, and they did.

“A very good result for us, especially for myself, after two races where we didn’t finish where we wanted to be,” Vettel told the post-race press conference. “Sitting here on Sunday afternoon, having finished the race in first position, is obviously the best result we can get.

“On top of that, Mark [Webber] in second place is a big plus for the team, a lot of points and I am very, very happy.”

Malaysia was Vettel's sixth win and Red Bull's fifth one–two finish

Rain wracked qualifying, leaving McLaren and Ferrari at the back of the grid with Webber on the pole and Vettel starting third. This gave Red Bull a huge advantage: the toughest competition would have to spend its energy just getting to the front, while the Red Bull drivers could focus on staying there.

Vettel passed Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg at the start, and battled Webber through the first four turns, finally coming out ahead.

Vettel then took off and left the rest of the field behind, while Webber matched Vettel’s pace but couldn’t close the gap.

“The spirit and the chemistry in our team is awesome and we fight very hard.” Webber told the press after the race.

“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.”

Vettel finished 4.8 seconds ahead of Webber, who was 8.5 seconds ahead of Nico Rosberg’s third-place Mercedes.

“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” Rosberg said in remarks posted on Formula1.com.

“I struggled a little with the options but once we switched to the primes, I felt really comfortable and we could manage the race home to third place.”

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button in their McLarens and Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso in their Ferraris, cut their ways through the field, creating some great battles. By lap 16, Hamilton was stuck in sixth behind Force India’s Adrian Sutil, while Massa and Alonso chased the pair.

Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari had transmission trouble: it dropped into neutral on downshifts, robbing Alonso of engine braking, which hurt him coming through corners. Alonso pressed on regardless, turning in fastest laps.

After pitting, Massa was able to pass Jenson Button, but Alonso, with his malfunctioning transmission, couldn’t. Finally, with two laps to go, Alonso forced his way inside Button, but his transmission exploded from the stress, putting Alonso out of the race.

Mechanical failure also eliminated Michael Schumacher, who parked his Mercedes on lap 10 with a loose left rear wheel nut. Schumacher accepted his retirement with equanimity born of experience.

"It was a shame that I could not finish the race but unfortunately the wheel nut on the left rear wheel was lost. In the end that is motor racing. It makes no sense to get angry about it, you have to accept it as part of the game and look ahead."

Torro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari earned his first F1 championships points with a ninth-place finish after starting 14th. Nico Hulkenberg of Williams scored his first point as an F1 driver, coming in right behind Alguersuari.

Both HRT cars finished the race, a first for the team. Both Saubers retired, as did Timo Glock’s Virgin (damaged in a collision with Jarno Trulli) and Vitaly Petrov’s Renault, Heiki Kovalainen’s Lotus, and Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India.

Vettel’s win vaults him into third place in the Drivers’ Championship, behind Massa and Alonso. Nine points cover the top seven drivers, who represent five different teams: Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, and Renault.

Red Bull’s one–two finish moves the team into third in the Constructor’s Championship, just five points behind McLaren. Ferrari still enjoys a ten-point lead, but if Red Bull has finally solved its reliability problems, this could be a tough year for the traditional F1 powerhouses.

The next race in the 2010 Formula One Grand Prix season is the 2010 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, April 18, 2010, in Shanghai, China. Visit the Formula1.com Tickets and Travel Web page to make convenient one-stop reservations.

 

 

 

2010 Formula One Grand Prix of Malaysia
		Grid	#	Driver		Team					Laps	Time/Retired		Pts
1		3	5	Sebastian Vettel		RBR-Renault					56	1:33:48.412		25
2		1	6	Mark Webber		RBR-Renault					56	+4.8 secs		18
3		2	4	Nico Rosberg		Mercedes GP					56	+13.5 secs		15
4		6	11	Robert Kubica		Renault					56	+18.5 secs		12
5		4	14	Adrian Sutil		Force India-Mercedes					56	+21.0 secs		10
6		20	2	Lewis Hamilton		McLaren-Mercedes					56	+23.4 secs		8
7		21	7	Felipe Massa		Ferrari					56	+27.0 secs		6
8		17	1	Jenson Button		McLaren-Mercedes					56	+37.9 secs		4
9		14	17	Jaime Alguersuari		STR-Ferrari					56	+70.6 secs		2
10		5	10	Nico Hulkenberg		Williams-Cosworth					56	+73.3 secs		1
11		13	16	Sebastien Buemi		STR-Ferrari					56	+78.9 secs
12		7	9	Rubens Barrichello		Williams-Cosworth					55	+1 Lap
13		19	8	Fernando Alonso		Ferrari					54	+2 Laps
14		24	25	Lucas di Grassi		Virgin-Cosworth					53	+3 Laps
15		22	20	Karun Chandhok		HRT-Cosworth					53	+3 Laps
16		23	21	Bruno Senna		HRT-Cosworth					52	+4 Laps
17		18	18	Jarno Trulli		Lotus-Cosworth					51	+5 Laps
Ret		15	19	Heikki Kovalainen		Lotus-Cosworth					46	+10 Laps
Ret		11	12	Vitaly Petrov		Renault					32	+24 Laps
Ret		10	15	Vitantonio Liuzzi		Force India-Mercedes					12	+44 Laps
Ret		8	3	Michael Schumacher		Mercedes GP					9	+47 Laps
Ret		9	23	Kamui Kobayashi		BMW Sauber-Ferrari					8	+48 Laps
Ret		16	24	Timo Glock		Virgin-Cosworth					2	+54 Laps
DNS		12	22	Pedro de la Rosa		BMW Sauber-Ferrari					0	+56 Laps
2010 World Drivers’ Championship Points									2010 Constructors’ Points
	Driver				Team		Points			Team			Points
1	Felipe Massa				Ferrari		39		1	Ferrari			76
2	Fernando Alonso				Ferrari		37		2	McLaren-Mercedes			66
3	Sebastian Vettel				RBR-Renault		37		3	RBR-Renault			61
4	Jenson Button				McLaren-Mercedes		35		4	Mercedes GP			44
5	Nico Rosberg				Mercedes GP		35		5	Renault			30
6	Lewis Hamilton				McLaren-Mercedes		31		6	Force India-Mercedes			18
7	Robert Kubica				Renault		30		7	Williams-Cosworth			6
8	Mark Webber				RBR-Renault		24		8	STR-Ferrari			2
9	Adrian Sutil				Force India-Mercedes		10		9	BMW Sauber-Ferrari			0
10	Michael Schumacher				Mercedes GP		9		10	Lotus-Cosworth			0
11	Vitantonio Liuzzi				Force India-Mercedes		8		11	HRT-Cosworth			0
12	Rubens Barrichello				Williams-Cosworth		5		12	Virgin-Cosworth			0
13	Jaime Alguersuari				STR-Ferrari		2
14	Nico Hulkenberg				Williams-Cosworth		1