VETTEL, WEBBER GRAB 1-2 WIN FOR RED BULL RACING IN M'SIAN GRAND PRIX

SEPANG (Malaysia), April 4 (Bernama) -- After an outstanding performance in
Saturday's qualifying round, the Red Bull Racing drivers clinched a 1-2 finish
at the 2010 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix, here Sunday.

Sebastian Vettel of Germany, 22, clocked one hour 33 minutes and 48.412 seconds,
ahead of his team-mate, Australia’s Mark Webber who finished in second place
with a time of 1:33:53.261s.

Third was Germany’s Nico Rosberg of Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team with
1:34:01.916s, 13.504s behind the leader.

"We both try to push and we knew that we were fighting and we had to fight for
ourselves. If Mark had been in my position, I'm quite sure he could have done
the same.

"It was extremely hot here and I didn't stop sweating and fortunately I did not
run out of water to drink in the car. At some stage, I was hoping for rain to
have a bit of cool down.

"Obviously, we have a magnificent car...and at the end of the day a good result
for us. Especially after two races, we didn't finish the way we wanted," said
Vettel in the post-race press conference.

It was third time lucky for the German after mechanical failures robbed him of
victory in the opening two races of the season.

Vettel snatched the lead at the start from his Australian team mate, and apart
from the time when McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton ran second for a while before his
tyre stop, they were never seriously challenged.

Pole sitter Webber stayed close to Vettel until the stops, but lost
two-and-a-half seconds on his tyre stop because of a wheel-gun problem but finally
finished 4.8 seconds behind Vettel.

"I had a little bit of wheel spin. It was a good fight between Vettel and I. Our
fighting spirit was very high. He (Vettel) did a very good job and sealed
victory," said Webber.

Meanwhile Rosberg was Mercedes GP Petronas' sole finisher after seven-time
world champion, Michael Schumacher retired early due to technical problem.

"It was a fantastic result for us today and I am quite pleased with it. I knew
it is difficult to follow the Red Bull's. My start didn't go that well today as
I had a bit too much wheel spin and once I was in third place, I knew it would
be difficult to follow the leading cars.

"I struggled a little with the options in the first stint which allowed Robert
(Kubica) to stay quite close but once we switched to the primes, I felt really
comfortable and we could manage the race home to third place," said Rosberg.

Renault's Robert Kubica followed up last week's second place in Melbourne with
another strong showing in fourth, ahead of Adrian Sutil's Force India.

The McLarens and Ferraris, who started on the back four rows of the grid,
managed to move themselves behind the leader in a dramatic overtaking among the
drivers.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa followed McLaren's Lewis Hamilton through the field to
finish in seventh place from 21st on the grid and take the lead in the
championship from team mate Fernando Alonso, who failed to finish.

While 2009 World Champion, Jenson Button crossed the finishing line in eighth
position after a close battle with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso until the Spaniard
retired on the penultimate lap.

After Sepang, the race will move to Shanghai, China for the 2010 Formula 1
Chinese Grand Prix.
-- BERNAMA