Alonso Claims Second Malaysian GP Title In Rain-Interrupted Race

SEPANG (Selangor, Malaysia), March 26 (Bernama) -- Scuderia Ferrari's Fernando Alonso scored a dramatic victory in the 2012 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix when he denied Sauber F1 Team's Sergio Perez a first Formula One victory at Sepang Circuit, here Sunday. The Spaniard clocked two hours, 44 minutes and 51.812 seconds, to be ahead of Mexico's Sergio Perez of the Sauber F1 Team by a mere 2.263 seconds while pole sitter, Lewis Hamilton from Vodafone McLaren Mercedes repeated his third place finish at season opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne last weekend, after clocking 2'45:06.403s. "We were not competitive in Australia or here. Our goal was to score as many points as possible and we did the job. "An unbelievable result, a great job from the team. We have maximized the potential in our hands, keeping calm in some strange conditions at the beginning with inters and the switching to dry tyres," said Alonso. The race started in torrential rain and was red flagged for 51 minutes after eight laps but Alonso drove a brilliant race in a car that has been outpaced in the qualifying and also at the season opening round. "The team deserve this win. It's a tough time for us at the moment, but this is a Sunday we will remember," added the two time world champion. The win he registered today was his second Malaysian Grand Prix title and his 28th career victory. The winner of the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2007 with McLaren Mercedes also took the lead in the world championship standings with 35 points, five points ahead of Hamilton. Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Perez had pushed hard for his first win but was denied the chance when he overshot on lap 50. However, he managed to claim his first podium and was happy with the car's performance. "The team did a great job and I managed to catch him lap by lap. I was catching Fernando (Alonso) towards the end of the race but ran quite wide in the quick left-hander and I touched the kerb...I lost the win. "However, I am happy because the car keeps improving. The team was incredible," said Perez. Last week's winner Jenson Button did not win any points today after colliding with India's Narain Karthikeyan of the HRT F1 Team and completed the race in 14th position. Meanwhile, Lotus F1 Team driver and 2007 world champion, Kimi Raikkonen clocked the fastest lap time of 1:40.722s on lap 53. -- BERNAMA