Vettel wins in Malaysiaposted in F110 | 04 | 2011
BATHGATE'S PAUL DI RESTA scored his second consecutive world championship point when he finished 10th in today's Malaysia Grand Prix, but it was Sebastien Vettel who again dominated the race.
The current world champ led from start-to-finish in his Red Bull to claim back-to-back victories after winning the opener in Melbourne a fortnight ago. The German, whose was the 12th of his career, back-off over the closing laps to finish 3.261secs ahead of Jenson Button's McLaren.
And while the Renault of Nick Heidfeld was third, there was frustration for Red Bull's Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren. The Englishman had looked on-course for third place but was forced to pit after Fernando Alonso ran into the back of his car with just 10 remaining ; the incident also forced the Spaniard — who eventually finished sixth, one place ahead of Hamilton at the chequered flag — to pit for a new nose cone.
But both drivers were hit with a 20-second post-race penalty, Alonso for hitting Hamilton's McLaren, and the Englishman for making more than one move as he tried to stopped the Ferrari driver overtaking. While Alonso held on to sixth, Hamilton dropped to eighth.
Webber meanwhile struggled throughout the race after the KERS system on his car meaning his Red Bull was essentially 80bhp down on his rivals for the whole 56 laps; he also did four pitstops to the three of the podium finishers. Team-mate Vettel, already 24 points ahead in the title race, though was chuffed at the end.
"I think first of all, we can be happy today, enjoy it and try to take that momentum into the next race," said Vettel (pictured). "Two races, two out of two. Perfect. It could not be any better, but there is a long, long way to go. Lots of points still to get, so we have to keep our feet on the ground.
"Things are looking good and if that is the reward then it's no problem putting harder work in. Tomorrow China starts and we'll see how we get on there."
And Vettel, like Webber, was forced to race without KERS for a significant part of the event after the system hit problems.
"Obviously it was not according to plan. Then KERS came back, so it was on and off during the race. It is something we have to work on. Today, without KERS the start would have been in a different position. It gave us what we needed. We had a little problem, so we turned it off and then it went back on.
"Coming here, reacting the way we did, we can be proud of ourselves, we cannot stop pushing, we have seen how close it is, much closer than Australia.
"So we have to keep our heads cool. I am not worried, the guys know this is the only way forward. For today we can all enjoy and then be very proud."
Button's progress — he started fourth on the grid — he put down to his careful management of the Pirelli tyres; but the former world champ also admitted to being confused by the strategy his team operated.
"It was a really confusing race in a way, understanding — or trying to understand — the pitstops and whether it is worth looking after the tyres or not, so pretty tricky," he explained.
"I had the team telling me to back it off and look after the tyres. In the racer's mind you want to push and catch the leader even though you know it is not on, but it's great to get second and 18 points.
"We have made some good progress. I'm looking forward to China. We can be excited and hopefully we can challenge Red Bull." But his team-mate Hamilton was far from impressed by the afternoon's events.
"I think through the race my tyres went off," Hamilton, who ran much of the race in second before the final round of pitstops when he dropped behind Button, explained. "We pitted too early, then we had to pit earlier, all the time we were pitting before everyone and my tyres were just finished at the end.
"It's one of those days and you have to take it on the chin and move on. This is racing, I guess. I started second and did everything I could to keep up, and I don't really have much to say."
Di Resta meanwhile delivered another mature drive to finish 10th, only losing ninth place to Michael Schumacher's Mercedes two laps from the end as the Pirelli tyres on his Force India went off. The Scot's team-mate Adrian Sutil finished 11th, 14secs behind Di Resta.
Malaysian Grand Prix — Result:
1. Vettel, Red Bull-Renault 1h37:39.832;
2. Button, McLaren-Mercedes +3.261;
3. Heidfeld, Renault +25.075;
4. Webber, Red Bull-Renault +26.384;
5. Massa, Ferrari +36.958;
6. Alonso, Ferrari + 57.248;
7. Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari +1:07.239;
8. Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes +1:09.957;
9. Schumacher, Mercedes +1:24.896;
10. Di Resta, Force India-Mercedes +1:31.563;
11. Sutil, Force India-Mercedes +1:45.000;
12. Rosberg, Mercedes +1 lap;
13. Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap;
14. Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari +1 lap;
15. Kovalainen, Lotus-Renault +1 lap;
16. Glock, Virgin-Cosworth +2 laps;
17. Petrov, Renault +4 laps.
CLICK HERE to see photographs of Paul di Resta in today's race.
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Jim McGill
Photo: Getty Images