Formula 1: Ferrari drivers still near top of championship drivers’ standings
Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso managed to maintain their positions in the upper echelons of the Formula 1 World Championship with the points they picked up at the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Brazilian and the Spaniard, whose Ferraris are fitted with dampers made by ZF Sachs Race Engineering, came fifth and sixth respectively in the second race of this year’s World Championship season. Two-time world champion Alonso was even on course for a place on the winners’ rostrum up to the tenth lap before the end of the race, but was forced to forfeit a few places due to a faulty front wing that caused him to make an additional pit stop. Alonso and Massa are still well positioned in the overall drivers’ standings.
Kamui Kobayashi of Japan notched up his first World Championship points of the 2011 Formula 1 season on the Sepang International Circuit. Kobayashi, whose team Sauber-Ferrari likewise uses dampers from ZF Sachs Race Engineering, started in tenth position, but worked his way up to seventh place with some impressive overtaking manoeuvres.
Results GP Malaysia (MAL), 2nd round, FIA Formula 1 World Championship, 8 April-10 April 2011:
1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault, 1h 37m 39.832s
2. Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes, + 3.261s
3. Nick Heidfeld, Renault, + 25.075s
4. Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault, + 26.384s
5. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, + 36.958s, ZF Sachs
6. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, + 57.248s, ZF Sachs
7. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari, + 1m 06.439s, ZF Sachs
8. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes, + 1m 09.957s
9. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes, + 1m 24.896s
10. Paul Di Resta, Force India-Mercedes, + 1m 31.563s
Drivers’ standings:
1. S. Vettel, 50 points; 2. J. Button, 26; 3. L. Hamilton and M. Webber, 22 each; 5. F. Alonso, 20; 6. F. Massa, 16; 7. V. Petrov and N. Heidfeld, 15 each; 9. K. Kobayashi, 6; 10. S. Buemi, 4.
Constructors’ standings:
1. Red Bull-Renault, 72 points; 2. McLaren-Mercedes, 48; 3. Ferrari, 36; 4. Renault, 30; 5. Sauber-Ferrari, 6; 6. Toro Rosso-Ferrari and Force India-Mercedes, 4 each; 8. Mercedes, 2.