Sebastian Vettel led team mate Mark Webber home to what should have been a triumphant Red Bull 1-2 in Sepang on Sunday, but the achievement was dishonored by a post-race dispute between the two drivers. All during the race the radio messages between Vettel and Red Bull’s team organization told as greatly of the story as the on-track action.
Webber led a lot of the race after an appropriate switch to dry tyres following the use of intermediates on a wet exterior in the opening laps. Vettel disparage for much of the time he was following Webber, and normally asked his team to tell him to move over.
As far as the Australian was anxious, he had the race in the bag and Vettel was vault by team orders to follow him home as they preserved tyres and fuel. But Vettel launched a enormous attack to take the lead on the 46th lap, and pulled away after a vicious bout of side-by-side running which fascinated the crowd.
Finally, Vettel was able to pull away to a conquest which equaled Sir Jackie Stewart’s 27 wins. Later Vettel claimed to have realized only when they removed their helmets in parc ferme that he had completed a mistake in surpass Webber, but he had been warned on that 46th lap by team boss Christian Horner that he had a batch of amplification to do after the race.