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25px Flag of Malaysia  2013 Malaysian Grand Prix
Race details[1]
Race 2 of 19 in the 2013 Formula One season
Circuit Sepang 1999.svg
Date 24 March 2013
Official name 2013 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix
Location Sepang International Circuit
Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Course Permanent racing facility
5.543 km (3.444 mi)
Distance 56 laps, 310.408 km (192.879 mi)
Weather Light rain clearing to cloudy and dry
Pole position
Driver 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
Time 1:49.674
Fastest lap
Driver 25px Mexico Sergio Pérez McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:39.199 on lap 56
Podium
First 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
Second 25px Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault
Third 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton Mercedes

The 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2013 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix)[1] was a Formula One motor race that was held on 24 March 2013 at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor, Malaysia.[2] The race was the second round of the 2013 season, and marked the fifteenth running of the Malaysian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship. Sebastian Vettel won the race for Red Bull Racing, having started from pole position.[3]

The race was marked by controversy surrounding team orders issued by the Red Bull and Mercedes teams, with Vettel passing his team-mate Mark Webber to win against an order from his team to hold position, even when the passing involved a very risky move,[4] and Lewis Hamilton retaining third place in front of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg on orders from team principal Ross Brawn.[5][6][7]

Report[]

Background[]

As for the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix, tyre supplier Pirelli brought its hardest two compounds, with the orange-banded hard compound tyre being the harder "prime" tyre, and the white-banded medium compound tyre as the softer "option" tyre.[8] This was the first time the hard compound tyre was used during the 2013 season.

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne, Williams' Valtteri Bottas, Marussia's Jules Bianchi, Caterham's Charles Pic, Marussia's Max Chilton, and Caterham's Giedo van der Garde were eliminated in Q1.[9]

Q2[]

Lotus' Romain Grosjean, Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg, Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo, Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez, Force India's Paul di resta, and Williams' Pastor Maldonado were eliminated in Q2.

Q3[]

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel took pole position with a time of 1:49.674. Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso rounded out the three fastest drivers in the session. Lotus' Kimi Räikkönen qualified 7th but was given a penalty for blocking Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and was demoted to 10th.

Race[]

The race began with a damp track and tricky conditions, especially around Turn 3. Vettel led from the start with Alonso clipping his front wing on the back of the Red Bull. Alonso managed to stay ahead of Red Bull's Webber, but early on lap 2 the front wing broke off and sent Alonso into the gravel at Turn 1. Vettel made an early stop for slick tyres and fell back several positions in the still wet conditions, though he quickly regained them when he reached drier parts of the track. Webber subsequently took over the lead of the race and kept the lead through the next series of pit stops.

Both Force India drives were forced to retire after captive wheelnut failures. Paul di Resta had a very long stop and Adrian Sutil's next stop was also plagued with the same issue. The team believes the high temperatures might have caused the issue.[10]

Jenson Button briefly led the race on laps 33 and 34 after Webber, Vettel, Hamilton and Rosberg pitted, and looked well positioned to pick up some useful points for the under-performing McLaren team. However, a disastrous pit stop in which a wheel was incorrectly fitted cost him a whole lap.

On lap 44, Webber made his last pit stop and emerged in the lead just ahead of Vettel. The two battled over the next two laps, including a very close call on the front straight, after which Vettel took the lead from this teammate, taking advantage of Webber being slowed down by team orders to save fuel and maintain position. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner earlier came on the radio to say, "This is silly Seb(astian). Come on."[4] Behind the race leaders it was the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg battling for third. Rosberg was the faster of the two at this point, and he repeatedly asked the team to be allowed to pass Hamilton, but team principal Ross Brawn replied, "Negative, Nico, negative." He later explained that Hamilton could also go faster, but was under orders to ease off. When Rosberg stayed close to Hamilton, Brawn ordered him to drop back, saying that there was nothing to gain and the priority was to bring both cars home.[11] Maldonado later retired after he was forced to stop the car for precautionary reasons due to a KERS problem,[12] and although Button and Ricciardo also retired late in the race, they were both classified as finishers.

Vettel went on to finish first and win the race followed by Webber, Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, Grosjean, Räikkönen, Hulkenberg, Perez, and Vergne. Following the race Webber and Vettel had a brief exchange before the podium ceremony. Webber commented, "Multi-21, Seb. Multi-21," which is in reference to an engine mapping setting given in the team instruction.[13]

During the post-race podium questions Webber said that "I want to race as well but in the end the team made the decision ... we look after the tyres, get the car to the end. In the end Seb made his own decisions today, not respected team orders, but will have protection as usual and that's the way it goes."[14] Horner later acknowledged Vettel had ignored team orders as well as Webber's own history of following similar orders.

When Hamilton was asked about his podium finish, he admitted that Rosberg had deserved it more, adding, "If I'm honest I really feel that Nico should be standing here."[5]

Classification[]

Qualifying[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
1 1 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:37.899 1:37.245 1:49.674 1
2 4 25px Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:37.712 1:36.874 1:50.587 2
3 3 25px Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.314 1:36.877 1:50.727 3
4 10 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.513 1:36.517 1:51.699 4
5 2 25px Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:37.619 1:36.449 1:52.244 5
6 9 25px Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.239 1:36.190 1:52.519 6
7 7 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:36.959 1:36.640 1:52.970 10 1
8 5 25px Great Britain Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.487 1:37.117 1:53.175 7
9 15 25px Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:36.809 1:36.834 1:53.439 8
10 6 25px Mexico Sergio Pérez McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.702 1:37.342 1:54.136 9
11 8 25px France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:37.363 1:37.636 11
12 11 25px Germany Nico Hülkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.931 1:38.125 12
13 19 25px Australia Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.722 1:38.822 13
14 12 25px Mexico Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.707 1:39.221 14
15 14 25px Great Britain Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:37.493 1:44.509 15
16 16 25px The flag of Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:37.867 no time 16
17 18 25px France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.157 17
18 17 25px Finland Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:38.207 18
19 22 25px France Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1:38.434 19
20 20 25px France Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1:39.314 20
21 23 25px Great Britain Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1:39.672 21
22 21 25px Netherlands Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1:39.932 22
107% time: 1:43.585
Source:[15]

