Off the line it was the same story for Webber who saw most of the pack of cars pass him as he got bogged down at the start with a failed KERS  system, while Vettel made a text book start to the race ensuring a clear track ahead entering turn one.

It was the Lotus-Renault’s of Nick Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov that immediately impressed as the red lights went out at the start of the race, Heidfeld going the long way round both McLaren’s in an extraordinary move at turn one to grab second place, while Petrov’s heroics in the same corner put him into fifth place.

With rain threatening to liven up an already exciting race the first round of pit stops saw Heidfeld get jumped by both McLaren’s and the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso, dropping to fifth in the proceedings.

Hamilton began making inroads into Vettel’s lead while Alonso mounted a charge, passing Button with both drivers pulling a substantial lead on Heidfeld.

It was all change again following the second round of pit stops with Button moving back past Alonso and mounting pressure on his team mate Hamilton in a fight for second place.

Hamilton’s pursuit of a podium place was fast disappearing after his third stop for tyres, the harder compound rubber causing all sorts of problems for the Brit and the faster Ferrari of Alonso looming large in his mirrors.

With Hamilton clearly struggling for grip Alonso tucked the Ferrari close in behind the McLaren but was unable to haul his car out of the slipstream quick enough to pass, and caught the rear tyre of his former team mate damaging his own front wing.

With Alonso needing to pit for a new nose cone Heidfeld, Massa and Webber mounted their own final charges on Hamilton who by now was easy meat for the baying pack.

A wonderful overtake on Hamilton with five laps remaining took Heidfeld into third with Webber breathing down the German’s neck as he appeared to at last find some pace in the car with his final set of tyres.

Sebastian Vettel finished another flawless race in first place followed home by Jenson Button and the final podium place going to a richly deserving Nick Heidfeld.

Malaysian Grand Prix 2011 Results:

1.     Sebastian Vettel     Germany     Red Bull-Renault     56     1h37m39.832
2.     Jenson Button     Britain     McLaren-Mercedes     56     3.261
3.     Nick Heidfeld     Germany     Renault     56     25.075
4.     Mark Webber     Australia     Red Bull-Renault     56     26.384
5.     Felipe Massa     Brazil     Ferrari     56     36.958
6.     Fernando Alonso     Spain     Ferrari     56     57.248*
7.     Kamui Kobayashi     Japan     Sauber-Ferrari     56     1m06.439
8.     Lewis Hamilton     Britain     McLaren-Mercedes     56     1m09.957**
9.     Michael Schumacher     Germany     Mercedes GP     56     1m24.896
10.     Paul di Resta     Britain     Force India-Mercedes     56     1m31.563
11.     Adrian Sutil     Germany     Force India-Mercedes     56     1m41.379
12.     Nico Rosberg     Germany     Mercedes GP     55     1 Lap
13.     Sebastien Buemi     Switzerland     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     55     1 Lap
14.     Jaime Alguersuari     Spain     Toro Rosso-Ferrari     55     1 Lap
15.     Heikki Kovalainen     Finland     Lotus-Renault     55     1 Lap
16.     Timo Glock     Germany     Virgin-Cosworth     54     2 Laps
17.     Vitaly Petrov     Russia     Renault     52     DNF, Accident

The incident involving Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton led to both drivers being penalised by the race stewards. Both drivers were given a twenty second time penalty on their finishing position, while this did not affect the outcome for Alonso* who retained his sixth place, Hamilton** was not so lucky and slipped to eighth in the final reckoning.

In these interviews former World Champions Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton give their own views about the Sepang circuit, including the extreme racing and weather conditions in Malaysia and the excellent hospitality enjoyed during the race weekend.

Both drivers will be looking to build up some points during the first half of the season, in the knowledge that the team has been stronger in the second half of the season historically.

It was team mate Valentino Rossi who provided a lot of the thrills in the race, starting in sixth on the grid he was going backwards at the start of the race, slipping down to eleventh before mounting a comeback to win the race.

Casey Stoner had fallen off the track on the first lap, putting paid to his hopes of a third successive victory of the season, as Lorenzo and Dovizioso broke away from the pack to contest the lead.

Dovizioso appeared to have the measure of Lorenzo and squeezed past the Yamaha on lap nine, with Rossi by that time on a massive charge from way back closing in on the front two riders.

Rossi found a way past both Lorenzo and Dovizioso on the eleventh lap and while Dovizioso regained the lead from Rossi briefly on lap 16, it was Rossi who hung on for his first win since the opening day of the season.

