Sebastian Vettel wins the Malaysian Grand Prix 2011 - Formula 1
After an exciting first chapter of the latest edition of Formula One, the Malaysian Grand Prix was seen to uphold the prevailing trend with Sebastian Vettel coming out the other side as the greatest beneficiary.
The Red Bull driver recorded his twelfth career victory after starting the race on pole. While the race weekend started with team McLaren Mercedes dominating proceedings in qualifying, the holding champion managed to pull out a fast lap in the dying stages
of the qualifying session to lead the 24 cars heading into the race on Sunday. Since then, the young German dominated proceedings on the track backed by an efficient pit lane strategy that saw him stop three times during the course of the 56 laps at the Sepang
Circuit in Malaysia.
Looking down the order, Jenson Button continued his inspired run this term and managed to take the second step of the podium to keep his and McLaren’s constructors’ championship aspirations alive. The MP4–26 looks to go from strength to strength as the season
progresses.
Renault, on the other hand, continue to impress despite the absence of their first choice driver Robert Kubica. Nick Heidfeld made an excellent start; starting from P-6 at the end of qualifying, the German gained 3 spots to slingshot his way to third.
Red Bull’s Mark Webber finished 4th after a somewhat unreliable car during the course of the race. With his teammate performing so well and owing to the overall credentials of the Red Bull, the Australian veteran would ideally be looking to finish
higher in the future.
Felipe Massa, for the first time this season, was able to finish higher than his teammate Fernando Alonso. However, it is worth reminding that Alonso had to nurse his car to the finish line after experiencing some problems with his Drag Reduction System
as well as the damage to his front wing after the collision with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton. The 2nd McLaren had a similar tale to tell with a disappointing 7th.
Kamui Kobayashi, perhaps the surprise package of the 2010 season, made further inroads this term with a strong 8th in his Sauber, the Japanese driver started the race in 16th position and it took every ounce of determination in his
locker to guide his Sauber ahead of Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes in 9th. Schumi scrapped up his first top ten finish of the season and would ideally be looking to use Malaysia as a stepping stone to challenge for top honours in the future.
Force India’s Paul di Resta took the final point available and thereby concluded the top ten finishers.
The Pirellis continue to exhibit durability issues as most of the drivers had to conserve their rubber at the latter stages of the race.
Up next, the Formula One franchise heads to China in a week’s time for the third Grand Prix of the season.
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