It was all shaping up to be a dream weekend for Mark Webber. He breezed through the first two practices, and was looking to make a statement after a tough weekend in Australia.
But right off the line, Webber's troubles began, as his KERS was inoperable, causing him to fall back to ninth after the opening lap. The Australian rallied, however, and put in a phenomenal effort in order to check in fourth when the final flag waved.
But it was again Sebastian Vettel's weekend, his fourth consecutive win dating back to last season.
It's the 16th time a driver has won the first two races of the season, and of the previous 15 occurrences, that driver has gone on to claim the World Championship 11 times. An even better omen for Vettel; the last nine have all converted it into a title that same season.
After starting from pole yet again, the defending champion put in another dominant effort to claim his second straight win in Malaysia. To date, he's paced the field for 109 laps, while the rest of the drivers combined have led a total of five.
Despite cruising to victory, it was a tense day overall. The rain stayed away, but there were times when it appeared as if a downpour was imminent. Midway through the event, Vettel's KERS failed as well, but it did not prove lethal.
McLaren again displayed its speed early this season, splitting the Red Bull machines on the grid. Lewis Hamilton was quick early but contact with Fernando Alonso as well as a post-race penalty really hurt his day.
Teammate Jenson Button shined however, finishing second. It matches his best position since Monza last September, and because of his excellent day, he finds himself runner-up in the standings, just ahead of Hamilton and Webber.
The team that stole the show early on was Lotus Renault, which saw its drivers gain a combined seven positions after the initial few turns. Sunday ended in heartbreak for Vitaly Petrov, but Nick Heidfeld made the podium in only his second start with the team after holding off Webber in the late stages.
It's an impressive accomplishment when you consider it took drivers such as Rene Arnoux and Alain Prost longer to reach their first podium with Renault.
The rear wing and KERS certainly came into play this time around in F1, especially at the end of the parallel straights. It made for some exciting overtaking, and there's reason to believe it will become a prominent part of upcoming tracks that share similar features with Sepang.
It's now on to Shanghai, and like Sepang, it was a track designed by Hermann Tilke. The two tracks are fairly different, however. China features a first turn like no other, one with a decreasing radius. Drivers enter at nearly top speed, before shifting all the way down to second gear by the end. It could be a very challenging start to the race, as the full field will be fighting for the same real estate.
Ferrari has not yet scored a podium finish this season, which was also the case during the team's down season in 2009. China has not been the ideal track for the team lately, either, as the team has missed on a podium finish there in each of the past two years.
Ferrari also left China with a black eye last year, as Fernando Alonso barged past teammate Felipe Massa entering the pits during the race. In addition, Alonso had to serve a penalty for jumping the start.
Ownrship of the 16-turn circuit recently signed a seven-year extension with F1, and this will be the eighth edition of the race. Remarkably, no driver has won this race twice, but six of those winners will be competing this weekend.
China was the site of Button's last win nearly a year ago, but he's finished runner-up four times since then, including last weekend in Malaysia.
