German Formula 1 pilot Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull won Sunday the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, a tense race, marked by numerous incidents on the pit lane and internal struggles waged between riders of the same team, in violation of orders received from the stands.
Sepang race was particularly interesting due to the Vettel – Webber and Hamilton – Rosberg duels. Vettel was in the pole position at the start, besides him was Felipe Massa from Ferrari. Fernando Alonso, Vettel’s teammate was in the next row with Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes. Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg started in the third row. Scuderia Ferrari had good starting positions with Felipe Massa on the second and Fernando Alonso on the third position, but they did not have a say in determining the winner.
Vettel and Webber started very well in the race on a wet track. The triple world champion retained top position despite an attack triggered by Alonso. The Spaniard wanted to go in front immediately after the start, he passed Massa, then he tapped the back of Vettel’s car, enough to damage the front wing. Ferrari didn’t call Alonso to the pit, hoping that he will be able to stay on the track until the first tire change. But the wing of the F138 came loose and Alonso had to abandon the race.
Webber climbed to the third position in the first turns, then second, benefiting from Alonso’s retirement and moved into the race lead after the first pit entrance: it was the time to replace the intermediate rain tires for the medium-compound tires. Hamilton and Rosberg were positioned behind the Red Bull cars (Vettel and Webber) and waited to take advantage of any gap in their rivals driving. Hamilton overtook Vettel after the third pit stop, but the German recovered his second place a few laps later.
The end of the race was spiced by Red Bull and Mercedes infighting. Rosberg, much faster than Hamilton, who was trying to save fuel, asked his team several times for permission to pass the British. “Negative,” said manager Ross Brawn, who ordered the German to retain his position after he triggered several attacks on his colleague. Rosberg eventually complied and remained outside the podium.
For the Red Bull, the situation was similar. When Webber entered the last pit stop, the team told him that Vettel was supposed to let him win. The Australian drove his single-seater in sleep mode, but found himself cornered by his teammate. For nearly two laps, the two cars were driven wheel to wheel. The Austrian team officials tried desperately to stop Vettel, fearing that their cars will come into contact and will end up badly, as happened at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix.
Finally, the reigning world champion won the duel with Webber. “Stupid” and “He’ll give explanations” were among the words which have been transmitted from Vettel’s team. The German admitted after the race that he was asked to keep his position, but said he felt in those moments that he is faster than his colleague. He apologized to Webber, but it is hard to believe that he will accept Vettel’s apologies. Thus, Sebastian Vettel has recorded his first victory this season and the 27th of his career.
Hamilton promised to apologize to Rosberg, arguing that he deserved his place on the podium, but the decision belonged to Mercedes team.
Felipe Massa was the “best of the rest” after he finished in 5th place. Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen, both from Lotus-Renault, were ranked sixth and seventh. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber) was the eighth and Sergio Perez (McLaren-Mercedes) ninth. The last point was taken by Jean-Eric Vergne from Toro Rosso.
Malaysian race was marked by numerous incidents on the pit lane, the worst being the collision between Charles Pic from Caterham and Jean-Eric Vergne from Toro Rosso. A funny moment occurred when Hamilton wanted to make the first tire change at his former team, McLaren-Mercedes.
Formula 1 is on a three week break until April 12, when the Chinese Grand Prix is scheduled to take place in Shanghai.
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