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The 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix, formally known as the 2010 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix, was the third round of the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Malaysia, on 4 April 2010.[1][2] The race would see Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber secure a dominant one-two victory for Red Bull-Renault, having run virtually unopposed throughout.[2]

Qualifying had been a wet affair, with Webber emerging on pole position having been the only driver to gamble on intermediate Bridgestone tyres.[2] Nico Rosberg claimed second for Mercedes ahead of Vettel, while Adrian Sutil secured fourth for Force India-Mercedes.[2]

It was dry on race day although there was a significant threat of rain, resulting in everyone bar Pedro de la Rosa, whose engine had failed before he reached the dummy grid, starting on slicks.[2] The start itself would see Vettel sprint past Rosberg to claim second, before scything inside teammate Webber to claim the lead through the first corner.[2]

Webber tried to challenge through turns two and three but ultimately had to relent, although both he and Vettel would ease clear of third paced Rosberg.[2] Further back both of the McLaren-Mercedes and the Ferrari pair would make early progress from the back, moving up into the mid-teens as a quartet led by Lewis Hamilton.[2]

The early stages would see the two Red Bulls continue to move clear of Rosberg's Mercedes, while Hamilton charged through to claim a spot in the top ten by lap five.[2] He hence left the rest of the Ferrari/Mercedes group stuck behind Sébastien Buemi, who was dancing his Toro Rosso-Ferrari to deny Massa, before Hamilton caused a stir by weaving around ahead of Vitaly Petrov.[2]

Elsewhere, quick-fire retirements would thin the field, with Kamui Kobayashi, Michael Schumacher and Vitantonio Liuzzi all suffering failures before the first round of stops.[2] Button would be the man to kick-start the changes having moved onto the verge of the top ten, stopping for harder compound tyres before setting a fastest lap on his first full lap.[2]

The rest of the field would pit over the following laps, while Vettel and Webber remained out until laps 24 and 25 respectively.[2] Vettel narrowly managed to remain ahead of Hamilton, the German having exited the pits just as Hamilton came past on the start/finish straight.[2] Hamilton would, however, manage to split the Red Bulls when Webber stopped, the Brit being one of three drivers, the others being the two Ferraris, having started on hard tyres.[2]

Those three made their first stops on the following laps, with Hamilton rejoining in seventh, just ahead of Button who had shot up the order with his strategy.[2] The two McLarens duly swept onto the back of Sutil with ease, while they were all being caught by the two Ferraris after their stops.[2]

Indeed, with the two Red Bulls in a class of their own at the head of the field it was the McLaren/Ferrari battle that stole the show for the rest of the remaining laps, with Massa passing Button before hounding Hamilton.[2] Those two engaged in their own fight behind Sutil, while Button valiantly fended off the attentions of Alonso, a battle he would ultimately win as the Spaniard's engine blew apart on the penultimate lap.[2]

With that the race was run, with Vettel cruising across the line ahead of Webber to secure a dominant one-two for Red Bull.[2] Rosberg, meanwhile, was a delighted third for Mercedes, their first podium finish as a constructor since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix, with Robert Kubica and Sutil completing the top five.[2] Hamilton was next ahead of Massa and Button, while Jaime Alguersuari and Nico Hülkenberg completed the top ten and points scorers.[2]

Background[]

Fernando Alonso had retained the lead in the Championship after the second round in Australia, although his advantage at the head of the field had been cut almost in two. Indeed, Felipe Massa had moved to within four points of his teammate in second, while race winner Jenson Button had leapt into third, six off the early leader. Behind, Lewis Hamilton had slipped to fourth ahead of Nico Rosberg, while Robert Kubica had been the only driver to add their name to the scorers list in Melbourne.

In the Constructors Championship it was Ferrari who continued to lead the charge in the early stages, moving onto 70 points after two rounds. McLaren-Mercedes were still their closest combatants in second, sixteen off the lead, while Mercedes had retained third on 29. Behind, Renault were on the board for the first time in 2010 and moved into fourth, Red Bull-Renault had slipped to fifth, while Force India-Mercedes and Williams-Cosworth were the only other scorers.

