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Vettel's luck finally turns in Malaysia
Source: Agencies |
April 5, 2010, Monday
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SEBASTIAN Vettel stormed to victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix yesterday, leading home a Red Bull one-two ahead of Mark Webber with Nico Rosberg completing the podium for Mercedes.
It was third time lucky for the German after mechanical failures robbed him of victory in the opening two races of the season but once he had sped past Rosberg and pole-sitter Webber to lead through the first corner at the Sepang circuit, outside Kuala Lumpur, victory was never in doubt.
"It was a very good result for us especially after two races where we didn't finish where we wanted to be," Vettel told reporters after celebrating his sixth career win.
It was Red Bull's first one-two since Abu Dhabi at the end of last season.
Renault's Robert Kubica followed up last week's second place in Melbourne with another strong showing in fourth, ahead of Force India's Adrian Sutil. The German held off McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who was sixth, for the second half of the race.
The McLarens and Ferraris started on the back four rows of the grid after misjudging the conditions in qualifying on Saturday but Hamilton made light of starting in 20th place by surging into the points by the end of the fourth lap.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa followed Hamilton through the field to take seventh place from 21st on the grid and move into the lead in the championship after teammate Fernando Alonso failed to finish.
Massa has 39 points, Alonso and Vettel 37 with McLaren's world champion Jenson Button on 35.
Button crossed the line eighth after a stirring battle with Alonso until the Spaniard retired on the penultimate lap, smoke billowing out of the rear of his Ferrari.
Toro Rosso's Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari finished ninth ahead of Williams' rookie Nico Hulkenburg, the pair both earning their first points in Formula One.
Vettel got off to a flying start and stormed into the lead by the first corner and held off Webber on the second and third as the pair enjoyed an evident speed advantage to pull away from Rosberg in the first half of the race.
Webber's hopes of passing his teammate with a faster pit stop were dashed when his mechanics struggled to remove his front right wheel.
"The second stint was extremely long and it's extremely hot here so I didn't stop sweating," said Vettel, who had started on pole in Bahrain and Australia.
Webber rued a wheel spin at the start of the grand prix that allowed his teammate past but was delighted for the team after two frustrating race weekends in a row.
"First and second is sensational. It has been a tough few races where clearly we didn't finish where we should, so coming to the weekend, you will take this kind of result," the Australian said.
Further down the order, Hamilton was leading the faster cars through the field like a knife through butter and his charge was only halted when he ran into a stubborn Sutil, who matched the McLaren for pace on the long straights.
"The pace was great and was able to stay out for very long, I nearly got Vettel when he came out for his pitstop but overall I'm well happy with that," Hamilton said.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher continued to endure a frustrating run of results on his return to F1 after three years, the German parking up his Mercedes on lap 10 to remain stuck on nine points.
Ferrari leads the constructors' championship with 76 points, ahead of McLaren on 66 and Red Bull on 61.
Next up is the Chinese GP in Shanghai on April 18.
It was third time lucky for the German after mechanical failures robbed him of victory in the opening two races of the season but once he had sped past Rosberg and pole-sitter Webber to lead through the first corner at the Sepang circuit, outside Kuala Lumpur, victory was never in doubt.
"It was a very good result for us especially after two races where we didn't finish where we wanted to be," Vettel told reporters after celebrating his sixth career win.
It was Red Bull's first one-two since Abu Dhabi at the end of last season.
Renault's Robert Kubica followed up last week's second place in Melbourne with another strong showing in fourth, ahead of Force India's Adrian Sutil. The German held off McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, who was sixth, for the second half of the race.
The McLarens and Ferraris started on the back four rows of the grid after misjudging the conditions in qualifying on Saturday but Hamilton made light of starting in 20th place by surging into the points by the end of the fourth lap.
Ferrari's Felipe Massa followed Hamilton through the field to take seventh place from 21st on the grid and move into the lead in the championship after teammate Fernando Alonso failed to finish.
Massa has 39 points, Alonso and Vettel 37 with McLaren's world champion Jenson Button on 35.
Button crossed the line eighth after a stirring battle with Alonso until the Spaniard retired on the penultimate lap, smoke billowing out of the rear of his Ferrari.
Toro Rosso's Spaniard Jaime Alguersuari finished ninth ahead of Williams' rookie Nico Hulkenburg, the pair both earning their first points in Formula One.
Vettel got off to a flying start and stormed into the lead by the first corner and held off Webber on the second and third as the pair enjoyed an evident speed advantage to pull away from Rosberg in the first half of the race.
Webber's hopes of passing his teammate with a faster pit stop were dashed when his mechanics struggled to remove his front right wheel.
"The second stint was extremely long and it's extremely hot here so I didn't stop sweating," said Vettel, who had started on pole in Bahrain and Australia.
Webber rued a wheel spin at the start of the grand prix that allowed his teammate past but was delighted for the team after two frustrating race weekends in a row.
"First and second is sensational. It has been a tough few races where clearly we didn't finish where we should, so coming to the weekend, you will take this kind of result," the Australian said.
Further down the order, Hamilton was leading the faster cars through the field like a knife through butter and his charge was only halted when he ran into a stubborn Sutil, who matched the McLaren for pace on the long straights.
"The pace was great and was able to stay out for very long, I nearly got Vettel when he came out for his pitstop but overall I'm well happy with that," Hamilton said.
Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher continued to endure a frustrating run of results on his return to F1 after three years, the German parking up his Mercedes on lap 10 to remain stuck on nine points.
Ferrari leads the constructors' championship with 76 points, ahead of McLaren on 66 and Red Bull on 61.
Next up is the Chinese GP in Shanghai on April 18.
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