Mercedes boys Lewis & Nico go cool over team orders

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fought close in the race for 3rd place overtaking eachother several times until team orders told them to hold their positions and finish the race. Lewis was told to save fuel by reducing pace as they went aggressive on charging behind the RedBulls in the earlier stint which also let Vettel move ahead, while Rosberg caught up Lewis and exhanged places until team orders came into hold their positions and bring home both the cars safely. Rosberg even appealed on the radio that he was faster than Lewis and to let him go ahead to catch the Red Bulls but team principal Ross Brawn came in negative and told him back off to finish the race and said Lewis too can go faster but he is controlling the pace under team orders to save fuel and tyres.

After getting his first podium for his new team, Lewis Hamilton congragulated Nico for smart and controlled race and his team mate deserved the place he finish, while Nico felt he understood the teams cause even though he felt disappointed to be held back. 

Lewis Hamilton – 3rd
"That was a fantastic job by the team today. They worked so hard over the winter and to achieve a podium at the second race of the season is a nice reward, particularly here in Malaysia at one of our home races. I have to say big congratulations to Nico. He drove a smarter and more controlled race than me this afternoon and deserved to finish where I did. The team made the call for us to hold positions and we both respected that. The race was tough, we were fighting hard with Red Bull and went aggressive on our fuel strategy but they were just too good today. Third and fourth places is still a great result for us however and just increases our motivation to keep pushing and close that gap."

Nico Rosberg – 4th
"It was a great day for us as a team and we can be very happy of our performance here this weekend. It was a good feeling to be competitive and to be able to set fastest lap times during the race. Thanks to all of you at the team for all the hard work, results like these are very well deserved. Of course, it was disappointing for me having to hold position but I understand the team’s decision to safeguard our positions and to make sure that both cars got to the end with a strong team finish, especially in light of the tough times behind us. There are a lot of races to go and our performance today makes me look forward to fighting for more podium finishes in the future."

Ross Brawn - Team Principal
"This weekend was another step in the right direction for the team. We had a pretty good car today, certainly on the option tyres it was very good, and the team made the right calls on strategy. On the third set of dry tyres, the hard compound, we didn’t quite have the balance and that’s where we fell back. We had a heavier than expected fuel consumption during the race and as we got towards the end, we had to take some measures to ensure that both cars finished. We asked Lewis and Nico to hold position and both drivers respected that. Whilst it was tough for Nico and I fully expect him to be disappointed, we have now got a car we can fight with and that there will be plenty more opportunities to achieve good results this season. We’ve got to concentrate on keeping up the pace of development but we can take pride in achieving our first podium of the season and my thanks to everyone here and back at base for their commitment and hard work."