Another Faultless Race From Vettel

Sebastian Vettel made it back-to-back wins in 2011 as he eased to victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix

The World Champion had another faultless race from start to finish. He was followed over the finish line by McLaren's Jenson Button while Renault grabbed their second podium of the season through Nick Heidfeld.

While Vettel had a clean start, it was bit chaotic behind him and his team-mate Mark Webber was the biggest loser with Heidfeld the big winner. The Aussie, who reported a KERS problem before the start of the race, could do nothing as cars streamed past him. The end result was Heidfeld moving into P2 and he was followed by the two McLarens, Vitaly Petrov and the two Ferraris. Webber found himself stuck behind Michael Schumacher who was P8.

Rain was predicted for the race but when it started to fall after eight laps it wasn't enough to trouble the drivers. Webber made the first move and the rest followed suit. McLaren were the ones smiling after the first stops as both Lewis Hamilton and Button managed to get ahead of Heidfeld for P2 and P3 respectively.

With Vettel cruising at the front, the battles between Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Webber and Heidfeld were always going to be the main attraction and they didn't disappoint. All of them had a proper goes and there were plenty of overtaking moves from just about everyone down the field.

Pit stops were again crucial role as most of the front-runners opted for three stops and the third-round of stops proved to be the important ones for McLaren as Button pipped his team-mate to P2 after Hamilton had problems with the front-left tyre.

With Hamilton struggling, Alonso soon found himself right on the McLaren driver's tail. Hamilton though held firm and forced a mistake from his Ferrari counterpart. Alonso lost patience and drove into the back of Hamilton. Both drivers were forced to stop again and they slumped to sixth and seventh.

At front Vettel cruised home and he was followed by Button. Heidfeld managed to hold off Webber while Massa finished ahead of his team-mate in fifth.

Results

01. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1h37:39.832
02. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 3.261
03. Heidfeld Renault + 25.075
04. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 26.384
05. Massa Ferrari + 36.958
06. Alonso Ferrari + 37.248
07. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 49.957
08. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 1:07.239
09. 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

Not classified/retirements:

Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 47
D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 43
Trulli Lotus-Renault 32
Perez Sauber-Ferrari 24
Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 23
Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 15
Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 9

Source: Planet-F1