So assured was their race, they barely featured in the television coverage. Not much was seen either of third-placed Nico Rosberg, who had a lonely run but managed to secure a first podium for Mercedes GP. That was in contrast to his team mate Michael Schumacher, who had to retire on lap eight after his car encountered rear suspension problems. His disappointing results continue, then.
As expected, most of the action centred on the McLarens and Ferraris as they fought their way through the field following disastrous qualifying sessions. Most impressive were Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, who both made up fourteen places to finish sixth and seventh respectively.
Hamilton might have finished even further up the order, but after the pit stops he just couldn’t pass Adrian Sutil. Despite the trick vent system on the McLaren, which is designed to increase top speed by limiting air flow to the rear wing, Sutil in his similarly-engined Force India was able to keep Hamilton at bay, even on the long straights of Sepang.
Massa’s consistency meanwhile means he now leads the drivers’ championship. The new points system is making things very close as, going into the Chinese round in two weeks, only nine points separate the top seven drivers.
Championship standings after the Malaysian Grand Prix:
Driver / Team / Points
1 Felipe Massa / Ferrari / 39
2 Fernando Alonso / Ferrari / 37
3 Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull-Renault / 37
4 Jenson Button / McLaren-Mercedes / 35
5 Nico Rosberg / Mercedes GP / 35
6 Lewis Hamilton / McLaren-Mercedes / 31
7 Robert Kubica / Renault / 30
8 Mark Webber / Red Bull-Renault / 24
9 Adrian Sutil / Force India-Mercedes / 10
10 Michael Schumacher / Mercedes GP / 9
11 Vitantonio Liuzzi / Force India-Mercedes / 8
12 Rubens Barrichello / Williams-Cosworth / 5
13 Jaime Alguersuari / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / 2
14 Nico Hulkenberg / Williams-Cosworth / 1
15 Sebastien Buemi / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / 0
16 Pedro de la Rosa / BMW Sauber-Ferrari / 0
17 Heikki Kovalainen / Lotus-Cosworth / 0
18 Karun Chandhok / Hispania-Cosworth / 0
19 Lucas di Grassi / Virgin-Cosworth / 0
20 Bruno Senna / Hispania-Cosworth / 0
21 Jarno Trulli / Lotus-Cosworth / 0
22 Timo Glock / Virgin-Cosworth / 0
23 Vitaly Petrov / Renault / 0
24 Kamui Kobayashi / BMW Sauber-Ferrari / 0
