KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, April 10 (UPI) -- Sebastian Vettel edged Jenson Button by three seconds and won his second consecutive Malaysian Grand Prix Sunday.
It was the fifth Formula One victory for Vettel in the last six Grand Prix races. He won three of the last four -- including the last two races -- last year in grabbing the 2010 driver's championship and opened the 2011 season with a win March 27 in Australia before defending his 2010 win in Kuala Lumpur Sunday. It was his 12th Grand Prix win in his career.
Vettel, driving for Red Bull Racing-Renault, started from the pole position and led throughout the 56-lap, 193-mile race. He experienced issues with his Kinetic Energy Recovery System halfway through the race but managed to collect the victory in 1 hour, 37 minutes, 39.8 seconds.
He finished 3.2 seconds ahead of Button, driving for McLaren-Mercedes, and was 25 seconds ahead of Renault's Nick Heidfield. Vettel's teammate Mark Webber was fourth, 26.4 seconds behind the winner, and Ferrari's Felipe Mass was fifth another 10 seconds back.
Vettel tops the 2011 drivers' standings with 50 points with Button in second at 26, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton (24 points), Button's McLaren teammate. Webber (22) is fourth and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) sits in fifth with 20 points.
