Hamilton wins Malaysian Grand Prix in Mercedes one-two

SEPANG - Briton's Lewis Hamilton won the Malaysian Grand Prix with a pole-to-flag victory ahead of Nico Rosberg on Sunday in a first Mercedes one-two since they returned to Formula One as a works team in 2010.

The 2008 Formula One world champion easily pulled away from his rivals on a dry track with a three-stop strategy to win the race by 17.3 seconds, his 23rd career victory and first in Malaysia at the eighth attempt.

"Incredibly happy, it's my eighth year here [at Sepang] and finally I got that win," the Briton told reporters after taking the checkered flag for his second win for Mercedes since he joined them last year and first points of the season.

"Its quite special to get a one-two, I haven't had many in my career, so that makes it even more special. A great day," added the former McLaren driver.

Rosberg, who won the season opener in Australia two weeks ago, started in third place but squeezed past quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel into the first corner and was able to keep the Red Bull at bay and stay top of the driver standings.

It was Mercedes' first one-two since 1955, their last year as a works team before 2010.

Rosberg almost touched the wall as he took Vettel at the start and struggled to manage his rear tires in the early stages as the two Germans remained close before the Mercedes driver pulled away over the closing laps.

The second place finish moved him on to 43 points in the standings, 18 clear of Hamilton with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso third on 24 points after his second fourth of the season.

Mercedes took the lead from McLaren in the constructors' standings.

"I had a really good start.. got away well and I thought Sebastian was going to put me into the wall but he stopped just before so thank-you for that," Rosberg said.

"My heart skipped a beat a little bit but it was OK. I was trying to chase Lewis but he was a bit too quick today."

Vettel third

Vettel finished third, 7.2 seconds behind Rosberg, for his first points of the season following an early retirement in Australia as he struggled to make an impact on the Mercedes pair without the rain that helped his qualifying bid on Saturday.

Having endured a tricky time during offseason testing, Vettel was delighted to make the podium.

"Congratulations to them, they are bloody quick, the package they have is very, very strong," Vettel told reporters.

"For us there is mostly positives. It's much better than what we expected during the winter."

Alonso was involved in a tight battle with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg in the closing stages before finally overtaking the German, although he will be disappointed that once again the Ferrari looked well short of challenging the Mercedes duo.

McLaren's Jenson Button was sixth with Felipe Massa of Williams seventh just ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas after the Brazilian refused to yield to his Finnish teammate despite team orders to do so.

The row, at a circuit where team orders blew up into a major controversy last season at both Red Bull and Mercedes, threatened to cause friction for the coming races between the new teammates.

McLaren's Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen and Toro Rosso's Russian newcomer Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top 10 of a race that suffered just a couple of light drops of rain despite concerns about possible thunderstorms.

Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who was disqualified in Australia pending an appeal, missed out on points for the second race in a row after a disastrous third pit stop when he was in fourth.

The Australian pulled away before his front left wheel was fully attached with engineers sprinting down the pitlane to push him back and fix the issue.

Ricciardo was then given a 10 second penalty for the unsafe release but his chances of points were already over after he shredded a tire and damaged a wing shortly before the stewards' decision and he retired before the end.

"Deep down I'm really disappointed but at the same time there's a little bit in me which is happy because I think I've come out how I wanted to," the Australian said of his start to the season.

"I still want to improve but we've started off on the right foot. So for that I'm pleased. I know a little bit of luck will turn around soon and I'll get my revenge and get some points."  - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

Hamilton on pole for Malaysian GP

SEPANG - Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton made it two poles in two races after emerging unscathed from an incident-packed and rain-hit Malaysian Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.

The Briton saw off Red Bull's quadruple Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel by 0.055 of a second in a session with two red flags, grid penalties, a 50 minute rain delay and more downpours throughout that left drivers struggling for visibility.

The pole was the 33rd of Hamilton's career, equalling the British record held by the late Jim Clark since 1964, and was secured in a time of one minute 59.431 seconds.

"I'm really happy with how well we've done over the weekend, but today was incredible, how heavy was the rain?" Hamilton told reporters.

"It was tricky out there for everyone because at the end it was almost impossible to see. I couldn't see where the track went, where the corners were, where to break.

"I had to bail out of my final fast lap, so it was very close."

Vettel's lap was an impressive turnaround for the German, who retired in Melbourne two weeks ago, after he was called back to the pits after only three laps of the first phase of qualifying with an energy store problem.

The champion re-emerged after a reset of the system and became progressively competitive as the rain grew stronger and felt he could have taken pole had he been able to get in another lap in the final 15 minute session.

"At the beginning of Q1 [the first phase, the heartbeat was rising very quickly when we realized there was an issue," Vettel said.

"Q3 was not perfect. I would have loved to have a second go. My first attempt, I felt there was time to gain here and there.

"It was very close, too close. I should be on the good side for tomorrow but it depends on how good the start is. I'm happy with the result."

Rosberg starts third
Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg, winner in Australia, will start from third place with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso joining him on the second row despite an earlier collision with Russian rookie Daniil Kvyat's Toro Rosso that required hurried repairs.

Alonso was on the outside and turned into Kvyat with the incident reviewed by stewards, who opted against any penalty.

"I didn't see him coming, Obviously it was a little bit of an aggressive move on the out-lap with that sort of visibility," the double world champion Spaniard said.

Force India's Nico Hulkenburg finished seventh with McLaren's Kevin Magnussen eighth as he and his team chopped and changed with intermediate and wet tires throughout as they struggled to second guess the weather.

Toro Rosso driver Jean-Eric Vergne and McLaren's Jenson Button rounded out the top 10 with Williams once again struggling despite some promising pre-season tests.

Felipe Massa will start in 13th while Valtteri Bottas finished 15th but was demoted three places after stewards deemed the Finn blocked Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified fifth, on a flying lap.

"He was on his out-lap. I'll have a word with him," said the Australian driver, who was disqualified after finishing second in Melbourne because of a fuel flow issue.

Lotus's woes continued with Romain Grosjean complaining about his car after qualifying 15th, while teammate Pastor Maldonado failed to make it out of the first phase and will start in 17th.

The first phase of qualifying ended 30 seconds early after Swede Marcus Ericsson lost control of his Caterham, hit the wall before flying back across the track leaving debris and almost hitting Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber. - Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com