Sebastian Vettel -1st
“I’m very pleased, it was a very good weekend and I had a very nice car to sit in this afternoon. It was a good race - towards the end things calmed down a bit. Lewis didn’t push as hard, so we tried to control the last part of the race. I don’t think it was easy today. The start was crucial and being on the clean side I had a very good getaway. I didn’t know if it was enough, but then I saw Lewis and Mark battling for position. I got a cushion on lap one and we tried to hold the gap for the first stint. When the tyres went off, Lewis caught up and we came in. I think it was the right time, as I couldn’t have done more laps.After my first stop it was crucial to get past Jenson, which I did. That was important. In the second part of the race I didn’t know what was gong on behind Lewis, if he was under pressure or not, but towards the end of the race I could control it more. We learned a lot of things today. It’s good coming here after a long winter and setting the pace.”
Mark Webber -5th
“I wasn't quick today and it was the same in qualifying yesterday, so we need to understand the reason why. There wasn't much else I could do today. I lost the last position to Fernando (Alonso) during the pit stops and that was it really. It was very frustrating. Seb drove a good race, in terms of what the car can do, but it's not normal for me not to go and match the rhythm at the front. I should be able to stay with these guys, but today I finished a long way behind. It was a tough race and I was pushing as hard as I could, but I wasn't getting much back. To finish that far behind is not really usual, but let's stay cool; it’s the first race. I’m looking forward to going to Malaysia; I wish the race was tomorrow already. I was in a different race to Sebastian today, so we had to do different things. I was in trouble with the tyres much sooner than he was, so we need to have a look why.”
Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal“It was a fantastic performance by Sebastian today. He’s been dominant all weekend and to turn up and win the first race with a faultless drive was fantastic. It’s testimony to all the hard work that’s gone in over the winter and to have book-ended the two championships by winning the last race in Abu Dhabi and the first race here is a fantastic achievement. We’re also very proud to have won Pirelli’s first race on its return to Formula One. The tyres were as expected in the race, with a combination of two and three stops and, while it was a bit of a voyage of discovery with the new rules, it was fantastic to come here and dominate a race that we’ve historically struggled at. Unfortunately things didn’t work out for Mark at his home grand prix and we need to understand why. We took a slightly different strategic route with him running the harder tyre second, as his degradation seemed to be higher than Sebastian’s. It’s something we need to look into on Mark’s car, as it was an unusual difference between them this weekend that we don’t normally see. I’m sure that will be back to normal for Malaysia.”
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 58 Winner 1 25 2 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 58 +22.2 secs 2 18 3 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 58 +30.5 secs 6 15 4 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 58 +31.7 secs 5 12 5 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 58 +38.1 secs 3 10 6 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 58 +54.3 secs 4 8 7 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 58 +65.8 secs 13 6 8 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 58 +76.8 secs 9 4 9 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 58 +85.1 secs 8 2 10 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 10 1 11 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 16 12 15 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 57 +1 Lap 14 13 19 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 57 +1 Lap 12 14 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 57 +1 Lap 18 15 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 56 +2 Laps 20 16 25 Jerome d'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 54 +4 Laps 22 Ret 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 49 +9 Laps 21 Ret 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 48 +10 Lap 17 Ret 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 22 +36 Laps 7 Ret 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 19 +39 Laps 19 Ret 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes GP 19 +39 Laps 11 Ret 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 9 +49 Laps 15
All results provisional
Click here for the Official Felipe Massa web site - designed and built by Racecar
