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Price Range: $39,875 to $45,000-plus

Volkswagen's convertible-only Eos model hits 2013 after a refresh and packs more features and styling than ever before. Offering seating for four, a decent trunk and plenty of onboard storage, Eos is ideal for the shopper looking for the magic of a convertible motoring experience and room for some friends and family. It's a drop-top big on safety and refinement, and carries a price tag to match.


Feature content includes push-button start, steering-wheel mounted controls, automatic climate control, heated leather, a touchscreen navigation system, and adaptive xenon headlights with LED running lights. All Eos models get a power-operated convertible roof that stores neatly in the trunk at the touch of a button.

To help set the 2013 Volkswagen Eos apart, designers created a body that's upscale and sophisticated, without excessive ornamentation or attention-grabbing add-ons. It's a clean, discreet and low-key look that's also street smart and sporty.

On board, contrast generated by available beige leather, black accents and aluminum trim gives the 2013 Volkswagen Eos a relaxing atmosphere that's conducive to relaxation and socialization amongst passengers. A multi-function driver computer keeps vital information a mere glance away at all times.

Consider this one alongside models like the Chrysler 200 Convertible and Ford Mustang Convertible.

Drivetrain
VW's acclaimed 2.0T engine powers all models, generating 200 horsepower and 207 lb-ft of torque for pleasing performance. Designed for maximum efficiency, the powerplant utilizes direct injection and an intercooled turbocharger for maximum extraction of energy from every molecule of fuel it burns.

All 2013 Volkswagen Eos models get a 6-speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) and are front-wheel drive.

Consider it if
Your priorities in a convertible centre around efficiency, luxury and refinement more than all-out style or performance firepower. The 2013 Volkswagen Eos will make a great year-round, everyday convertible that's great on fuel. The heavily insulated roof and numerous winter-busting features make it a true year-round drop-top that doesn't have to spend winters in the garage.

Skip it if
You want a manual transmission (one isn't available), or if you don't need a convertible top, as the VW Eos isn't available as a fixed-roof coupe. Also, skip this one if you're after maximum sports car bang-for-your-buck in terms of power and performance.

Don't Miss
The 2013 Volkswagen Eos is the only convertible on the road to also offer a sunroof thanks to the unique design of its folding hard-top. Translation? Drivers can take in the sunshine, even if it's too cold to go totally topless.

Rain-sensing wipers automatically engage and adjust their intermittence based on precipitation.

The snort-y, high-torque 2.0T engine is a favourite amongst enthusiasts, too and has been listed on Wards Top Ten Engines list numerous times.

Also of note: The 2013 Volkswagen Eos' lightning-fast DSG gearbox can complete a gearchange in four tenths of a second, and with no break in power delivery.

Photo: Volkswagen

19-year-old Matthew Braham put on a clinic this weekend in St. Petersburg, racing for round three and four of the 2013 Star Mazda championship.

The grandson of three-time F1 champion Jack Brabham bounced back from mechanical problems in qualifying to win both races, presented Saturday and Sunday.

Diego Ferreira and Brabham's Andretti Autosport teammate Shelby Blackstock finished respectively second and third Saturday.

The same two drivers completed the podium Sunday, albeit in the reverse order.

Andretti Autosport's  James Hinchcliffe fighted his way all through the race and finally earned his first ever IndyCar victory of his career in the season-opening race in St. Petersburg.

On three separate occasion, "Hinch'' had to regain the lead during the race after initially taken advantage early on over polesitter Will Power (Penske).

On a later restart, the Canadian had the best over Helio Castroneves (Penske) and was able to maintain the lead during the last laps as the Brazilian made himself a constant menace.

Hinchcliffe crossed the finish line 1.0982s in front of Castroneves. Hinchcliffe's teammate Marco Andretti outdone himself on the street circuit to finish third.

Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Mario Andretti. (Photo: LAT for IndyCar)

Simona de Silvestro (KV Racing) remained amongst the leaders for the better part of the race but in the end her tires began to fade away, and within a few laps went from third to sixth.

Her teammate, Tony Kanaan and Ganassi's Scott Dixon completed the top five, finishing respectively 4th and 5th.

Rookie Tristan Vautier and his countryman Simon Pagenaud both experienced exhaust problems on their Schmidt Peterson DW12 and were forced to retire while Vautier was running sixth.

Current series' champion, Ryan Hunter-Reay was also forced to park his car with a mechanical problem, while his rival Power's afternoon did not go much better as he was rear-ended by a distracted JR Hildebrand that let Power with no choice than to get into the pits for repairs.

The Australian race ended a short time later when he hit the barriers.