Given Dovizioso’s race pace on the Honda, race fans were left wondering what might have been if Dani Pedrosa had not been injured in Japan and he and Lorenzo had been left to fight it out for the title.

That said, Jorge Lorenzo has hardly put a foot out of place this season and even before the injury to Rossi had built a commanding lead in the championship, his consistency finishing in the first two for the majority of the season makes him a worthy champion and there will surely be more titles to come from the young Spaniard.

Malaysian MotoGP result:

1 V Rossi (Ita) Fiat Yamaha 41:03.448
2 A Dovizioso (Ita) Repsol Honda 41:03.672
3 J Lorenzo (Sp) Fiat Yamaha 41:09.483
4 B Spies (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 41:17.124
5 A Bautista (Spa) Rizla Suzuki 41:18.850
6 N Hayden (USA) Ducati 41:22.274
7 H Aoyama (Jpn) Interwetten Honda 41:23.666
8 M Simoncelli (Ita) Gresini Honda 41:27.022
9 M Melandri (Ita) Gresini Honda 41:27.412
10 R de Puniet (Fr) LCR Honda 41:35.298
11 H Barbera (Sp) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 41:42.027
12 M Kallio (Fin) Pramac Ducati 41:42.297

Moto2 race result:

1 R Rolfo (Ita) Suter 41:09.412
2 A de Angelis (SM) Motobi 41:09.452
3 A Iannone (Ita) Speed Up 41:15.327

125cc race result:

1 M Marquez (Sp) Derbi 40:29.035
2 P Espargaro (Sp) Derbi 40:31.376
3 N Terol (Sp) Aprilia 40:32.691

As of 2010, Malaysia was the current host for the World Motorcycle Grand Prix. And if Razlan Razali, the CEO of the Sepang International Circuit, has his way, this huge and exciting event will remain in Malaysia for at least the next two decades. He is proud to have the world’s largest motorcycle racing event–the MotoGP–in Malaysia as it has received an impressive reaction and following from residents of all ages throughout the country and surrounding region.

In addition to the reception the MotoGP has received in Malaysia, Razali also says that the event brings in massive dollars from tourism. Thousands of tourists come to watch the event live, and they need lodging, food, and other necessities during their stay. This helps the nation’s economy and hundreds of local businesses in the area. On the actual day of the race, there is anywhere from 35,000 to 40,000 fans at the event. About one-third of those fans are tourists who have come to Malaysia for the specific purpose of watching the motorcycle races. There are also many fans that use online sports betting from their homes to add another element of excitement to the event.

In 2009, the MotoGP had its largest attendance to date. There were 59,206 fans at the track on race day, which helped encourage Razali to make the 2010 event even bigger. Many Malaysians are also entering the championship tournament, which adds to the event’s continued success. If the upcoming year’s numbers are anywhere near what Razali expects, there is a good chance that Razali will get his wish of Malaysia hosting the championship series for many years to come.

The race due to take place at the Motegi circuit has now been put back until October after it was deemed that the teams and riders would have great difficulty in transporting the equipment and the personnel to the circuit.

The GP has now been scheduled for the 3 October, before the Sepang Grand Prix in Malaysia and the Phillip Island round in Australia.

Sebastian Vettel – Malaysian Grand Prix 2010

Sebastian Vettel took his Red Bull across the line to claim his first victory of the season at this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix after passing his team-mate Mark Webber at the first corner to dominate the race.

Nico Rosberg finished in third position for Mercedes ahead of Robert Kubica in the Renault and Adrian Sutil for the Force India team.

Lewis Hamilton was in sixth place for the McLaren team followed by Felipe Massa in the Ferrari and Jenson Button in the second McLaren.

The Renault team made a complaint against Lewis Hamilton’s style of driving during the race, accusing the British driver of weaving ahead of their driver Vitaly Petrov on the straight, resulting in the McLaren driver being given a warning.  The BBC commentator Anthony Davidson told the BBC radio;

“I don’t know what Lewis was doing, weaving all over the track. I think he thought he was playing a Playstation rather than real life.”

Petrov was another retiree after his car stopped on track midway through the race, it is thought a gearbox problem caused the Renault to stall.

Vitantonio Liuzzi had a problem with the throttle on his Force India and was forced to park his car after just 12 laps.

Fernando Alonso suffered a gearbox problem with his Ferrari from the start of the race, and it all ended on the penultimate lap when the engine finally blew.

