With a seventh place on Sunday, and no race wins yet in the bag, Felipe Massa took the lead of the drivers’ world championship at Sepang.
The Brazilian’s Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso, who was the previous title leader, had a downshift problem throughout the hot Malaysian race, and then retired with a very smoky engine failure.
Spaniard Alonso is now two points behind, and so too is Sepang winner Sebastian Vettel, who after two technical problems in Bahrain and Melbourne finally won a race.
The sister Red Bull driven by pole sitter Mark Webber was second, prompting the RB6’s designer Adrian Newey to collect the constructors’ trophy, after a tough couple of weeks facing criticism that his cars are fast but fragile.
"Adrian does not design wheel nuts (Melbourne) or spark plugs (Bahrain)," team boss Christian Horner told BBC television.
Behind Massa, Alonso and Vettel, the next contenders for the drivers’ title are also closely bunched, with Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica all within 9 points of the lead.