Sebastian Vettel
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.
