Red Bull Racing 's Sebastian Vettel made it look really easy as he scored his second victory of the season and extended his world championship point’s tally to 50 on Sunday at the Grand Prix of Malaysia.
The young German and reigning World Champion took the lead at the start, nursed his tires through three pits stops, avoided using his problematic KERS from the 29th lap after instruction from his team, yet was still 6.1 second ahead of a charging Jenson Button in the McLaren with a lap to go.
Button did the impossible by running 19 laps on a set of Pirelli's prime tires where previously nobody had managed more than 16, but the 3.2s gap at the chequered flag reflected the side-by-side weaving that Vettel did in triumph as he reached the finish line.
Lewis Hamilton in the other McLaren had been in the fight all afternoon, once he had overtaken super-fast starting Nick Heidfeld's Renault in the first stops, but unlike his team mate the Briton lost pace on the primes, fell behind Button after the third stops, and needed a fourth to make it to the flag in seventh after running off the track.
Nick Heidfeld, driving for Lotus Renault GP kept managed to beat Mark Webber's Red Bull to the final podium slot, after the KERS-less Australian fought back from a terrible opening lap and four pit stops.
Behind them, Felipe Massa brought his Ferrari home fifth after three stops, only 0.2s ahead of team mate Fernando Alonso, who seemed set to take Hamilton's third place until he hit the back of the McLaren on the 46th lap and needed a fourth stop for a new front wing. He had been struggling for some time with a DRS wing which stopped working properly.
The young German and reigning World Champion took the lead at the start, nursed his tires through three pits stops, avoided using his problematic KERS from the 29th lap after instruction from his team, yet was still 6.1 second ahead of a charging Jenson Button in the McLaren with a lap to go.
Button did the impossible by running 19 laps on a set of Pirelli's prime tires where previously nobody had managed more than 16, but the 3.2s gap at the chequered flag reflected the side-by-side weaving that Vettel did in triumph as he reached the finish line.
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| Photo: WRI2 |
Lewis Hamilton in the other McLaren had been in the fight all afternoon, once he had overtaken super-fast starting Nick Heidfeld's Renault in the first stops, but unlike his team mate the Briton lost pace on the primes, fell behind Button after the third stops, and needed a fourth to make it to the flag in seventh after running off the track.
Nick Heidfeld, driving for Lotus Renault GP kept managed to beat Mark Webber's Red Bull to the final podium slot, after the KERS-less Australian fought back from a terrible opening lap and four pit stops.
Behind them, Felipe Massa brought his Ferrari home fifth after three stops, only 0.2s ahead of team mate Fernando Alonso, who seemed set to take Hamilton's third place until he hit the back of the McLaren on the 46th lap and needed a fourth stop for a new front wing. He had been struggling for some time with a DRS wing which stopped working properly.