Race: Red Bull back in business

This Sunday was the Malaysian Grand Prix, which, surprisingly, did not see a single drop of rain fall on the Sepang track, contrary to the expectations of several teams.

At the first corner, Vettel takes the lead, which he will not relinquish from that moment on. Behind him, Webber, who will only lose sight of him during the tire change, followed by Rosberg and Kubica.

As for the 4 McLaren and Ferrari drivers at the back of the pack, they get off to a good start, particularly Hamilton who will move up quite quickly, but Massa will be stuck behind Buemi’s Toro Rosso, slowing the progress of the second Ferrari driver.

The McLaren driver encounters his first difficulty in his climb up the ranks in the form of Petrov, the second Renault driver, who, after making an error, manages to overtake the 2008 world champion again. The latter, after a few laps and thanks to the speed gained through McLaren’s new system (note: an air conduction system that allows for several km/h gain on the straight), manages to overtake him – but is later warned with a Black and White flag – after some zig-zags in front of Petrov to prevent him from slipstreaming: a repeatedly forbidden action.

While Button was attempting the Melbourne gamble again by switching to hard tires very early in the Grand Prix, the Kaiser Michael Schumacher suffered a problem with his rear wheel, forcing him to retire.

At Ferrari, Alonso is a victim of electronic failures that handicap him during low-speed gear changes, behind a slow-paced Massa, who has been suffering from understeer since the beginning of the weekend.

Petrov, a little further behind, will face the two Toro Rossos, including Alguersuari, who seems to have learned from his struggle with his elder last week, and the Russian driver will retire with a mechanical problem shortly after, following a very good start to the race.

Another battle begins for the 3rd place, this time remotely between Kubica and Rosberg, involving the mechanics. They set speed records in the pits, allowing the Mercedes driver to maintain 3rd place, ahead of the Polish driver who finished second last week.

In the meantime, Hamilton positioned himself between the two Red Bulls that had made their pit stops. He will also change tires, allowing him to gain two seconds per lap on his opponents, just like Massa, who seems to be back on top, and Webber. Kubica, worried about the English driver’s comeback, raises the pace to challenge for the 3rd place held by Rosberg, unsuccessfully, but will be shielded by Sutil, who will block Hamilton for the rest of the race.

Alonso, meanwhile, launched an attack on Button, who had been overtaken by Massa following a minor mistake, and after a final attempt to overtake, his problem proved fatal and he abandoned his car on the side, unable to continue the Grand Prix, depriving him of valuable points.

This abandonment benefits Alguersuari and Hülkenberg who score their first points.

Red Bull returns to the forefront with a one-two finish that brings in many points, and a 3rd place for Mercedes with Nico Rosberg who climbs onto the podium for the third time.

The Brazilian Felipe Massa (39 points) therefore takes the lead in the standings, closely followed by Alonso and Vettel at 2 points, not forgetting Button and Rosberg, 4 points behind the Brazilian.

On the constructors’ side, Ferrari (76 points) remains in the lead with a 10-point advantage over McLaren (66), and 15 over Red Bull (61). Mercedes and Renault are further behind with 44 and 30 points respectively.

Results of the race – Malaysian GP – Sunday, April 4, 2009: