Sebastian Vettel

There may have been five former champions competing on the track at the start of the 2011 F1 Championship but it is the most recent and the youngest one that seems to be stealing all the limelight after two races into the season. Sebastian Vettel, after winning at Melbourne, extended his victorious streak with a comprehensive drive at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

It didn’t need the forecasted rain to make this a dramatic race which was dominated by innumerable pit-stops and spectacular crashes. However that had no effect on Vettel who led from start to finish barring the two laps succeeding his pit-stops, who finished three seconds ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button. Nick Heidfeld had a fantastic race to take the final podium spot. Lewis Hamilton was in contention throughout the race but DRS failure at one stage ensured he could finish only seventh behind Fernando Alonso, who rammed into him at one stage in the race. Felipe Massa finished fifth in the other Ferrari while Mark Webber fought back from a forgetful opening lap and four pit-stops to finish fourth just behind the Renault of Heidfeld.

Vitaly had looked to get a few points for Renault before he hit a kerb that propelled him into the air as the car spectacularly crash-landed before he hit the advertising hoardings. Fortunately he came out unhurt but his race was over! Kamui Kobayashi’s Sauber finished in eighth place ahead of seven time World Champion Michael Schumacher while Force India’s Paula Di Resta finished tenth to take home the last scoring points. It was the second successive race where the rookie Scot finished ahead of his teammate Adrian Sutil while Nico Rosberg finished twelfth. Buemi, Alguersari, Kovalinen and Glock were the other finishers while Jarno Trulli and Barrichello were amongst those who retired.

Vettel has now won five of the last six races stretching into the last season and has a maximum of 50 points from the first two races while Button moved into second place with 26 points followed by Hamilton and Webber on 24 and 22 points. The 2011 season may have just started but Vettel is surely looking the man to beat already!

Tags: 2011 F1 Championship, F1, Formula 1, Malaysian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel