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Vettel dominates Malaysian Grand Prix
vettel
World champion Sebastien Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix with a dominant drive on Sunday to take an early grip on the Formula One season.
The German Red Bull driver completed his second post-to-post victory in two outings ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button, with Renault driver Nick Heidfeld in third. Red Bull’s Mark Webber was fourth.
The 23-year-old German steered his Red Bull car from pole position to the chequered flag to win ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button, the 2009 champion, and Nick Heidfeld who finished third for Renault.
Red Bull’s Australian driver Mark Webber recovered from a poor start to storm back and finish fourth ahead of the two Ferraris of Brazilian Felipe Massa and two-time champion Fernando Alonso.
2008 champion Lewis Hamilton finished a disappointing seventh after looking set for a podium spot, until a slow pit stop and then a struggle with worn tyres in the closing stages.
Japana’s Kamui Kobayashi of Sauber was eighth ahead of seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, who was ninth for Mercedes, and 10th-placed British rookie Paul Di Resta, who scored another point for Force India in only his second start.
Vettel has now won both of the two season-opening races, in Australia and Malaysia, and five of the last six to take charge of the 2011 drivers world title race.
Malaysian Grand Prix results
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull 1:37:39.832
2. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren +00:03.261
3. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Renault 00:25.075
4. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull 00:26.384
5. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 00:36.958
6. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 00:37.248
7. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 00:49.957
8. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 01:06.439
9. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes 01:24.896
10. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 01:31.563
11. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 01:41.379
12. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1 lap
13. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso 1 lap
14. Jaime Alguersuari (Spain) Toro Rosso 1 lap
15. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Lotus 1 lap
16. Timo Glock (Germany) Virgin 2 laps
17r. Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 4 laps
r. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) HRT 10 laps
r. Jerome d'Ambrosio (Belgium) Virgin 14 laps
r. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Lotus 25 laps
r. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber 33 laps
r. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Williams 34 laps
r. Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT 42 laps
r. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams 48 laps
(rank: r = retired, nc = not classified)
Fastest Lap: Mark Webber,1:40.571, lap 46.
Drivers Points
1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull 50
2. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 26
3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 24
4. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull 22
5. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 20
6. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 16
7. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Renault 15
8. Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Renault 15
9. Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Toro Rosso 4
10. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber 4
11. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India 2
12. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes GP 2
13. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India 2
Constructors Points
1. RedBull - Renault 72
2. McLaren - Mercedes 50
3. Ferrari 36
4. Renault 30
5. Toro Rosso - Ferrari 4
5. Sauber - Ferrari 4
5. Force India - Mercedes 4
8. Mercedes 2