Sebastian Vettel has won the Malaysian Grand Prix following a thrilling battle with teammate Mark Webber, which may have damaged the inter-team relations as the German driver did not heed the advice of his team to slow down. However, the 1-2 finish for Red Bull gives them the lead in both championships after Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso retired on lap two of the race.
Mercedes ran strongly to finish in third and fourth, with Lewis Hamilton coming under pressure from Nico Rosberg towards the end of the race, whilst all was not lost for Ferrari as Felipe Massa came home in P5.
The race started in wet conditions, with all of the drivers opting for intermediate tires, but soon after Alonso’s retirement the track dried out, allowing the teams to pit and take on dry tires. Having pitted a few laps earlier than Webber, Vettel gave up the advantage to his teammate, with the Mercedes duo of Rosberg and Hamilton also vying for the lead after the first round of stops. McLaren took advantage of the drying track and Jenson Button moved up into P5 behind the Red Bull and Mercedes drivers.
Despite coming under pressure from Vettel and Hamilton, Webber managed to hold on to the lead until the final round of stops, when he came out only just ahead of his teammate. Vettel tried a move into turn four, but he failed to make the pass stick. However, soon after, he charged past his teammate as the RB9s got too close for comfort. Team principal Christian Horner even told Vettel that the move was “silly,” requiring a lengthy explanation after the race.
However, Vettel put the criticism behind him to claim his 27th Grand Prix victory, four seconds ahead of an evidently frustrated Mark Webber. Lotus was caught out by the weather, and Kimi Raikkonen ventured off the track on more than one occasion, but he recovered to finish P7 just behind his teammate. Nico Hulkenberg scored his first points of the season in 8th, as did Sergio Perez and Jean-Eric Vergne who completed the points. A botched pit stop for Jenson Button cost him all chances of points, and he retired with two laps remaining.
The race saw a four-way fight for the win, showing that Mercedes are capable of exceeding their own expectations this season. Although Red Bull will be pleased with the result, the bitter rivalry between Vettel and Webber could be set to boil over just two races in to the 2013 season.
This video is no longer available. Click here to watch more NBC Sports videos!Malaysian Grand Prix – Race Classification
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault Winner 25 points
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing-Renault +4.2 secs 18 points
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +12.1 secs 15 points
4 Nico Rosberg Mercedes +12.6 secs 12 points
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari +25.6 secs 10 points
6 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault +35.5 secs 8 points
7 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault +48.4 secs 6 points
8 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber-Ferrari +53.0 secs 4 points
9 Sergio Perez McLaren-Mercedes +72.3 secs 2 points
10 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Ferrari +87.1 secs 1 point
11 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault +88.6 secs
12 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari +1 Lap
13 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth +1 Lap
14 Charles Pic Caterham-Renault +1 Lap
15 Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault +1 Lap
16 Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth +2 Laps
17 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes +3 Laps
18 Daniel Ricciardo STR-Ferrari +5 Laps
Ret Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault
Ret Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes
Ret Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes
Ret Fernando Alonso Ferrari