Spanish driver Jaime Alguersuari claimed ninth place for the Toro Rosso team ahead of the Williams driver Nico Hülkenberg in tenth position.  The second Mercedes GP driver Michael Schumacher was unable to finish the race after a wheel nut came off of the left rear, leaving the car unstable and impossible to steer.

Rubens Barrichello in the second Williams car appeared to be a non-starter as the race got underway and the other drivers were forced to go around the stricken vehicle.  He finally got going but was pushed to the back of the grid, finally finishing the race down in twelfth place.

Timo Glock in the Virgin Racing car was a non-finisher after hitting the Lotus F1 Racing car of Jarno Trulli as he tried to overtake.  Glock admitted that the accident was his fault after locking his rear wheels during the move but for some reason the anti-stall devise failed to work.

Both Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi for the BMW Sauber team failed to finish the race and both were surprised by the failure.  De la Rosa’s car broke down as he was waiting to exit the pit lane while his team-mate was out on lap 9, after both cars suffered engine failure due to the pneumatic system.

Here are the results;

POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME/RETIRE
1.	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Red Bull-Renault	56	1h33m48.412
2.	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	56	4.849
3.	Nico Rosberg	Germany	Mercedes GP	56	13.504
4.	Robert Kubica	Poland	Renault	56	18.589
5.	Adrian Sutil	Germany	Force India-Mercedes	56	21.059
6.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	56	23.471
7.	Felipe Massa	Brazil	Ferrari	56	27.068
8.	Jenson Button	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	56	37.918
9.	Jaime Alguersuari	Spain	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	1m10.602
10.	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Williams-Cosworth	56	1m13.399
11.	Sebastien Buemi	Switzerland	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	56	1m18.938
12.	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	Williams-Cosworth	55	1 Lap
13.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	Ferrari	54	DNF
14.	Lucas di Grassi	Brazil	Virgin-Cosworth	53	3 Laps
15.	Karun Chandhok	India	HRT-Cosworth	53	3 Laps
16.	Bruno Senna	Brazil	HRT-Cosworth	52	4 Laps
17.	Jarno Trulli	Italy	Lotus-Cosworth	51	5 Laps
R	Heikki Kovalainen	Finland	Lotus-Cosworth	46
R	Vitaly Petrov	Russia	Renault	32	Gearbox
R	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italy	Force India-Mercedes	12	Throttle
R	Michael Schumacher	Germany	Mercedes GP	9	Wheel Nut
R	Kamui Kobayashi	Japan	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	8	Engine
R	Timo Glock	Germany	Virgin-Cosworth	2	Spin
R	Pedro de la Rosa	Spain	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	0	Engine
FASTEST LAP:
	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	53	1:37.054

Hamilton discusses his own performance in the last round in Melbourne as well as Jenson Button’s win in Australia – the first for the McLaren team this year.

Jenson Button 2010

The McLaren driver Jenson Button took the victory at the Australian Grand Prix at the weekend while his team-mate was heard angrily calling his team on the public radio over his second pit-stop decision.  Button took a massive risk coming in for slick tyres after just seven laps on a drying track but the move paid off and he proved his point by taking the chequered flag.

The weekend was a disaster for Hamilton after having his road car impounded outside of the circuit on Friday.  The McLaren driver apologised for the “silly  mistake” he made after he was pulled over by the police and charged for driving in an “over-exuberant manner”.

The Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, was forced to retire from the lead of the race after suffering a mechanical problem with the left front wheel.  The German driver reported a problem with his brakes on lap 26 of the race before sliding off track and into the gravel trap.

As the yellow flags were waved after Vettel’s car went off circuit, a battle was beginning between Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes, Hamilton and Mark Webber in the second Red Bull.  Hamilton made a move on Rosberg, taking the Mercedes driver around the outside of turn 12 and was then chasing down the Renault of Robert Kubica.  Kubica held his ground leaving Hamilton to return to the pits for another set of tyres and the loss of a place on the podium.

Mark Webber ploughed into the back of the McLaren just as Hamilton was lining-up Alonso for a pass, taking the both into the gravel and allowing the Ferrari driver to make his break.

Kubica finished in second place ahead of the two Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso.  The Mercedes of Rosberg came in fifth followed by Hamilton, Vittonio Liuzzi in seventh and Rubens Barrichello in eighth.  Mark Webber managed to recover and took ninth place ahead of Michael Schumacher in tenth place.

The Formula 1 teams and drivers now head to Sepang for this weekends Malaysian Grand Prix, however, the weather reports have not been great so far leading to the a repeat of last years race which was abandoned.

