2013 Malaysian Grand Prix

Malaysia  2013 Malaysian Grand Prix
Race details[1]
Race 2 of 19 in the 2013 Formula One season
Date 24 March 2013
Official name 2013 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix
Location Sepang International Circuit
Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 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 Red Bull-Renault
Time 1:49.674
Fastest lap
Driver Mexico Sergio Pérez McLaren-Mercedes
Time 1:39.199 on lap 56
Podium
First Red Bull-Renault
Second Red Bull-Renault
Third 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,[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 two hardest 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 Hülkenberg, 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.

Jules Bianchi finished 13th for Marussia.

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. On the same lap, TV cameras caught Webber flipping the finger to Vettel. 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's controversial pass during the race. Vettel (left) overtook team-mate Mark Webber (right) despite team orders telling him to hold position behind the Australian.

Vettel went on to finish first and win the race followed by Webber, Hamilton, Rosberg, Massa, Grosjean, Räikkönen, Hülkenberg, Pérez, 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 the team order issued, which specifies that car no. 2 (Webber) is to finish the race in front of car no.1 (Vettel) .[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 Germany Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:37.899 1:37.245 1:49.674 1
2 4 Brazil Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:37.712 1:36.874 1:50.587 2
3 3 Spain Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:37.314 1:36.877 1:50.727 3
4 10 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:37.513 1:36.517 1:51.699 4
5 2 Australia Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:37.619 1:36.449 1:52.244 5
6 9 Germany Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:37.239 1:36.190 1:52.519 6
7 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Lotus-Renault 1:36.959 1:36.640 1:52.970 101
8 5 United Kingdom Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.487 1:37.117 1:53.175 7
9 15 Germany Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:36.809 1:36.834 1:53.439 8
10 6 Mexico Sergio Pérez McLaren-Mercedes 1:37.702 1:37.342 1:54.136 9
11 8 France Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:37.363 1:37.636 11
12 11 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.931 1:38.125 12
13 19 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.722 1:38.822 13
14 12 Mexico Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.707 1:39.221 14
15 14 United Kingdom Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:37.493 1:44.509 15
16 16 Venezuela Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:37.867 no time 16
17 18 France Jean-Éric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:38.157 17
18 17 Finland Valtteri Bottas Williams-Renault 1:38.207 18
19 22 France Jules Bianchi Marussia-Cosworth 1:38.434 19
20 20 France Charles Pic Caterham-Renault 1:39.314 20
21 23 United Kingdom Max Chilton Marussia-Cosworth 1:39.672 21
22 21 Netherlands Giedo van der Garde Caterham-Renault 1:39.932 22
107% time: 1:43.585
Source:[15]

Notes:

Race

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

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos. Driver Points
2 1 Germany Sebastian Vettel 40
1 2 Finland Kimi Räikkönen 31
3 3 Australia Mark Webber 26
1 4 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 25
1 5 Brazil Felipe Massa 22

Constructors' Championship standings
Pos. Constructor Points
2 1 Austria Red Bull-Renault 66
2 United Kingdom Lotus-Renault 40
2 3 Italy Ferrari 40
4 Germany Mercedes 37
5 India Force India-Mercedes 10

References

  1. 1 2 "2013 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  2. "FIA Formula One calendar". FIA.com. Fedération Internationale de l'Automobile. Archived from the original on 8 February 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
  3. "Sebastian Vettel leads home Mark Webber for dramatic Malaysian GP win". Guardian UK. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Sebastian Vettel in Mark Webber apology after Malaysia win". BBC Sport. 24 March 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Lewis Hamilton admits Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg deserved podium finish". Sky Sports F1. 24 March 2013.
  6. "Malaysian Grand Prix 2013: live". Daily Telegraph. 24 March 2013. 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. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  8. "Supersofts for Australia as Pirelli reveal first 2013 tyre choices". formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 16 March 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  9. Matt, Beer (23 March 2013). "Malaysian GP: Vettel on pole as rain hits qualifying". Autosport. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  10. Straw, Edd (24 March 2013). "Force India to persist with troubled wheelnut system". Autosport. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  11. "Malaysian GP: Nico Rosberg deserved third — Lewis Hamilton". BBC Sport. 24 March 2013.
  12. "Malaysian GP: Race notes — Williams". Pitpass. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  13. "Sebastian Vettel apologises to Mark Webber for winning by 'mistake'". The Guardian. 24 March 2013. Archived from the original on 25 March 2013.
  14. "Webber 'raw' over race outcome". ESPN. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  15. Collantine, Keith (23 March 2013). "Malaysian rain can't keep Vettel from pole again". F1 Fanatic. Keith Collantine. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  16. Noble, Jonathon; Beer, Matt (23 March 2013). "Malaysian GP: Raikkonen handed three-place grid penalty". Autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  17. "2013 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX". Archived from the original on 4 May 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.

External links

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2013 Chinese Grand Prix
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2012 Malaysian Grand Prix
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2014 Malaysian Grand Prix
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