SEPANG, Malaysia – The new Formula One is a like a Rubik’s Cube: We know how it should look at the end of the process, but all the fun is in figuring out the multitude of combinations needed to get there.
At the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, most of the top finishers on the starting grid were also the top finishers of the race, just like they were in the first race of the season in Melbourne two weeks ago.
A few of the pieces were shuffled about, but the most important one did not change, as Sebastian Vettel, the Red Bull driver who started from pole position at both races, again crossed the finish line as the winner, making him two-for-two in the new season.
At the end of the race, Vettel zigzagged across the line to take the 12th victory of his career and his second in a row in Malaysia, where he also won last year.
‘‘Fantastic job,’’ Vettel said to his team over the car radio. ‘‘In the heat, we kept our heads cool.’’
Indeed, under the threat of rain and with high heat and humidity, the race was a complicated one with lots of action, pit stops, passing and an accident or two for good measure.
The series’ new tires were designed to create more excitement, as they wear out more quickly, forcing more pit stops and sudden decreases in speed on certain cars as they wear out.
While most cars made two to three pit stops at the Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago, in Malaysia it was three or four pit stops. But the result was basically the same.
‘‘It is more complicated to understand from the outside, but at the same time the show is better, there is more overtaking going on,’’ said Nick Heidfeld, the Lotus Renault driver.
Right from the start, there was a surprise as Heidfeld leaped from sixth on the grid to second, and he proceeded to challenge the leader throughout the first stint.
Vettel said, ‘‘I thought I had a really good start, and then I saw Lewis [Hamilton] line up behind me. And then all of a sudden I saw something black in the mirror, I knew it was a Lotus, and I saw it was Nick.’’
Heidfeld later lost positions during his pit stop, but he would move up the pack and finish the race in third, behind Jenson Button, who ended up second in his McLaren Mercedes.
‘‘It was a really confusing race in a way, trying to understand the pit stops and whether it was worth looking after the tires,’’ Button said. ‘‘A fun race, a couple of really good battles.’’
But he summed it up by saying, ‘‘I don’t think anyone really knew who was going to finish behind Seb.’’
Vettel’s victory never appeared in doubt.
‘‘Two races, two out of two is perfect. It couldn’t be any better but the championship is very long,’’ Vettel said.
His teammate, Mark Webber, had a difficult race from the beginning, starting second and dropping down to ninth before rising up to finish fourth. He pushed Heidfeld in the final laps, but he could never get past, as the German used his energy-saving power boost device, called KERS, to defend his position.
But then in another great battle in the final six laps of the race, Webber attacked Massa for the fifth position. The two nearly touched, but Webber got past.
Heidfeld had passed Hamilton for third place, to take the podium with just five laps left in the race; his finish was a fitting bookend after his surprising leap from sixth to second at the start of the race.
Heidfeld’s teammate, Vitaly Petrov, had a spectacular crash with just three laps left in the race when his steering wheel column broke and his car went airborne over a curb. But the Russian was not injured.
With two laps left, Webber attacked Heidfeld for third. Heidfeld smoked his tires into a corner with just over a lap left and Webber had an opportunity. But he could not take it.
‘‘He came closer with big steps, but then he must have started to have degradation,’’ Heidfeld said. ‘‘I used my KERS more for defending than for lap time.’’
Vettel crossed the finish line 3.2 seconds ahead of Button, with Heidfeld finishing in third, Webber in fourth and Felipe Massa in fifth in a Ferrari, just ahead of his teammate, Fernando Alonso.
‘‘Racing has changed, and I think the big secret is to keep on top of your tires,’’ Vettel said. ‘‘You try naturally as fast as you can, but also try to take care of your tires and try to predict what is going to happen. So it’s a lot of tactics going on and sometimes you are holding back, other times you are pushing flat out.
‘‘I think there’s more battles going on, and that is something people want to see,’’ he added. ‘‘For all of us, there is still a lot to learn.’’
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