POS	DRIVER	NATIONALITY	ENTRANT	LAPS	TIME/RETIRE
1.	Jenson Button	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	58	1h33m36.531
2.	Robert Kubica	Poland	Renault	58	12.034
3.	Felipe Massa	Brazil	Ferrari	58	14.488
4.	Fernando Alonso	Spain	Ferrari	58	16.304
5.	Nico Rosberg	Germany	Mercedes GP	58	16.683
6.	Lewis Hamilton	Britain	McLaren-Mercedes	58	29.898
7.	Vitantonio Liuzzi	Italy	Force India-Mercedes	58	59.847
8.	Rubens Barrichello	Brazil	Williams-Cosworth	58	1m00.536
9.	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	58	1m07.319
10.	Michael Schumacher	Germany	Mercedes GP	58	1m09.391
11.	Jaime Alguersuari	Spain	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	58	1m11.301
12.	Pedro de la Rosa	Spain	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	58	1m14.084
13.	Heikki Kovalainen	Finland	Lotus-Cosworth	56	2 Laps
14.	Karun Chandhok	India	HRT-Cosworth	53	5 Laps
R	Timo Glock	Germany	Virgin-Cosworth	41	Suspension
R	Lucas di Grassi	Brazil	Virgin-Cosworth	26	Hydraulics
R	Sebastian Vettel	Germany	Red Bull-Renault	25	Brakes/Spin
R	Adrian Sutil	Germany	Force India-Mercedes	9	Engine
R	Vitaly Petrov	Russia	Renault	9	Spin
R	Bruno Senna	Brazil	HRT-Cosworth	4	Hydraulics
R	Sebastien Buemi	Switzerland	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	0	Accident
R	Nico Hulkenberg	Germany	Williams-Cosworth	0	Accident
R	Kamui Kobayashi	Japan	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	0	Accident
R	Jarno Trulli	Italy	Lotus-Cosworth	0	Hydraulics
FASTEST LAP:
	Mark Webber	Australia	Red Bull-Renault	47	1:28.358

Australia has now been chosen as the second round, allowing the race to begin at 5pm to fit in with the television broadcasters who favour racing in ‘twilight’ rather than the dark.  However, the Singapore round will still be under full floodlights when it takes place in late September.

Although as yet no contract has been signed, the Canadian Grand Prix has been pencilled in for the 13 June, if the contract fails again this year the Turkey Grand Prix will be held later to compensate.

South Korea is a new circuit on the calendar, set to take place in mid-October with the final round being held in Brazil as usual but it will be held in November.

Here is the calendar;

Australia          March 28
Malaysia           April 4
China              April 18
Spain              May 9
Monaco             May 23
Turkey             May 30
Canada*            June 13
Europe (Valencia)  June 27
Great Britain      July 11
Germany            July 25
Hungary            August 1
Belgium            August 29
Italy              September 12
Singapore          September 26
Japan              October 3
Korea              October 17
Abu Dhabi          October 31
Brazil             November 14

*Subject to the completion of contract negotiations with Formula One Management. If these are not completed then the Turkish Grand Prix will be moved to 6 June.

Note: The race in Australia will start at 1700 local time, in Malaysia at 1600 local time, in Singapore at 2000 local time, and in Abu Dhabi at 1700 local time.

The MotoGP cost cutting goes a bit further than expected!

The provisional MotoGP Calendar has now been released by the FIM for the MotoGP World Championship of 2010, and hopefully all teams and riders will be on the grid as the economic crisis continues.

Date – Grand Prix – Circuit:
11 April – Qatar* – Losail
25 April – Japan – Motegi
2 May – Spain – Jerez
16 May – France – Le Mans
30 May – Italy – Mugello
6 June - Great Britain – Silverstone
26 June – Netherlands** – Assen
4 July – Catalunya – Catalunya
18 July - Germany – Sachsenring
25 July - United States*** – Laguna Seca
15 August – Czech Republic – Brno
29 August – Indianapolis – Indianapolis
12 September - San Marino & Riviera di Rimini – Misano
19 September - Hungary – Balatonring
10 October – Malaysia – Sepang
17 October – Australia - Phillip Island
31 October – Portugal – Estoril
7 November Valencia Ricardo Tormo-Valencia

* Evening Race
** Saturday Race
*** Only MotoGP class

In the event that one of the circuits is not able to comply with the requirements to hold the scheduled Grand Prix, the Motorland Aragon Circuit would host a reserve “event” on the same day.