Vettel took risks at the end of the race

Sebastian Vettel looked set to take fourth place yesterday at Sepang, but the double world champion lost everything a few laps from the finish when he suffered a left rear puncture following contact with Narain Karthikeyan's F112 . The pilot Red Bull returned to the track after returning to the pits to take 11th place despite calls from his team urging him to abandon. The Austrian team had noticed damage to the brake duct which could lead to overheating. But the German was unable to hear the messages as he suffered from radio problems from the start of the race.

Christian Horner returns to the incident which worried the team a few moments before the finish. “We no longer had any radio contact with Sebastian, which meant we could only speak to him using the pit signs.”, comments the Red Bull Team Principal. “He was hit by an HRT rider after stopping, causing him to have a puncture. The accident also damaged the rear brake duct which controls the temperature of the mechanism. So we wanted to stop the car for safety. But Seb didn't hear and continued running. Fortunately, his car crossed the finish line without any problems, but this accident cost Sebastian fourth place. »

Discover the analysis of the Malaysian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo available from Tuesday in digital version and from Wednesday on newsstands.