Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 in Malaysia

A waltz in the park for Lewis Hamilton and his teammate Nico Rosberg

Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg did what was expected Sunday in Sepang, they waltzed to an easy 1-2 victory in the Malaysian GP.

It was the 2nd straight race win for the German team, with Rosberg taking the win in Australia two weeks ago.

Sebastian Vettel drove brilliantly to bring the Red Bull Renault home third as the lemon car appears to be getting a bit more reliable.

Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top-5.

In parc ferme Hamilton got out of his car and patted it on the cockpit. Vettel radioed to his team: "Thanks boys. Well executed race. We are not yet there where we want to be. But we'll get there."

Vettel fell back to fourth at the start behind Rosberg and team-mate Daniel Ricciardo, but forged past into third on lap 4. Running a three stop strategy he finished 7secs behind Rosberg. Ricciardo looked set for a solid fourth but retired in the closing stages of the race. The Australian came in for his final pit stop but a problem with the front left wheel delayed him. When he rejoined the track a front wing failure necessitated another stop. After losing so much time he stopped definitively on lap 52.

"We have certainly made a good step forwards, but we still have a lot of work to do," said Vettel. "It’s great to get a podium finish today. Considering where we were, not even two months ago, I think this weekend is a massive step in the right direction. It's a shame we didn't finish with both cars, but it’s good to see the car is quick and we need the laps; for now it's important to collect points. The guys are pushing back in the factory and at Renault – it’s been a massive job from them – and we’ll try to be up there very soon again. It was a shame to lose a place at the start, but third was our maximum position today, so I'm very happy with that. It’s a shame for Daniel with what happened, he drove really well."

Rosberg conceded that Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton was out of reach during the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang.

"This is an incredible day for our team and for Mercedes-Benz," said Rosberg, who extended his lead at the head of the championship to 18 points.

"For the first time in the modern Silver Arrows era, we have achieved a one-two finish which is an incredible result. The team did a phenomenal job over the winter and my thanks once again for that."

Rosberg said he was controlling his gap to Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel, who finished the race in third.

"I had a great start again, even though it was tight with Sebastian," said Rosberg. "It was very close at the wall and I just closed the eyes, went for the gap and did it. Later I was able to control the pace and to defend my position against Sebastian but Lewis was out of my reach, so congratulations to him for his win. I really look forward now to next weekend in Bahrain."

The top three headed to the podium with Hamilton beaming a big smile. He attended to his hair and earrings to make sure he looked good for the cameras as the British National Anthem played. It was his first win in Malaysia and first win of 2014.

Kimi Raikkonen was left fuming over his early collision with Kevin Magnussen after admitting the collision ruined any hope he had of a meaningful challenge in Malaysia.

Raikkonen fancied his chances of a podium finish in the dry from sixth on the grid, but contact with Magnussen at the start of the second lap gave him a rear puncture. He spent the remainder of the race out of the points and ended 12th, far off where he felt his form in free practice suggested he could have been and a long way off team-mate Fernando Alonso in fourth.

"I don't know much about it," Raikkonen said. "All I know his front wing hit me on my wheel but I didn't feel anything, so I have no idea when it was. Obviously it destroyed our race, not very good for us but I can't say much as I have not seen it. On Friday and Saturday we have been pretty ok until qualifying, which wasn't ideal and we weren't as happy with. We were still in an ok position for the race. I got a pretty good start but then got that issue with the rear tire. I think how we started was good and for sure we could have been up there with Fernando. It all went down when I got hit so that was that. It is a shame because without it we could have had a pretty ok race. It's not where we want to be with the guys at the front. They are too fast right now but it is good for what we expected."

Despite a frustrating race at Sepang, Raikkonen is confident upgrades can improve Ferrari's prospects further in Bahrain next week.

"Hopefully next race we will have some new parts for the car I've been asking for and hopefully it makes a change in a nice way. Hopefully the front end will feel nicer. We will have to wait and see how we do on Friday there. I know on the test there was a some difficulties with handling but hopefully the new parts can sort that out. The new updates should make us a bit happier with the front end. It's a new part and we don't know if it will do what we expect. We have a good understanding of where we want to go and what to do. I expect if we make that happen we can go much faster, but how quickly we can do that we will see. All the good things we did a lot better here so we are going in the right direction."

The McLaren driver, who had finished on the podium in his first Formula 1 race in Australia, made contact with the right rear tire of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari during the opening lap.

As a result of the incident, Raikkonen got a puncture and Magnussen was forced to pit to replace his front wing.

The rookie was also given a five-second stop-and-go penalty for the crash, and has been given two penalty points on his license.

Magnussen went on to finish in ninth position.

"I'm sorry for the team that I messed it up in the first corner," said Magnussen. "I think we could have got some good points today so I'm really disappointed with myself that I did that mistake.

"That stuff happens. You just have to learn from it, I guess. The car was really good and I'm sorry for the team that I did a mistake."

The Dane, in only his second Formula 1 race, said his lack of experience was no excuse for his mistake.

"No excuses. I'm not happy. When you make mistakes is not nice. I take the blame for the bad position that we got.

"Formula 1 races are long and I shouldn't have made a mistake like that in the first corner.

"We could have had a lot more points today. Not much to say. I'm sorry for the team."

In the new F1 era of complete inequality, the race (parade) was a borefest for the few fans who came, listened, watched, and probably won't be back.

More to follow……

Results

Fastest Lap: Hamilton Lap 53 1m43.006s