Vettel continues winning run in Malaysia

In one of the most exciting races of the past seasons in F1, Sebastien Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit. The reigning world champion remained unbeaten in the current season as he stayed ahead of everyone during the whole race.

Vettel was never safe on top spot as he was always followed closely by the McLarens. Jenson Button ended up finishing in runner-up spot with a solid race, while team-mate Lewis Hamilton only managed seventh spot over tyre troubles.

Nick Heidfled closed the podium for Lotus Renault, who once again managed to put one of their men on three top spots. The German held off a final challenge from Mark Webber who had a difficult start to the afternoon.

The Ferraris of Massa and Alonso ended in Malaysia in fifth and sixth place. The Spaniard was driving in the front places, fighting with Hamilton for third place but he then damaged his front wing after shocking with Hamilton's car.

At the beggining of the race it seemed like Vettel was going to get an easy race at the front thanks to a brilliant start from both the Lotus Renault. They went at full speed, passing everyone in the starting line, with Heidfeld reaching second spot and Petrov fifth.

But against what might be expected, Heidfeld didn't lose too much time to Vettel, so the reigning World Champion just managed to have a seven seconds lead of his compatriot. With the stops, Heidfeld lost some positions and left the McLarens leading the pursuit to flying Red Bull, joined by Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton then started closing the gap on Vettel, with Alonso passing Button as he started to close in as well. At this moment Vettel seemed more vulnerable and he was also informed that he couldn't make anymore use of the KERS system. But although everyone thought this could be brought to advantage to the pursuers, Vettel started once again stretching his lead up to eight seconds.

Then it was time for Jenson Button to make his recovery. Starting by passing Alonso in the pitstops. He then went on to perform some superb fast laps, which allowed him to pass his team-mate Hamilton when the other McLaren pitted on lap 41.

While Button was getting closer to Vettel, Hamilton struggled with the final set of tyres. He started losing ground and Alonso caught him soon. Alonso was pushing to pass Hamilton, but then the Spaniard went a little bit to far and clipped the rear of the McLaren, damaging his front wing, which forced him to make an extra stop.

Hamilton disastrous ending to the race was just starting. He was first passed by Heidfeld on Turn 1 and then offered an overtake to Mark Webber as he slid off the road briefly. Just after that he made a fourth visit to the pits, then finishing in seventh position.

Vettel was able to control his advantage to Button until the end of the race, finishing 3.2 seconds ahead of the Brit, while Heidfeld managed to resist a final effort from Mark Webber to take by assault the last podium place.

Petrov who seemed set for a seventh spot finish offered everyone a wild moment in Sepang when slid off the road briefly. The Lotus Renault hit a deep and went flying over the track, braking its steering when it hit the ground.

With a two-stop strategy, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi managed to take eighth place after an exciting battle with Michael Schumacher, who finished ninth on another tough afternoon for Mercedes. Nico Rosberg fell down the order in lap 1 and was never able to recover, finishing 12th behind the Force Indias. Rookie Paul di Resta finished once again on the points, grabbing 10th position.

At the back Lotus managed to get closer to the midfield pace with Heikki Kovalainen finishing 15th, behind the two Toro Rossos. 

FASTEST LAP: Mark Webber - 1m40.571

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