Sepang, Malaysia (dpa) – McLaren aim to underline their new-found strength by winning the second Formula One race of the season in Malaysia on Sunday, a week after Jenson Button topped the podium for them at the opener in Australia. However, the race will likely come down to another showdown with world champions Red Bull and their two-times reigning drivers' champ Sebastian Vettel. Vettel had to settle for second in Australia, from a modest sixth on the starting grid, but has won the last two Sepang races after Button reigned victorious there in 2009. Vettel is aware that he and his team will all be measured by their success from 2010 and 2011. He readily admitted to McLaren's dominance in Melbourne but remains upbeat even though he is not tipped to drive away with the title like last year. “I think at the moment they (McLaren) have the upper hand. But, whether they still have it next week remains to be seen,” Vettel said in Australia. “They seem to be in very good shape, whereas there are a lot of things we need to do to catch up. Hopefully we will be able to do that and beat them.” Conditions can be unpredictable in steamy Malaysia and Button's victory in 2009 came when the race had to be stopped after 31 laps because torrential rain had flooded the track. The Australian success, which also included team-mate Lewis Hamilton getting the pole position ahead of Button and finishing third in the race, highlighted that McLaren had a near perfect winter and pre-season training period. “We never underestimate our opposition, and undoubtedly there's a long hard road ahead of us between now and the end of the season. But we've started well, and in a few days' time we'll roll into Sepang, Malaysia, hungry to score a repeat victory,” said team principal Martin Whitmarsh. Button shared this view, saying the Australian result showed “just how important it was to have a strong winter. “We've got a great car and we can fight for the world championships. This is a perfect start to my season and I'm already looking forward to Malaysia.” Button could well be the most dangerous title rival for Vettel, but no one will underestimate the 2008 champion Hamilton, who aims for redemption for a 2011 campaign to forget and was not at all happy with third place in Melbourne either. Another contender on the 5.543km circuit is Australian veteran and Melbourne fourth-place finisher Mark Webber in the second Red Bull. But neither McLaren nor Red Bull can afford to underestimate the others, most notably Ferrari and Mercedes, who aim to rebound from poor results in Australia. Former champion Fernando Alonso at least salvaged fifth place in Melbourne after a dismal qualifying in 12th, while Mercedes picked up no points as Nico Rosberg had to settle for 12th and record world champion Michael Schumacher went out early with gearbox problems. Whitmarsh said that Mercedes are “definitely fast” and the German team aims to overcome tire wear problems in Friday's practice sessions ahead of qualifying Saturday and the race on Sunday. “I am flying to Malaysia with a big sense of anticipation, because we saw in Australia that our car is capable of putting us in the mix,” said Schumacher. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/tD4Wv Tags: Button, F1, GP, Malaysia Section: Southeast Asia, Sport
