Alonso triumphs in wet Malaysia

25 March 2012 15:24

Fernando Alonso held off the challenge of Sergio Perez to win the rain-affected Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Ferrari driver started from eighth but led from lap 16 at Sepang, following a downpour of torrential rain that brought about a red flag and a 40-minute delay after just six laps.

Sauber's Perez was the surprise challenger and looked set to fight his way past Alonso late in the race, but an error ended his chances of a first Grand Prix win.

Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton finished third after a poor pit stop on lap 15, while his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button came a disappointing 14th having required a new front wing following a collision with Narain Karthikeyan.

A puncture cost reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel as he finished 11th, while Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber managed fourth.

Alonso's surprise win, his first since last year's British Grand Prix, took him top of the drivers' championship on 35 points, five clear of Hamilton.

After a poor pre-season, the win will come as a massive boost for Ferrari, although Felipe Massa again struggled with a 15th-place finish.

Alonso built a lead of seven seconds when the race resumed after the early torrential downpour in Kuala Lumpur.

But Perez gradually closed the gap as the track dried, and the Mexican was on the tail of Alonso with seven laps to go.

Spaniard Alonso would move five seconds clear after Perez ran wide at turn 14, and he went on to collect his 28th career race victory.

Earlier, Perez benefitted from his decision to change to wet tyres on just the second lap as heavy rain began to fall.

He moved up to third as the leading drivers waited until laps four and five to make the change.

It was Alonso who emerged in second place after the restart with drivers stopping to fit intermediate tyres, and - having had his lead cut to less than a second - held Perez at bay for a thrilling win.

Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen was fifth, ahead of the Williams of Bruno Senna and Force India's Paul di Resta.

Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne, Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher rounded out the top 10.