James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport. (Photo: LAT for IndyCar)

Results - 110 laps:

Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. James Hinchcliffe Andretti Dallara-Chevy 2h22m12.5502s
2. Helio Castroneves Penske Dallara-Chevy + 1.0982s
3. Marco Andretti Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 16.3664s
4. Tony Kanaan KV Dallara-Chevy + 19.6083s
5. Scott Dixon Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 20.7627s
6. Simona de Silvestro KV Dallara-Chevy + 20.7890s
7. EJ Viso Andretti Dallara-Chevy + 20.8229s
8. Takuma Sato Foyt Dallara-Honda + 21.1878s
9. Justin Wilson Coyne Dallara-Honda + 21.6832s
10. Alex Tagliani Herta Dallara-Honda + 22.5569s
11. Sebastien Bourdais Dragon Dallara-Chevy + 22.7354s
12. Charlie Kimball Ganassi Dallara-Honda + 24.5429s
13. Graham Rahal Rahal Dallara-Honda + 37.5324s
14. Ed Carpenter Carpenter Dallara-Chevy + 45.2054s
15. James Jakes Rahal Dallara-Honda + 45.7793s
16. Will Power Penske Dallara-Chevy + 3 laps
17. Oriol Servia Panther/DRR Dallara-Chevy + 6 laps

Retirements:
Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Dallara-Chevy 79 laps
JR Hildebrand Panther Dallara-Chevy 78 laps
Sebastian Saavedra Dragon Dallara-Chevy 72 laps
Tristan Vautier Schmidt Dallara-Honda 69 laps
Ana Beatriz Coyne Dallara-Honda 55 laps
Josef Newgarden Fisher Dallara-Honda 50 laps
Simon Pagenaud Schmidt Dallara-Honda 26 laps
Dario Franchitti Ganassi Dallara-Honda 18 laps

A study published in the European Respiratory Journal reveals that 1 out of 7 chronic asthma cases may be the direct result of traffic-related air pollution.

Researchers compared children living near a major boulevard (10,000+ vehicles per day) with others living farther away. As they found out, the former had a higher number of asthmatics.

“Based on our findings, approximately 14% of all reported asthma cases among children can be attributed to traffic pollution. In other words, these children would not suffer from asthma if they were living away from a heavily polluted urban area,” the study reports.

Similar observations were made with older people. In fact, 28% of heart diseases are reportedly caused by traffic pollution.

The study was conducted in 10 European cities, including five in Spain.

Source: huffingtonpost

Among the all-new vehicles from General Motors at the New York Auto Show (March 29-April 7). will be the 2014 Buick LaCrosse 2014, which boasts fresh new looks and cutting-edge technologies.

The more youthful exterior sports LED daytime running lights and taillights, as well as a slightly larger grille. Meanwhile, the newly styled interior includes revised seats for superior comfort, along with a standard 8” colour display and Buick's next-generation IntelliLink infotainment system.

The 2014 Buick LaCrosse is also loaded with advanced safety features such as Side Blind Zone Alert, Lane Change Alert, Lane Departure Warning, Forward Collision Alert, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Automatic Collision Preparation. Adaptive Cruise Control is available, too.

GM's patented Safety Alert Seat works with these features, providing seat vibration pulses indicating the direction of a potential crash threat.

As for powertrains, the 2014 Buick LaCrosse offers a 2.4L 4-cylinder engine with eAssist (light electrification technology) and a 3.6L V6 with direct injection. Each is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission, while all-wheel drive is optional.

Photo: Buick

Fabio Leimer and Stefano Coletti each won a round in his past weekend's GP2 season opener in Sepang, Malaysia.

Coletti started from pole position, but was under pressure from Fabio Leimer (who's had a great start from fourth place) moments after the start.

Leimer powered into the lead and cruised to his first season win, ahead of Calado, who dominated free practice, and Coletti, who finally finished third.

Stephane Richelmi, who finished 8th in race 1, started the second race from pole position thanks to reverse grid regulation.

But Coletti, who had a brilliant start from sixth on the grid, muscled his way through the field and captured the early lead. Coletti maintained his position until the checkered flag, and moved into the championship lead.

Bad luck struck for Fabio Leimer and James Calado, who both crashed at the start.

GP2 - Sepang

Race 1:
1 - Fabio Leimer - Racing Engineering - 31 laps in 57'49"385
2 - James Calado - ART - 2"045
3 - Stefano Coletti - Rapax - 11"271

4 - Felipe Nasr - Carlin - 12"810
5 - Julian Leal - Racing Engineering - 28"837

6 - Jolyon Palmer - Carlin - 34"209

7 - Sam Bird - Russian Time - 41"187
8 - Stephane Richelmi - Dams - 58"941
Etc.

Race 2:
1 - Stefano Coletti - Rapax - 22 laps in 40'49"455
2 - Felipe Nasr - Carlin - 0"832
3 - Mitch Evans - Arden - 8"358

4 - Stephane Richelmi - Dams - 11"935
5 - Johnny Cecotto - Arden - 15"874

6 - Simon Trummer - Rapax - 17"072

7 - Conor Daly - Hilmer - 17"479

8 - Rene Binder - Lazarus - 23"726
Etc.

