Vettel takes the cake, Webber gets the crumbs

WORLD champion Sebastien Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix with a dominant drive yesterday as his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber came unstuck once again to finish fourth.

Vettel converted his pole position into back-to-back wins to open the season and take an early grip on the formula one driver's championship.

The 23-year-old German won from McLaren's Jenson Button, the 2009 champion, and Nick Heidfeld, who finished third for Renault.


Vettel's second start-to-finish win in two outings this year came despite further problems with Red Bull's faulty Kinetic Energy Regeneration System (KERS), which gave Webber a nightmare start.

The Australian dropped from third on the grid to 10th before storming back to finish fourth ahead of the two Ferraris of Brazilian Felipe Massa and two-time champion Fernando Alonso.

Alonso suffered damage to his car in a late charge for the podium when he collided with the rear of Briton Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, suffering a broken front wing that required a pit stop.

Hamilton, the 2008 champion, looked set for a podium spot but finished seventh after a slow pit stop and then a struggle with worn tyres in the closing stages.

Having won in Australia and Malaysia this season, Vettel is five from his past six races all up.

It was another stunning performance from Vettel after the Red Bull team told their drivers they could not use the KERS power-boost for most of the race.

''In the heat, we kept our heads cool,'' he told the Red Bull crew on his victory lap. ''It is a pleasure every week to drive with you boys and I'm loving it.''

The track temperature was 31 degrees at the start in 83 per cent humidity, a sure sign that rain was likely as Vettel led the cars on the formation lap to the grid.

Vettel made a smooth start, pulling clear of the pack as Hamilton, on the dirtier side of the circuit, struggled to retain second place and, running into turns one and two, was passed on the outside by Heidfeld.

At the same time, Webber was beset by problems. His car had suffered a pre-race KERS failure and this made him slow off the start, dropping seven places.

Webber was first in for new tyres after 11 laps and was followed by Hamilton, who was nine seconds behind Vettel when he pitted.

Webber swiftly set about making up ground and set the fastest lap, as did Hamilton and then Alonso soon after.

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Mark Webber heads Lewis Hamilton in Malaysian GP practice

Red Bull's Mark Webber comfortably out-paced Lewis Hamilton's McLaren to top practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The Australian, who took pole here in 2010, was 1.665 seconds ahead of Hamilton and three seconds faster than team-mate Sebastian Vettel in 17th.

Mercedes's Michael Schumacher was third, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso ninth and Jenson Button's McLaren 15th.

It was a bad start for Renault as both cars suffered serious brake problems.

Renault were aiming to build on Vitaly Petrov's third place in Melbourne last weekend, with team boss Eric Boullier saying the team could go even faster.

But the team's preparations were hit when Nick Heidfeld and Petrov both retired from the session in spectacular fashion because of brake problems.

Heidfeld had to nurse his Renault back to the pits after the brakes jammed on his front right wheel.

BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz watched as the car was surrounded by mechanics as it returned to the pits.

"There is a nice burning brakes smell and a lot of brake dust," commented Kravitz. "He has also made a right mess of the floor."

Things got worse for Renault when Petrov ploughed his car into the gravel and reported on the team radio a brake and suspension problem.

McLaren arrived in Malaysia optimistic about their chances of challenging Red Bull at Sepang's fast and flowing circuit and Hamilton was the champion's closet rival, just as he was in Australia's opening race.

The gap to Vettel's pole position time was 0.8 secs in Melbourne, but the margin here between Hamilton and Webber's leading time of one minute 37.651seconds was more than double that.

Button, who won in Malaysia in 2009, complained that he was losing rear grip the more time the Pirelli tyres spent on track.

"This will be the story of the weekend, with the rear tyres sliding away time and time again," commented BBC Radio 5 live analyst Anthony Davidson.

Vettel did not show his hand in opening practice, with Davidson suspecting that Red Bull were running different fuel loads in each of their cars as they did race-preparation work.

Ferrari also chose not to focus on outright pace during first practice and instead ran through aerodynamic set-up work on a track where efficient downforce is critical to overall performance.

The Italian team, who said they were still trying to unlock the full potential of their 2011 car, spent the session swapping variants of front and rear wings.

Alonso, who ran off into the gravel late in the session but was able to return to the track, was almost three seconds off the pace, while his team-mate Felipe Massa fared much better in sixth.

After failing to qualify for the Australian Grand Prix under the re-introduced 107% rule, Hispania had also been confident of a more positive weekend in Malaysia.

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