Vettel leads a Red Bull 1-2 in dry Malaysia
| Sunday 04th April 2010, 10:50 Ryan Wood |
Red Bull put their reliability problems to bed in Malaysia as Sebastian Vettel took a resounding victory, with Mark Webber just behind to give the Red Bull a 1-2.
The weather held up with no sign of rain throughout the grand prix, giving the backmarkers very little chance of catching up to the Red Bull's, who finished over 13 seconds ahead of third placed man Nico Rosberg, giving Mercedes it's first podium.
The pivotal moment in Vettel's race was his first overtake, which involved getting past Webber at turn one. Webber assumed he had Vettel covered, but the German managed to slide his RB6 up the inside to take the line into turn two.
The majority of the action happened behind the leading pack. Lewis Hamilton dominated the middle field, taking ten drivers in the opening twelve laps. Meanwhile, his teammate fell back behind Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.
A duel between Hamilton and Vitaly Petrov saw the black and white flag for the first time in a handful of seasons. Hamilton weaved across the track to defend his overtake, that landed him in trouble, but he avoided a penalty.
Alonso suffered a gearbox problem in the middle of the race, although he managed to maintain his pace. The final straw came with just three laps remaining, after putting an overtaking attempt on Button before his engine gave up.
Jaime Alguersuari managed to score his first points taking P9 ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who also scored his first point.
Lucas di Grassi had a good race, despite saving fuel, he took the team's first race finish ahead of both Hispania and Lotus cars.
It was a fairly easy race upfront though. The Red Bull's weren't challenged at all throughout. Vettel took the full 25 points with ease, moving him into third in the championship table.
Race Classification:
| # | Driver | Team | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:33:48.412 |
| 02 | M. Webber | Red Bull | +4.849 |
| 03 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +13.504 |
| 04 | R. Kubica | Renault | +18.589 |
| 05 | A. Sutil | Force India | +21.059 |
| 06 | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +23.471 |
| 07 | F. Massa | Ferrari | +27.068 |
| 08 | J. Button | McLaren | +37.918 |
| 09 | J. Alguersuari | Toro Rosso | +1:10.602 |
| 10 | N. Hulkenberg | Williams | +1:13.399 |
| 11 | S. Buemi | Toro Rosso | +1:18.938 |
| 12 | R. Barrichello | Williams | +1 lap |
| 13 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +2 laps |
| 14 | L. di Grassi | Virgin | +3 laps |
| 15 | K. Chandhok | Hispania | +3 laps |
| 16 | B. Senna | Hispania | +4 laps |
| 17 | J. Trulli | Lotus | +5 laps |
| 18 | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | +10 laps |
| 19 | V. Petrov | Renault | +24 laps |
| 20 | V. Liuzzi | Force India | +44 laps |
| 21 | M. Schumacher | Mercedes | +47 laps |
| 22 | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +48 laps |
| 23 | T. Glock | Virgin | +54 laps |
| 24 | P. de la Rosa | Sauber | DNS |
(All timing unofficial) DNS = Did not start
The image accompanying this article has been sourced from its respective owner and is subject to copyright. Images come courtesy of; McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull/Getty, MercedesGP, Force India/Sutton, Renault/LAT, Sauber Motorsport, Williams/LAT, Team Lotus, Hispania/Sutton, Virgin and Pirelli. |
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