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2014 Malaysian Grand Prix Sunday - Malaysian Grand Prix
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Vettel sets a new fastest lap of 1m44.779s and brings the gap to Rosberg down to just 0.7s.
Both Mercedes have stuck with mediums.
Hamilton comes in, he should keep the lead, with Hulkenberg now too far back for another cameo.
Mercedes calls Hamilton for his pitstop next.
EDD STRAW: "Plenty of teams opting to stick to a three-stopper and keep the hard tyre use to a minimum. Probably a sensible move, particularly if you have a quick car."
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Bottas sets a new fastest lap – 1m45.475s.
Rosberg rejoins ahead of Vettel, but not by much.
Kobayashi pits from 13th.
Rosberg pits. Vettel was setting the best sector times of the race so far on his out-lap.
Vettel stuck with mediums for this next stint.
Pastor Maldonado says his retirement had nothing to do with his crash with Bianchi, and was instead to due with an engine problem.
"No, it was not damage from the incident at all, it was something on the engine. We were losing a lot of power and then we decided to retire to save the engine.
"Now we are anlaysing what’s happened there. For sure we have already lost an engine so we need to save the car."
"No, it was not damage from the incident at all, it was something on the engine. We were losing a lot of power and then we decided to retire to save the engine.
"Now we are anlaysing what’s happened there. For sure we have already lost an engine so we need to save the car."
Rosberg is told to come in next time to cover off the Red Bull.
Vettel makes his second pitstop.
EDD STRAW: "That scrap at Turn 15 and on the main straight between Kobayashi and Grosjean on the previous lap was an interesting one. The detection point, where the FIA checks to see if you are within one second of the car in front to be allowed to use the DRS, is in the middle of the corner. Grosjean attacked and got ahead and triggered the DRS detection first. Kobayashi then had the advantage of the DRS use on the main straight himself in the activation zone. Good racecraft. The following lap, Grosjean held back so the same thing didn't happen and made his move later."
Grosjean finally gets the jobs done on Kobayashi to take 12th.
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Hamilton is told: "Possible threat of rain towards the end of the race, clouds are forming."
BEN ANDERSON: Kobayashi is making up for a disastrous Australian Grand Prix with a fine drive here in Malaysia so far. The Japanese is ahead of both Saubers and mixing it nicely with Grosjean's Lotus at the moment.
Running longer than Alonso doesn't look helpful for Hulkenberg, who is now losing 0.6s to the Ferrari. But can the Force India make one stop less...?
Ricciardo does a great out-lap to get the gap to Alonso back to 4.7s.
EDD STRAW: "Hard tyre pace seems to be slightly better than expected, which is why we are seeing more than expected going for two-stoppers. Will be interesting late on, as there will be a mix of two and three stoppers battling at the end of the race."
Undercutting by a lap has brought Alonso closer to Ricciardo again, though.
Alonso does his best sectors of the race so far on his out-lap but can't vault Ricciardo that time. The Red Bull rejoins ahead.
Magnussen sets the fastest lap with a 1m46.110s.
Ricciardo now pits.
Massa has now pitted, and he slots back in behind Button.
Up front, Rosberg is pegging Hamilton at 10.1s, and is 3.4s ahead of Vettel, who is 5.8s clear of Ricciardo.
Alonso takes hards for this stint.
Alonso is the first top-six man to pit again, stopping on lap 27.
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Ricciardo is going to go "up a couple of clicks" on his front wing.
Kvyat, also fresh from a stop, passes Kobayashi for 10th.
Gutierrez, having made a second stop, squeezes his way past Ericsson and Chilton to nab 16th place.
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Vettel requests "minus-three" on his front wing at his upcoming stop.
Hamilton gets his lead into double figures for the first time, it's 10.1s after 26 laps.
Tidy stop for Button.
JONATHAN NOBLE: It is understandable that Lewis Hamilton is being cautious about his engine - because he is using the same power unit that failed in Australia.
AUTOSPORT revealed earlier this week that the Melbourne GP retirement was caused by a small hole in a rubber spark plug holder.
Mercedes is confident that there was no lasting damage - but its engine chief Andy Cowell says that it cannot be totally sure.
"I am a very careful engineer," he said on Friday night. "Lots of people asked me before FP1 if it was OK, and I said I was 90 per cent certain.
"We have done FP1 and FP2, so that made me 90-something percent certain. And when we retire it at the end of its full life, then I will say I am 100 per cent certain."
AUTOSPORT revealed earlier this week that the Melbourne GP retirement was caused by a small hole in a rubber spark plug holder.
Mercedes is confident that there was no lasting damage - but its engine chief Andy Cowell says that it cannot be totally sure.
"I am a very careful engineer," he said on Friday night. "Lots of people asked me before FP1 if it was OK, and I said I was 90 per cent certain.
"We have done FP1 and FP2, so that made me 90-something percent certain. And when we retire it at the end of its full life, then I will say I am 100 per cent certain."
Rosberg is happy with his car's balance, and doesn't require a front-wing flap adjust at his upcoming stop.
BEN ANDERSON: Hulkenberg pulling back time on Alonso at the moment, as they resume their personal battle from Australia - this time for fifth place.
Hulkenberg continues to impress every time he jumps in the Force India, maintaining the strong form he showed for Sauber in the latter stages of last season.
Hulkenberg continues to impress every time he jumps in the Force India, maintaining the strong form he showed for Sauber in the latter stages of last season.
Alonso raises his pace by nearly half a second, but still Hulkenberg is six tenths faster. The gap down to 4.4s.
Magnussen pits and serves his five-second penalty for hitting Raikkonen earlier in the race.
Button manages to increase his lead over Massa by a tenth on that lap. Currently 2.1s between the pair in the battle for seventh.
By: Scott Mitchell, Andrew van Leeuwen, Ben Anderson, Edd Straw, Jonathan Noble, Charles Bradley, Pablo Elizalde
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