Vettel beats team mate Webber to win the Malaysian Grand Prix
World Champion Sebastian Vettel wins the Malaysian Grand Prix beating team mate Webber in the final stages of the race after a close wheel to wheel dice for several laps causing frantic moments within the RedBull garage. A similar team mate battle brewed up for third place between the Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Rosberg which was controlled through radio by the Mercedes team.
The start of the race was on intermediates as some parts of the track were wet due to light shower an hour ago and Kimi Raikkonen starting 10th due to 3spot grid penalty. At the lights Vettel launched perfectly while Alonso overcame team mate Massa but it was Webber who braved into second starting from 5th.
Alonso managed to fend off Webber´s move and tried to attack Vettel for the lead resulting in a light slide and touching the RedBull causing a broken front wing. Sparks were fyling from the Ferrari´s dragging nose wing but Alonso managed to maintain momentum defending Webber easily as Ferrari decided not to change the front wing immediately but along with the tyre change after a few laps.
The strategy proved wrong as Alonso´s front wing broke off completely when Webber overtook the Ferrari on the main straight. The wind turbulance from Webber´s RedBull disrupted the front wing of Alonso causing the Spainiard to hit the gravel straight on without steering control and retire out of the race.
Vettel led the race with Webber and Hamilton following while Massa dropped down the order to sixth. Rosberg and Button had a exchange of positions in the early stages while Raikkonen went off track and dropped to 12th. By Lap 5 Vettel came into pits to change for slicks as most of the teams were planning for a 4 stop strategy. As the pitlane becomes active both Force India drivers came into the pits at the same time and even worse to it Sutil´s left rear tyre gets jammed causing a heavly delay while Di Resta had to wait patiently behind his team mate.
Webber lead the race with a frusturated Vettel close behind enabling the Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg to hunt down the Red Bulls. Vettel even messaged his team to order Webber to make away for him to avoid the pursuing Hamilton but Webber opened a comfortable gab on his team mate
Di Resta and Sutil face another wheel nut problem in the pits while Webber leads the race from Vettel and the Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg.
In their third pitstop Force India faced the same problem with Di Resta and Sutil and had to retire both cars from the race due to wheel nut issue. Button too face a tyre change problem in his third stop as his right front wheel was not bolted and he had to halt on the pitlane after exiting from the box losing 2minutes as his crew had to push him back to the box to fix the tyre.
Webber maintained the lead but a slow getaway from Vettel on his third pitstop let Hamilton to second . After a few laps Hamilton reduced pace as he was told save more fuel and go into fuel conserve mode enabling Vettel to get ahead and Rosberg close in. Vettel closed his gap to the leader Mark Webber before the final stop.
The fourth pitstop made the race very exciting as Vettel who pitted after his team mate, come out in right front of Webber resulting in a close wheel to wheel battle for the lead for next few laps resulting in Vettel hitting the front and pulling away. Meanwhile Hamilton and Rosberg too diced for third spot but Rosberg was told to control his pace as Lewis too is doing so as per team orders.
Button retired his car into the pits to end his race on lap 54 while Vettel pulls away from Webber to take the chequered flag. Hamilton takes first podium with Mercedes and with a frusturated Rosberg in fourth. Massa in the Ferrari crosses 5th ahead of Grosjean and Raikkonen in the Lotus in 6th and 7th while Hulkenberg, Perez and Vergne complete the top 10.
Results
1 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing–Renault | 56 | Winner | 1 | 25 |
2 | 2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing–Renault | 56 | +4.2 secs | 5 | 18 |
3 | 10 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | +12.1 secs | 4 | 15 |
4 | 9 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 56 | +12.6 secs | 6 | 12 |
5 | 4 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 56 | +25.6 secs | 2 | 10 |
6 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus–Renault | 56 | +35.5 secs | 11 | 8 |
7 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus–Renault | 56 | +48.4 secs | 10 | 6 |
8 | 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber–Ferrari | 56 | +53.0 secs | 12 | 4 |
9 | 6 | Sergio Perez | McLaren–Mercedes | 56 | +72.3 secs | 9 | 2 |
10 | 18 | Jean–Eric Vergne | STR–Ferrari | 56 | +87.1 secs | 17 | 1 |
11 | 17 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams–Renault | 56 | +88.6 secs | 18 | |
12 | 12 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber–Ferrari | 55 | +1 Lap | 14 | |
13 | 22 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia–Cosworth | 55 | +1 Lap | 19 | |
14 | 20 | Charles Pic | Caterham–Renault | 55 | +1 Lap | 20 | |
15 | 21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham–Renault | 55 | +1 Lap | 22 | |
16 | 23 | Max Chilton | Marussia–Cosworth | 54 | +2 Laps | 21 | |
17 | 5 | Jenson Button | McLaren–Mercedes | 53 | +3 Laps | 7 | |
18 | 19 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR–Ferrari | 51 | +5 Laps | 13 | |
Ret | 16 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams–Renault | 45 | +11 Laps | 16 | |
Ret | 15 | Adrian Sutil | Force India–Mercedes | 27 | +29 Laps | 8 | |
Ret | 14 | Paul di Resta | Force India–Mercedes | 22 | +34 Laps | 15 | |
Ret | 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1 | +55 Laps | 3 |