Scarlet fever in Malaysia

After a race filled with ups and downs with the rain playing havoc, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso came out on top at the 2012 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix. Sauber's Sergio Perez finished 2nd with McLaren's Lewis Hamilton rounding up the top three. Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel finished out of the points in 11th place. Both the Force India cars finished in the top 10 in a great display of team driving.

But despite Alonso's win, the day belonged to Sergio Perez. With an absolutely fantastic driving and at one point almost challenging Alonso for the lead, he is definitely a driver to keep a sharp lookout for in the following races. The race also showed how evenly matched the teams are this year, with no runaway favorites at this stage in the season. And despite all the skepticism, Ferrari showed that it can keep up with the top dogs in Red Bull and McLaren. The race was led by the McLaren's of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button until the red flag was brought out and the race was suspended due to rain after only 10 laps into the race. After the restart, tire strategy and a bit of luck played into Ferrari's hands which put Alonso in the lead followed by Perez. Perez came close to fighting Alonso for the lead with blistering laps but unfortunately a minor mistake meant he would not be able to close the gap. India's Narain Karthikeyan finished in 21st place.

It was a very eventful weekend with some great racing across the entire grid. Based on the performances we have seen from all the teams, the 2012 season looks like it is going to get better and better. The cars will return to the grid at the UBS Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai from April 13th - 15th.