Malaysian GP: Vettel wins, Red Bull double

Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber. The German managed to take the lead at the start by overtaking the Australian, who started on pole. Third place for Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), ahead of Robert Kubica (Renault), Sutil (Force India), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari). Fernando Alonso retired due to an engine failure in the middle of a duel with Jenson Button, eighth in the other McLaren. Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) and Hulkenberg (Williams) also scored points.
Michael Schumacher retired in the early stages due to a problem with his left rear wheel.

Although rain was the central theme of the weekend, the race was held on a dry track. Vettel made a great start, immediately overtaking Rosberg and passing Webber inside the first corner.

The two Red Bulls immediately got away from the Mercedes, remaining separated by about a second until the stops on laps 23 and 24, but Webber's chances of overtaking Vettel went up in smoke when a problem with the right front wheel gun caused him to lose 1,4 seconds to pitstop. Webber then found himself momentarily behind Hamilton, who had yet to stop for his pit stop, giving Vettel some breathing room. The German then took his Red Bull to the finish line taking his first victory of 2010.

Rosberg achieved a solid third place while Robert Kubica achieved an excellent fourth place again with Renault ahead of Sutil's Force India who managed to defend itself from Hamilton's attacks at the end. The Englishman was the author of the most aggressive comeback, returning close to the top ten in just seven laps, despite being warned by the race direction for one too many zigzags during the fight with Petrov. After his stop on lap 30, Hamilton found himself joined by Button and managed to stay ahead of his teammate, who stopped early on lap 10 and found himself fighting with the Ferraris.

Massa stopped on lap 28 after struggling behind the Toro Rossos while Alonso, behind his teammate, struggled with downshifting problems throughout the race. The Spaniard remained on the hard tires until lap 36 and with a series of fast laps on the soft tires he then returned to the race.

Massa managed to pass Button and get close to Sutil and Hamilton while Alonso remained behind Button for a long time. With two laps to go he attempted another attack but the engine of his Ferrari crashed with noticeable smoke. With Alonso's retirement, Massa finds himself alone at the top of the drivers' championship.

Technical problems also for Petrov, Liuzzi and the two Saubers: de la Rosa was unable to start due to an engine problem on the deployment lap.

Pos Driver Team Depth 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 4.8s 3. Rosberg Mercedes + 13.5s 4. Kubica Renault + 18.5s 5. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 21.0s 6. Hamilton McLaren- Mercedes + 23.4s 7. Massa Ferrari + 27.0s 8. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 37.9s 9. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1m10.6s 10. Hulkenberg Williams + 1m13.3s 11. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1m18.9s 12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 13. Alonso Ferrari + 2 laps 14. Di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth + 3 laps 15. Chandhok Hispania-Cosworth + 3 laps 16. Senna Hispania-Cosworth + 4 laps 17. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth + 5 laps DNF: Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 46 laps Petrov Renault 32 laps Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 12 laps Schumacher Mercedes 9 laps Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 8 laps Glock Virgin-Cosworth 2 laps De la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 0 laps World rankings after GP Malaysia 2010: Drivers: Constructors: 1. Massa 39 1. Ferrari 76 2. Vettel 37 2. McLaren-Mercedes 66 3. Alonso 37 3. Red Bull-Renault 61 4. Button 35 4. Mercedes 44 5. Rosberg 35 5 Renault 20 6. Hamilton 31 6. Force India-Mercedes 18 7. Kubica 30 7. Williams-Cosworth 6 8. Webber 24 8. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2 9. Sutil 10 10. Schumacher 9 11. Liuzzi 8 12. Barrichello 5 13. Alguersuari 2 14. Hulkenberg 1