Entry List[]

The full entry list for the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix is shown below:

No. Driver Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Model Tyre
1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-25 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom Vodafone McLaren Mercedes McLaren MP4-25 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team Mercedes MGP W01 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team Mercedes MGP W01 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB6 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull Racing Red Bull RB6 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F10 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro Ferrari F10 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW32 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom AT&T Williams Williams FW32 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault F1 Team Renault R30 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault F1 Team Renault R30 Renault RS27-2010 2.4 V8 B
14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR5 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Scuderia Toro Rosso Toro Rosso STR5 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus Racing Lotus T127 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus Racing Lotus T127 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
20 India Karun Chandhok Spain Hispania Racing F1 Team HRT F110 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain Hispania Racing F1 Team HRT F110 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Switzerland BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber C29 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber F1 Team BMW Sauber C29 Ferrari 056 2010 2.4 V8 B
24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin Racing Virgin VR-01 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin Racing Virgin VR-01 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
Test Drivers for Practice Sessions Only
15 United Kingdom Paul di Resta India Force India F1 Team Force India VJM03 Mercedes FO 108X 2.4 V8 B
19 Malaysia Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia Lotus Racing Lotus T127 Cosworth CA2010 2.4 V8 B
Source:[3]

Practice Overview[]

Qualifying[]

Q1[]

Q2[]

Q3[]

Qualifying Results[]

The full qualifying results for the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Grid
Pos. Time Pos. Time Pos. Time
1 6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 12 1:51.886 7 1:48.210 1 1:49.327 1
2 4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 16 1:52.560 5 1:47.417 2 1:50.673 2
3 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 3 1:47.632 1 1:46.828 3 1:50.789 3
4 14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India-Mercedes 8 1:49.479 3 1:47.085 4 1:50.914 4
5 10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 9 1:49.664 4 1:47.346 5 1:51.001 5
6 11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault 1 1:46.283 2 1:46.951 6 1:51.051 6
7 9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 11 1:50.301 9 1:48.371 7 1:51.511 7
8 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 14 1:52.239 10 1:48.400 8 1:51.717 8
9 23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 5 1:48.467 6 1:47.792 9 1:51.767 9
10 15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India-Mercedes 10 1:49.922 8 1:48.238 10 1:52.254 10
11 12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault 4 1:47.952 11 1:48.760 11
12 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 2 1:47.153 12 1:48.771 12
13 16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 7 1:48.945 13 1:49.207 13
14 17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 6 1:48.655 14 1:49.464 14
15 19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 17 1:52.875 15 1:52.270 15
16 24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 15 1:52.398 16 1:52.520 16
17 1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 13 1:52.211 17 17
18 18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 18 1:52.884 18
19 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 19 1:53.044 19
20 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 20 1:53.050 20
21 7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 21 1:53.283 21
22 20 India Karun Chandhok Spain HRT-Cosworth 22 1:56.299 22
23 21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain HRT-Cosworth 23 1:57.269 23
24 25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 24 1:59.977 24
Source:[4]
  • Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.

Grid[]

Pos. Pos.
Driver Driver
______________
Row 1 1 ______________
Mark Webber 2
______________ Nico Rosberg
Row 2 3 ______________
Sebastian Vettel 4
______________ Adrian Sutil
Row 3 5 ______________
Nico Hülkenberg 6
______________ Robert Kubica
Row 4 7 ______________
Rubens Barrichello 8
______________ Michael Schumacher
Row 5 9 ______________
Kamui Kobayashi 10
______________ Vitantonio Liuzzi
Row 6 11 ______________
Vitaly Petrov 12
______________ Pedro de la Rosa*
Row 7 13 ______________
Sébastien Buemi 14
______________ Jaime Alguersuari
Row 8 15 ______________
Heikki Kovalainen 16
______________ Timo Glock
Row 9 17 ______________
Jenson Button 18
______________ Jarno Trulli
Row 10 19 ______________
Fernando Alonso 20
______________ Lewis Hamilton
Row 11 21 ______________
Felipe Massa 22
______________ Karun Chandhok
Row 12 23 ______________
Bruno Senna 24
______________ Lucas di Grassi
  • * de la Rosa was unable to start the race due to an engine failure.[4]

