It's two in a row for super Vettel

German destroys field in Malaysian Graznd Prix

McLaren's Jenson Button drove a composed race to take second place, ahead of a spirited Nick Heidfeld who capitalised on a brilliant start to round off the podium places in his Renault.

"Fantastic job. In the heat, we kept our heads cool. Thank you," Vettel told his Red Bull team over the radio after winning his fourth race in a row. "A pleasure every weekend to be with you. I'm loving it."

Vettel's team-mate Mark Webber did well to claim fourth place following a poor start as both Red Bulls ditched the KERS boost system mid-race after suffering reliability issues.
On an afternoon when nursing the tyres through each stint was key and the threat of rain always an issue, Vettel drove a faultless race from the front and navigated the flurry of pit stops with a minimum of fuss.

Hamilton penalised

The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso took the next two places, with Lewis Hamilton finishing seventh on the track in the other McLaren after he and Alonso collided when they were fighting for third late on.

Two hours after the race, stewards imposed retroactive 20-second time penalties on the former world champions for driving infringements, dropping Hamilton to eighth place behind Japanese Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi.

Alonso's position remained unchanged with Mercedes' Michael Schumacher and Force India's Paul di Resta making up the final two points scorers.

The Renaults enjoyed the best of the start, Heidfeld and Russian Vitaly Petrov storming down the outside to get past the Ferraris and Webber and threaten the McLarens and Red Bulls at the head of the field.

Heidfeld reached second place by turn one and held off Hamilton until the first change of tyres, when a poor stop dropped him down the order until he battled back late in the race to match Petrov's third-place finish in Melbourne.