Malaysian GP team-by-team roundup

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MARCH 25: Sergio Perez of Mexico and Sauber F1 celebrates on the podium after finishing second during the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit on March 25, 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MARCH 25: Sergio Perez of Mexico and Sauber F1 celebrates on the podium after finishing second during the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit on March 25, 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Published Mar 26, 2012

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Team-by-team analysis of Sunday's Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix at Sepang (listed in championship order):

McLAREN(Lewis Hamilton 3, Jenson Button 14)

Hamilton started from pole for the second race in succession and led until the red flag. He lost the lead in the pits when he had to wait for traffic to clear before being released. It was still his second podium in a row. Button accepted the blame for running into Karthikeyan's HRT which smashed his front wing.

RED BULL(Mark Webber 4, Sebastian Vettel 11)

Red Bull failed to make the podium for the first time since Abu Dhabi last November. Webber is now six points clear of Vettel. The German was running fourth when he tangled with Karthikeyan and suffered a rear puncture and damage to the rear brake duct. He was ordered to stop on the last lap but did not hear the command due to a faulty radio and made it to the end.

FERRARI(Fernando Alonso 1, Felipe Massa 15)

Alonso gave Ferrari some respite with a fine win in a car that had been uncompetitive in Australia. It was his 28th career victory, lifting him to fifth in the all-time list of winners and ahead of Jackie Stewart. He is also leading the Drivers' standings. Another poor afternoon for Massa, who suffered heavy tyre degradation. Ferrari have now won at least one race for 19 years in a row. Alonso has won three times in Malaysia.

SAUBER(Sergio Perez 2, Kamui Kobayashi retired)

Perez, starting ninth, became the first Mexican on the podium for 41 years and nearly the first winner from his country since Pedro Rodriguez in 1970. He could claim the drive of the day with Sauber's best result as a non-manufacturer team (they won in Canada with BMW and Robert Kubica in 2008). Kobayashi retired after 47 laps with brake problems.

LOTUS(Kimi Raikkonen 5, Romain Grosjean retired)

Grosjean tangled with Schumacher in the first part of the race before the red flag and retired for the second race running. Raikkonen set the fastest lap of the race and went from 10th, after a five-place grid penalty, to finish fifth.

FORCE INDIA(Paul Di Resta 7, Nico Hulkenberg 9)

A double points finish for the team even though Di Resta and Maldonado collided just before the red flag, costing the Scot three places. Hulkenberg said the conditions were some of the worst he had experienced in F1.

WILLIAMS(Bruno Senna 6, Pastor Maldonado 19)

Senna scored more points in an afternoon than Williams managed in all of last year. A great drive through the field after being 23rd and last at the re-start following a first-lap incident which forced him to pit for a new front wing. Maldonado retired with a smoking engine while 10th on lap 55. He also had to make an additional stop after missing the box on lap 14.

TORO ROSSO(Jean-Eric Vergne 8, Daniel Ricciardo 12)

Vergne scored his first points in F1 from 18th on the grid. Ricciardo lost places at the start.

MERCEDES(Michael Schumacher 10, Nico Rosberg 13)

Schumacher started third on the grid, his best placing since he began his comeback in 2010 but scant reward again for his team. The German spun on the opening lap which dropped him to 16th. Both drivers struggled to get the best from their tyres. They were strong in qualifying but not in the race.

MARUSSIA(Timo Glock 17, Charles Pic 20)

A second double finish in two races but still a long way from any first point.

CATERHAM(Vitaly Petrov 16, Heikki Kovalainen 18)

Kovalainen started with a five-place grid penalty carried over from Melbourne. The Finn also needed a new front wing after going off the track.

HISPANIA(Pedro De la Rosa 21, Narain Karthikeyan 22)

De la Rosa had to start from the pit lane due to a fuel pressure problem. Both cars started on extreme wets, which meant Karthikeyan was running 10th at the red flag. De la Rosa was given a drive through penalty after the re-start. - Reuters

MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS

1. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari - 2:44:51.812

2. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber-Ferrari +00:02.263

3. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren +00:14.591

4. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull-Renault +00:17.688

5. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Lotus-Renault +00:29.456

6. Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams-Renault +00:37.667

7. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India-Mercedes +00:44.412

8. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso-Ferrari +00:46.985

9. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India-Mercedes +00:47.892

10. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Mercedes +00:49.996

11. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull-Renault +01:15.527

12. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Toro Rosso-Ferrari +01:16.828

13. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes +01:18.593

14. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren +01:19.719

15. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari +01:37.319

16. Vitaly Petrov (Russia) Caterham-Renault +1 lap

17. Timo Glock (Germany) Marussia-Cosworth +1 lap

18. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Caterham-Renault +1 lap

19r. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Williams-Renault +2 laps

20. Charles Pic (France) Marussia-Cosworth +2 laps

21. Pedro de la Rosa (Spain) HRT-Cosworth +2 laps

22. Narain Karthikeyan (India) HRT-Cosworth +2 laps

R. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber-Ferrari +10 laps

R Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus-Renault +53 laps

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - TOP 10

1. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari - 35 points

2. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren - 30

3. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren - 25

4. Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull - 24

5. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Sauber - 22

6. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull - 18

7. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Renault - 16

8. Bruno Senna (Brazil) Williams - 8

9. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Sauber - 8

10. Paul Di Resta (Britain) Force India - 7

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