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Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Malaysian GP

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Malaysian GP

If ever you doubt that Formula 1 is a sport where egos rule just come back and refer to this race, the 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix. It was won this evening by Red Bull ace Sebastian Vettel. On paper the results are nothing out of the ordinary but the three drivers on the podium may as well have been at a funeral such were the glum faces and all thanks to the dark shadows of team orders.

To tell the full story we need to go back to the start. Actually, make sure you’re sitting down for this next bit: Mark Webber (Red Bull) made a blinding start and from P5 was dicing with renowned fast starter Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) for P2 for most of the first lap.

Alonso’s part in this melodrama was short lived, he tapped Vettel on the entry to turn two and damaged his front wing. Sparks were flying from Alonso’s car and the wing gave up, falling off the car just as Webber overtook him on the main straight at the start of lap 2. With no front wing Alonso found himself in the kitty litter out the race and probably wondering why on earth he didn’t pit for a new wing at the end of the opening lap.

In the first stint Webber didn’t ever challenge Vettel for the lead but after the first round of pit stops, for a change, things went in Mark’s favour and he was leading the race.

It was a lead that Webber was able to maintain, as well. Although after exiting the pits following his final tyre change he had Vettel screaming behind his gearbox and had to fight hard to keep his teammate at bay. Yet, with 12 laps still to race history told us the outcome was inevitable, Vettel would pass, but when?

It didn’t take long and to be fair it was an epic fight between the two, with some spectacular wheel to wheel racing that would have kept the Red Bull management on the egdes of their seats. Finally, Vettel found extra grip and was able to get past Webber. Although, the noises from the team over the radio were less than encouraging for Vettel.

After the race the team added a caveat to its congratulations to Vettel, saying he would have some explaining to do. Webber was clearly unimpressed with Vettel and prior to emerging on the podium was heard asking Seb “Multi 21?” with a shrug of the shoulders. It’s now widely accepted that Multi 21 is Red Bull’s code for the drivers to conserve their cars and maintain position.

And so we come back to the dreaded team order debate in F1. It has since been revealed that after Mark emerged in the lead following the final pit stop that both Red Bull drivers, with a comfortable gap back to third place, were asked to turn down their engines, conserve their tyres and hold position. That is, all being equal Mark should have won the race.

On the one hand we applaud Vettel for being a racer to the end and taking the fight to Webber. But, really, for all Red Bull has done for Vettel, would it have killed him to follow the team’s wishes?

Speaking on the podium Mark made his feelings of displeasure known. “After the last stop the team told me the race was over and we turned the engine down to go to the end,” said Webber. “In the end Seb made his own decisions today and will have protection as usual, and that’s the way it goes.”

In post-race interviews Vettel has acknowledged his “mistake” and apologised to his teammate. “I took the lead from Mark, which I can see now he is upset about, but I want to be honest and stick to truth, and apologise,” said Vettel. “I took quite a lot of risk to pass him and I should have behaved better.”

Of course, this won’t be the last we hear of that little spat. In the interests of balance, we suggest those angry at Vettel’s decision to ignore his team’s wishes remind themselves of Mark’s drive in the 2011 British Grand Prix.

Which brings us to the other glum face on the podium, that of Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG). Normally Lewis would be pretty happy with a podium finish, but in a second case of team orders for the race, he probably should have ended up fourth with teammate Nico Rosberg standing on the third step. Hamilton was ordered to conserve fuel which kept Rosberg behind him who asked the team if he could pass. Ross Brawn said no.

In the end Hamilton admitted he was a little embarrassed to be on the podium and that Rosberg should have been there. Although, perhaps Hamilton will be more red-faced about his first tyre stop when he drove into the McLaren pit before being waved away. He’s just lucky the Mercedes bay was not already behind him!

We’re not entirely sure what happened to Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) but after qualifying ahead of teammate Jean-Eric Vergne and spending a fair part of the race ahead of him he ended up being the last of the classified finishers in P18 some five laps behind Vettel. Vergne finished tenth and claimed the first championship point of the year for Toro Rosso.

2013 Malaysian Grand Prix final placings

  1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 56 Laps (25pts)
  2. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – +4.2 secs (18pts)
  3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – +12.1 secs (15pts)
  4. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – +12.6 secs (12pts)
  5. Felipe Massa Ferrari – +25.6 secs (10pts)
  6. Romain Grosjean Lotus – +35.5 secs (8pts)
  7. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – +48.4 secs (6pts)
  8. Nico Hulkenberg Sauber – +53.0 secs (4pts)
  9. Sergio Perez McLaren – +72.3 sec (2pts)
  10. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso – +87.1 secs (1pt)
  11. Valtteri Bottas Williams – +88.6 secs
  12. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber – +1 Lap
  13. Jules Bianchi Marussia – +1 Lap
  14. Charles Pic Caterham – +1 Lap
  15. Giedo van der Garde Caterham – +1 Lap
  16. Max Chilton Marussia – +2 Laps
  17. Jenson Button McLaren – +3 Laps
  18. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso – +5 Laps

Retired/not classified
Pastor Maldonado Williams – +11 Laps
Adrian Sutil Force India – +29 Laps
Paul di Resta Force India – +34 Laps
Fernando Alonso Ferrari – Lap 1 Accident

Fastest lap
Sergio Perez McLaren – 1:39.199 (Lap 56)

2013 F1 world championship – Drivers (top 10)

  1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing – 40
  2. Kimi Räikkönen Lotus – 31
  3. Mark Webber Red Bull Racing – 26
  4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG – 25
  5. Felipe Massa Ferrari – 22
  6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari – 18
  7. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG – 12
  8. Romain Grosjean Lotus – 9
  9. Adrian Sutil Force India – 6
  10. Paul di Resta Force India – 4

2013 F1 world championship – Constructors

  1. Red Bull Racing-Renault – 66
  2. Lotus-Renault – 40
  3. Ferrari – 40
  4. Mercedes – 37
  5. Force India-Mercedes – 10
  6. Sauber-Ferrari – 4
  7. McLaren-Mercedes 4
  8. STR-Ferrari – 1

11 replies on “Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Malaysian GP”

Here’s the updates from Toro Rosso explaining what happened to Daniel Ricciardo:

“Daniel compromised his race before the start as he was one of the many to go off on the warm-up lap on the way to the grid – did we mention it was raining? Of course it was as we’re pretty much on the Equator here. But the rain was just a passing phase, enough to ensure that everyone started on Intermediate tyres and then had to make the difficult decision regarding when was the best moment to switch to the slick Mediums – too early and you risk losing time at best or crashing at worst, or too late and you’re just too slow. The Toro Rosso pit wall got it pretty much spot on with both our cars. But back to Daniel for a moment: that off-track excursion involved a pretty hard landing in the gravel trap at Turn 3 which meant he did the whole race with a damaged floor. That played a part in the fact he struggled to run at a good pace and might also have had something to do with the exhaust problem which meant the team decided to retire him as he lost ground, with just a few laps remaining.”

And comments from Daniel:

Daniel Ricciardo (STR8-01) Race position: 18th
“I compromised my race even before the start when the conditions were very slippery, aquaplaning off at Turn 3. I managed to keep going, but I went across the gravel quite fast and damaged the floor. That probably played a part in my problem at the end. I got a reasonable start and made up a few places and was pretty pleased with the first couple of laps. But I did not have the pace to keep the Lotuses behind me and stay in the top ten, even though the switch to dry tyres was well timed. Like I said, I think the damage on that opening lap affected my overall performance all race long.”

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