Notes:

  1.  — Kimi Räikkönen was given a three-place grid penalty for blocking Nico Rosberg during qualifying.[16]

Race[]

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 56 1:38:56.681 1 25
2 2 25px Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 56 +4.298 5 18
3 10 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 56 +12.181 4 15
4 9 25px Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 56 +12.640 6 12
5 4 25px Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 56 +25.648 2 10
6 8 25px France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 56 +35.564 11 8
7 7 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 56 +48.479 10 6
8 11 25px Germany Nico Hülkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 56 +53.044 12 4
9 6 25px Mexico Sergio Pérez McLaren-Mercedes 56 +1:12.357 9 2
10 18 25px France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56 +1:27.124 17 1
11 17 25px Finland Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 56 +1:28.610 18
12 12 25px Mexico Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 55 +1 Lap 14
13 22 25px France Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 55 +1 Lap 19
14 20 25px France Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 55 +1 Lap 20
15 21 25px Netherlands Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 55 +1 Lap 22
16 23 25px Great Britain Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 54 +2 Laps 21
17 5 25px Great Britain Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 53 Wheel 7
18 19 25px Australia Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 51 Exhaust 13
Ret 16 25px The flag of Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 45 KERS failure 16
Ret 15 25px Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 27 Wheel nut 8
Ret 14 25px Great Britain Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 22 Wheel nut 15
Ret 3 25px Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1 Collision damage 3
Source:[17]

Championship standings after the race[]

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos. Driver Points
1 25px Germany Sebastian Vettel 40
2 25px Finland Kimi Räikkönen 31
3 25px Australia Mark Webber 26
4 25px Great Britain Lewis Hamilton 25
5 25px Brazil Felipe Massa 22
Constructors' Championship standings
Pos. Constructor Points
1 25px Austria Red Bull-Renault 66
2 25px Great Britain Lotus-Renault 40
3 25px Italy Ferrari 40
4 25px Germany Mercedes 37
5 25px Flag of India Force India-Mercedes 10
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "2013 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/malaysia_894/. Retrieved 17 March 2012. 
  2. "FIA Formula One calendar". FIA.com. Fedération Internationale de l'Automobile. http://www.fia.com/championship/formula-1-world-championship/2013/calendar. Retrieved 17 March 2013. 
  3. "Sebastian Vettel leads home Mark Webber for dramatic Malaysian GP win". Guardian UK. 24 March 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/mar/24/sebastian-vettel-wins-malaysia-gp. Retrieved 25 March 2013. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Sebastian Vettel in Mark Webber apology after Malaysia win". BBC Sport. 24 March 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21917254. 
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Lewis Hamilton admits Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg deserved podium finish". Sky Sports F1. 24 March 2013. http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/12472/8594265/Lewis-Hamilton-admits-Mercedes-team-mate-Nico-Rosberg-deserved-podium-finish. 
  6. "Malaysian Grand Prix 2013: live". Daily Telegraph. 24 March 2013. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/9950669/Malaysian-Grand-Prix-2013-live.html. Retrieved 25 March 2013. 
  7. "Webber gives Vettel the finger as world champion IGNORES team orders to win Malaysian Grand Prix". Daily Mail. 24 March 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/article-2298324/Malaysian-Grand-Pix-2013-Sebastian-Vettel-beats-Mark-Webber-Lewis-Hamilton.html. Retrieved 25 March 2013. 
  8. "Supersofts for Australia as Pirelli reveal first 2013 tyre choices". formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 13 February 2013. http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/2/14265.html#. Retrieved 18 March 2013. 
  9. Matt, Beer (23 March 2013). "Malaysian GP: Vettel on pole as rain hits qualifying". Autosport. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106285. Retrieved 23 March 2013. 
  10. Straw, Edd (24 March 2013). "Force India to persist with troubled wheelnut system". Autosport. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106352. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  11. "Malaysian GP: Nico Rosberg deserved third - Lewis Hamilton". BBC Sport. 24 March 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21917717. 
  12. "Malaysian GP: Race notes — Williams". Pitpass. 24 March 2013. http://www.pitpass.com/48722-Malaysian-GP-Race-notes-Williams. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  13. "Sebastian Vettel apologises to Mark Webber for winning by 'mistake'". The Guardian. 24 March 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/mar/24/sebastian-vettel-apologises-mark-webber. 
  14. "Webber 'raw' over race outcome". ESPN. 24 March 2013. http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/104146.html. Retrieved 24 March 2013. 
  15. Collantine, Keith (23 March 2013). "Malaysian rain can’t keep Vettel from pole again". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/03/23/2013-malaysian-grand-prix-qualifying-report/. Retrieved 23 March 2013. 
  16. Noble, Jonathon; Beer, Matt (23 March 2013). "Malaysian GP: Raikkonen handed three-place grid penalty". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106300. Retrieved 23 March 2013. 
  17. . http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2013/894/7197. 

External links[]



Previous race:
2013 Australian Grand Prix
FIA Formula One World Championship
2013 season
Next race:
2013 Chinese Grand Prix
Previous race:
2012 Malaysian Grand Prix
Malaysian Grand Prix Next race:
2014 Malaysian Grand Prix
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