Race Report: Malaysia - Controversial Red Bull & Mercedes Battles Dominate

The Sepang circuit threw up another gripping Grand Prix, and despite the race starting on intermediates, the track dried up quickly and was ultimately dominated by Red Bull and Mercedes, both in terms of pace, inter-team battles and team management controversy. In the end, it was Vettel who won his third Malaysian Grand Prix after success in 2010 and 2011, in dramatic fashion.

Alonso Out Of Control Into Turn 1 On Lap 2

The race had high expectations for the fast-starting Ferrari's starting from 2nd and 3rd, but Alonso uncharacteristically knocked his front wing into the back of Webber who overtook them both in the first corners. Half hanging off, everyone was amazed he didn't come into the pits immediately, and as he came down the pit-straight, it came off lodging underneath the car, leaving Fernando with no steering careering off into the gravel. 

Lap 1 was reasonably uneventful besides the events of Alonso, and after Webber's much better start for once, he jumped teammate Vettel in the pit stops and the controversy began. The two Red Bull's along with the Mercedes who had jumped Massa at the start broke away from the pack. 

At one of Hamilton's pit stops, he comically drove into his old McLaren pit box before realising. Both Mercedes nevertheless chased down the Red Bull's, within a couple of seconds in the middle of the race, before Hamilton had to significantly begin to save fuel.

Mercedes Had A Super Result & Have Proved Their Genuine Competitiveness

In the latter stages of the race, both pairs of teammates came into combat and had the making of Turkey 2010 with Red Bull and McLaren. Both were told to conserve their last set of tyres, but Vettel ignored and whilst Webber engine was turned down, attacked Mark for a couple of laps, almost coming together into the pit wall at one point, before Mark eventually almost let Sebastian through after turn 4, maturer heads prevailing after constant radio chatter from team management calling the scrap 'silly'.

Similarly, whilst Hamilton saved fuel, Rosberg demanded permission to overtake Lewis and hunt down the Red Bull's, but was denied and despite having better race pace the whole race, was asked to hold station for over 10 laps, Lewis later admitting on the podium it should be Rosberg on the podium.

The Red Bull's Fought Hard, Here Against The Pit Wall, Before Webber Let Vettel Continue

Behind the top two teams, Button showed McLaren have made massive strides in the space of a week, and would have finished 5th most likely if not for a duff McLaren pit stop with the right front not going on properly. A shame and a waste of 10 points, as he dropped 1 lap behind before retiring. Teammate Perez however, scored his first McLaren points, finishing in 9th place.

Force India also had wasted opportunities, as both cars in particular di Resta looked mighty quick, but were hindered with their wheel guns not changing the wheels properly, ultimately having to retire both cars on safety grounds. Paul could definitely have challenging for a strong 6th place most likely. 

Massa after a poor first lap, dropped from 2nd to 7th, before recovering to 5th. Grosjean finished 6th outperformed his teammate Raikkonen who scrapped with Hulkenberg for the majority of the race, eventually getting the upper hand to finish 7th and 8th respectively. The Finn after winning last weekend didn't have the pace to cleanly overtake the German, and cost him dearly and is now 9 points behind Vettel in the championship after round 2.

Jean-Eric Vergne scored Toro Rosso's first point of the year in 10th behind Perez despite being released into Pic's Caterham in the pitlane and immediately having a front wing replacement, just ahead of Bottas who again out-performed more experienced Maldonado who again spun off the circuit. Gutierrez finished 13th, whilst Bianchi once again impressed as best small team driver, but Chilton wasn't as successful, finishing behind both Caterham's.

Dismal Expressions On The Podium, But Webber Was The F1 Hub  Driver Of  The Race (see below)

The second race has confirmed the season has well and truly burst into life, and now with 3 weeks until China, has many headlines to be written particularly about Red Bull and Vettel. Let us know what your opinion is of the team orders, on-track battles and overall situation.

Please check back for our F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker and 10 Things We Learnt From Malaysia articles which will be up in the next couple of days.

Nick, F1 Hub




F1 Hub Overtake of the Race
Nico Rosberg on Jenson Button - Lap 3
Button impressively got up to 5th after the first few corners, moving to 4th after Alonso retired. Rosberg stayed on his tail, and into turns 1-5 had a great battle. Jenson defended well in his improved McLaren but when Jenson defending into turn 4, Nico got a better drive out of the corner and swooped round Jenson into turn 5 with a better turn in angle. Great little scrap at the start of the race, allowing Nico to chase after the Red Bull's and Hamilton.


F1 Hub Driver of the Race
A controversial race all-round, and had di Resta for Force India and Button for McLaren have kept running, one of them would have deserved driver of the day. di Resta's pace was outstanding, vastly out pacing Sutil, whilst Button was streams ahead of Perez and would have helped turned McLaren's fortunes around. 

Nevertheless, Webber gets my vote for the day, as he had the pace to beat his champion teammate, but thanks to team orders and his engine being turned down, Vettel attacked, and Webber eventually softly let him through after aggressive battling. His pace deserved recognition, as well as his maturity in the situation. Kudos to Rosberg for a much similar situation too.



Full Race Result
1) Sebastian Vettel [Red Bull-Renault]
2) Mark Webber [Red Bull-Renault]
3) Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes]
4) Nico Rosberg [Mercedes]
5) Felipe Massa [Ferrari]
6) Romain Grosjean [Lotus-Renault]
7) Kimi Raikkonen [Lotus-Renault]
8) Nico Hulkenberg [Sauber-Ferrari]
9) Sergio Perez [McLaren-Mercedes]
10) Jean-Eric Vergne [Toro Rosso-Ferrari]
11) Valtteri Bottas [Williams-Renault]
12) Esteban Gutierrez [Sauber-Ferrari]
13) Jules Bianchi [Marussia-Cosworth]
14) Charles Pic [Caterham-Renault]
15) Giedo van der Garde [Caterham-Renault]
16) Max Chilton [Marussia-Cosworth]

Did Not Finish
Fernando Alonso [Ferrari] Lap 2 - Accident & Front Wing
Paul di Resta [Force India-Mercedes] Lap 22 - Pits Wheel Nut Issue
Adrian Sutil [Force India-Mercedes] Lap 27 - Pits Wheel Nut Issue
Pastor Maldonado [Williams Renault] Lap 45 - Spun Out
Daniel Ricciardo [Toro Rosso-Ferrari] Lap 51
Jenson Button [McLaren Mercedes] Lap 53