Vettel wins Malaysian GP

It was third time lucky for the German after mechanical failures robbed him of victory in the opening two races of the season but once he had sped past Rosberg and pole-sitter Webber to lead through the first corner, victory was never in doubt.

Renault’s Robert Kubica followed up last week’s second place in Melbourne with another strong showing in fourth, ahead of Adrian Sutil’s Force India.

The German held off McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who was sixth, for the second half of the race.

The McLarens and Ferraris started on the back four rows of the grid after misjudging the conditions in qualifying on Saturday but Hamilton made light of starting in 20^th place by surging into the points by the end of the fourth lap.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa followed Hamilton through the field to finish in seventh place from 21^st on the grid and take the lead in the championship from team mate Fernando Alonso, who failed to finish.

Massa has 39 points, Alonso and Vettel 37 with McLaren’s world champion Jenson Button on 35.

Button crossed the line in eighth place after a stirring battle with Alonso until the Spaniard retired on the penultimate lap.

Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari finished ninth ahead of Williams’ rookie Nico Hulkenburg, the pair both earning their first points in Formula One.