F1 Malaysia Grand Prix: Unexpected Surprise As Sebastian Vettel Takes 1st Place
Infiniti Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has won the second grand prix of the year in Sepang, not too anyone's surprise, however the talking points were the team orders prevalent in the top four. First the team orders that were ignored. With Webber leading going into the final quarter of the race the drivers were told to maintain their positions with Vettel in second place, however on lap 46 the German snuck through and everything after that, they say, is history. The "conflict" started earlier in the race when Vettel radioed the team to allow him to overtake the Australian because he was going "too slow." The result was Webber pulling more than one second clear and Vettel becoming a deer in the headlights to the approaching Mercedes of both Hamilton and Rosberg. Speaking about the incident after the race, Red Bull boss Christian Horner believed that last years champion deliberately ignored team orders and would not have handed the place back even if he had been asked to by the team. Now on to the team orders that were argued, which involved the Mercedes pairing of Rosberg and Hamilton. The drivers, who finished third and fourth respectively, were told to hold stations much the same as the Red Bulls. However, problems started when Nico jumped on the radio and told team boss Ross Brawn that Hamilton was going far too slowly and could he please overtake him sir? The answer came back as a more diplomatic version of: "Shut up and keep driving behind your damn team mate." The end result was the clearly faster and tactically smarter driver was denied a podium finish. Speaking at the FIA post race press conference, the former McLaren driver said: "I dont feel spectacular sitting here. Obviously I think Nico deserved to be where I am right now but obviously the team thought that, I guess, with the position in the Championship perhaps it was logical to stay in the positions we were in. But I have to say a big congratulations to Nico because he drove a much smarter and much more controlled race than I did today." That wasn't the only notable incident that occurred to the 2008 Champion during the race, just before his first pit stop he decided the mechanics at McLaren should have a bit of a closer look at his new car as he drove through their pit before pulling into the correct pit box. Sticking with McLaren, while the car is showing great signs of improvement following the disappointment down under it seems to be that last years pit stop fragility still remains. Jenson Button, pitting from fifth, ended up losing a staggering amount of time after he was released from his pit box without the front right wheel attaching properly. The end result was coming back out in 14th place before retiring a few laps later with what was later revealed as serious tyre vibrations. One man who failed to make any impact on the race was the Ferrari number one Fernando Alonso. After gently colliding with the rear end of Sebastian Vettel's RB8 after just two corners, Alonso's front wing collapsed a few laps later sending him - and a points finish - into the gravel trap. The effect of all this on the standings after two rounds shows Vettel now has a nine point lead over Kimi Raikkonen who has 31 points with Mark Webber five points further back. Red Bull head the constructors championship on 66 points and, after a 3-4 finish, Mercedes are fourth with 37 points.