Race[]

Report[]

Results[]

The full results for the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Austria Red Bull-Renault 56 1:33:48.412 3 25
2 6 Australia Mark Webber Austria Red Bull-Renault 56 +4.849s 1 18
3 4 Germany Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 56 +13.504s 2 15
4 11 Poland Robert Kubica France Renault 56 +18.589s 6 12
5 14 Germany Adrian Sutil India Force India-Mercedes 56 +21.059s 4 10
6 2 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 56 +23.471s 20 8
7 7 Brazil Felipe Massa Italy Ferrari 56 +27.068s 21 6
8 1 United Kingdom Jenson Button United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 56 +37.918s 17 4
9 17 Spain Jaime Alguersuari Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56 +1:10.602 14 2
10 10 Germany Nico Hülkenberg United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 56 +1:13.399 5 1
11 16 Switzerland Sébastien Buemi Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 56 +1:18.938 13
12 9 Brazil Rubens Barrichello United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 55 +1 Lap 7
13* 8 Spain Fernando Alonso Italy Ferrari 54 Engine 19
14 25 Brazil Lucas di Grassi United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 53 +3 Laps 24
15 20 India Karun Chandhok Spain HRT-Cosworth 53 +3 Laps 22
16 21 Brazil Bruno Senna Spain HRT-Cosworth 52 +4 Laps 23
17 18 Italy Jarno Trulli Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 51 +5 Laps 18
Ret 19 Finland Heikki Kovalainen Malaysia Lotus-Cosworth 46 Hydraulics 15
Ret 12 Russia Vitaly Petrov France Renault 32 Gearbox 11
Ret 15 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi India Force India-Mercedes 12 Throttle 10
Ret 3 Germany Michael Schumacher Germany Mercedes 9 Wheel 8
Ret 23 Japan Kamui Kobayashi Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari 8 Engine 9
Ret 24 Germany Timo Glock United Kingdom Virgin-Cosworth 2 Collision 16
DNS 22 Spain Pedro de la Rosa Switzerland BMW Sauber-Ferrari
Source:[5]
  • T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car.
  • * Alonso was still classified despite retiring as he had completed 90% of the race distance.[5]
  • de la Rosa was unable to start due to an engine failure before the race.[5]

Milestones[]

Standings[]

Felipe Massa had moved to the top of the Championship as a result of the Malaysian Grand Prix, having scored 39 points through the opening three rounds. Indeed, the Brazilian driver headed the three drivers who had claimed wins in 2010, with Fernando Alonso dropping to second on 37 points, level with Sebastian Vettel, winner in Malaysia. Jenson Button was next on 35, level with Nico Rosberg, with fourteen of the 24 drivers having scored in the opening three rounds.

In the Constructors Championship Ferrari had held the initiative after the third round of the season, leaving Malaysia with 76 points. They hence had a ten point lead over McLaren-Mercedes in second, while Red Bull-Renault had streaked up to third with their Malaysian one-two. Mercedes had made way for the Austrian team and slipped to fourth, while Toro Rosso-Cosworth had added their names to the score sheet in eighth.

World Championship for Drivers
Pos. Driver Pts. +/-
1 Brazil Felipe Massa 39 ▲1
2 Spain Fernando Alonso 37 ▼1
3 Germany Sebastian Vettel 37 ▲4
4 United Kingdom Jenson Button 35 ▼1
5 Germany Nico Rosberg 35
6 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton 31 ▼2
7 Poland Robert Kubica 30 ▼1
8 Australia Mark Webber 24 ▲2
9 Germany Adrian Sutil 10 ▲4
10 Germany Michael Schumacher 6 ▼2
11 Italy Vitantonio Liuzzi 8 ▼2
12 Brazil Rubens Barrichello 5 ▼1
13 Spain Jaime Alguersuari 2 ▼1
14 Germany Nico Hülkenberg 1 ▲1
World Championship for Constructors
Pos. Team Pts. +/-
1 Italy Ferrari 76
2 United Kingdom McLaren-Mercedes 66
3 Austria Red Bull-Renault 61 ▲2
4 Germany Mercedes 44 ▼1
5 France Renault 30 ▼1
6 India Force India-Mercedes 18
7 United Kingdom Williams-Cosworth 6
8 Italy Toro Rosso-Ferrari 2

Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References[]

Images and Videos:

References:

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 '3. Malaysia 2010', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/malaisie.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  2. 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 'Vettel, Webber punch back with the ol' Red Bull one-two!', crash.net, (Crash Media Group, 04/04/2010), https://www.crash.net/f1/race-report/158414/1/vettel-webber-punch-back-with-the-ol-red-bull-1-2, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  3. 'Malaysia 2010: Entrants', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2015), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/malaisie.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  4. 4.0 4.1 '2010 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX - QUALIFYING', formula1.com, (Formula One World Championship Limited, 2006), https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2010/races/862/malaysia/qualifying.html, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 'Malaysia 2010: Result', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2016), https://www.statsf1.com/en/2010/malaisie/classement.aspx, (Accessed 25/03/2020)
  6. [Archived] '2010 Malaysian GP', chicanef1.com, (Chicane F1, 2014), https://web.archive.org/web/20190410003432/http://chicanef1.com/racetit.pl?year=2010&gp=Malaysian%20GP&r=1, (Accessed 25/03/2020) - Original
V T E Malaysia Malaysian Grand Prix
Circuits Sepang International Circuit (1999–present)
Sepang
Races 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017
V T E 2010 Formula One Season
Teams McLaren | Mercedes | Red Bull | Ferrari | Williams | Renault | Force India | Toro Rosso | Lotus | HRT | BMW Sauber | Virgin
Engines Mercedes | Renault | Ferrari | Cosworth
Race Drivers 1 Button | 2 Hamilton | 3 Schumacher | 4 Rosberg | 5 Vettel | 6 Webber | 7 Massa | 8 Alonso | 9 Barrichello | 10 Hülkenberg | 11 Kubica | 12 Petrov | 14 Sutil | 15 Liuzzi | 16 Buemi | 17 Alguersuari | 18 Trulli | 19 Kovalainen | 20 Chandhok | 20 Klien | 20/21 Yamamoto | 21 Senna | 22 de la Rosa | 22 Heidfeld | 23 Kobayashi | 24 Glock | 25 di Grassi
Other Drivers Paffett | Turvey | Bird | Hartley | Ricciardo | Coulthard | Fisichella | Badoer | Gené | Bianchi | Bottas | Stoneman | Maldonado | Tung | d'Ambrosio | Charouz | Aleshin | di Resta | Felix da Costa | Buurman | Vergne | Fauzy | González | Arabadzhiev | Valsecchi | Kral | Gutiérrez | Pérez | Soucek | Razia | Haryanto
Cars MP4-25 | MGP W01 | RB6 | F10 | FW32 | R30 | VJM03 | STR5 | T127 | F110 | C29 | VR-01
Tyres Bridgestone
Races Bahrain | Australia | Malaysia | China | Spain | Monaco | Turkey | Canada | Europe | Great Britain | Germany | Hungary | Belgium | Italy | Singapore | Japan | Korea | Brazil | Abu Dhabi
Team Reports McLaren | Mercedes | Red Bull | Ferrari | Williams | Renault | Force India | Toro Rosso | Lotus | HRT | BMW Sauber | Virgin
Driver Reports Button | Hamilton | Schumacher | Rosberg | Vettel | Webber | Massa | Alonso | Barrichello | Hülkenberg | Kubica | Petrov | Sutil | Liuzzi | Buemi | Alguersuari | Trulli | Kovalainen | Chandhok | Klien | Yamamoto | Senna | de la Rosa | Heidfeld | Kobayashi | Glock | di Grassi
Tests Barcelona 1 | Valencia | Jerez 1 | Jerez 2 | Barcelona 2 | Vairano | Paul Ricard
See also 2009 Formula One Season | 2011 Formula One Season | Category
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