Championship:
1. Coletti 36; 2. Leimer 25; 3. Nasr 24; 4. Calado 18; 5. Richelmi 12; 6. Evans 11; 7. Leal 10; 8. Palmer, Bird 8, etc.

Kyle Busch took advantage of a late race tangle between teammate, Danny Hamlin and former teammate, Joey Logano to end a 31-race victory drought at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday.

After a feud broke out in Bristol last week Hamlin and Logano found themselves racing side-by-side into the final lap, racing past the limits of control until they banged fenders on the final lap.

Hamlin went to the wall hard. It appeared to be nothing more than hard racing and not revenge. Although Hamlin was able to get out under his own power he slumped to the ground and was airlifted to a Los Angeles hospital for observation.

An unrepentant Logano, who probably was unaware of Hamlin's medical condition, said "he probably shouldn't have done what he did last week, so that's what he gets.”

Photo: NASCAR

That was the least of the Penske's newest drivers concerns. On the final restart he admittedly blocked three-time Sprint Cup Champion, Tony Stewart. After the race Stewart came over to Logano's car to protest and a shoving match broke out.

"I had to throw the block there," Logano said. "That was a race for the lead. I felt if the 14 got underneath me, that was going to be the end of my opportunity to win the race, so I was just trying to protect the spot I had."

"It's time he learns a lesson," Stewart replied. "He's run his mouth long enough. ... He's nothing but a little rich kid that's never had to work in his life, so he's going to learn what us working guys who had to work our way up (know about) how it works."

"I'm tired of these guys doing that stuff, especially out of a kid that's been griping about everybody else, and then he does that the next week," Stewart said, referring to Logano's complaints about other drivers' similar moves. "He sent Denny to the hospital and screwed our day up. He's talked the talk, but he hasn't walked the walk yet.

NASCAR is reviewing the post-race incident between Stewart and Logano and whether there will be penalties against either driver. Penalties typically are handed out on Tuesday.

Kyle Busch. (Photo: NASCAR)

Busch's victory, after leading 125 of 200 laps in his Toyota, was just about overshadowed by the other dramas.

With a second place finish NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took over the lead in the Sprint Cup standings after five races with the series taking off next week for Easter.

This was Busch's 25th win in Sprint Cup and he had some ironic words to mark the win. “Oh, by the way, I won the race today," Busch said. "That might be a story. I'm sure it's not, though."

Cadillac should be overjoyed at the speculation and interest surrounding the new CTS.

EDITOR WES RAYNAL: What makes this

Chrysler Group, for all its improved performance lately, doesn't sell a lot of luxury cars to wealthy aficionados of German sports sedans. With the new Chrysler 300 SRT8, the company hopes to change that.

Opel workers in Bochum, Germany, appear to have lost a high-stakes gamble to save their factory after an attempt to put pressure on Opel parent General Motors backfired and GM opted to close the plant ahead of schedule.

Adapted from GMM

F1 erupted in controversy on Sunday, after Sebastian Vettel ignored a team order to win the Malaysian grand prix.

The German and his teammate Mark Webber were issued a codeword over the radio that meant something along the lines of 'hold position', while the leading Red Bull driven by Webber was nursing his car and tyres to the victory.

"Multi-21, Seb," Webber angrily shrugged at Vettel just before going onto the podium to accept his trophy for second place.

"You've got some explaining to do," his engineer said after the chequered flag.

Paddock rumours began to emerge that Vettel, realizing the gravity of his actions once the adrenaline of racing had calmed, had apologized to Webber, but the Australian was refusing to accept it.

In his podium interview with Martin Brundle, Webber predicted that Vettel would be "protected as usual" by Red Bull rather than punished.

But bosses Christian Horner, and even Dr Helmut Marko, agreed that the triple world champion and new championship leader had done the wrong thing.

"We let the drivers race until the final pitstop," said Horner, arguing that after that, the team's interest is "bigger" than the drivers'.

Vettel was apologetic.

"I did a big mistake and I'm not proud of it," he told reporters.  "I can't change it now.  It's not a victory I'm proud of.  It should have been Mark's."

Was Malaysia 2010 the final blow to Webber and Vettel's relationship? (Photo: WRi2)

The fallout could be significant. Some interpreted Webber's following comments as a threat to leave the team. He said he would go home to Australia in the break between now and China to "take my medicine.

"It is still very raw," he said on British television Sky.  "We'll see if the medicine cures it.

"To be honest, a lot of things were going on in my mind in the last 15 laps of the race.

"It's very hard for people to understand the situation, they think they know what went on but they don't," Webber continued.

"It puts a lot of heat on certain people."

Adapted from GMM

Pressure is mounting on F1 supplier Pirelli to change its tires.

It is being whispered ever louder in the Sepang paddock that Red Bull, Mercedes and perhaps other teams are pushing hard for the Italian supplier to amend the heavily-degrading tires supplied so far in 2013 in Australia and Malaysia.

"There are definitely signs about a change of the compound," Mercedes' Toto Wolff is quoted by SID news agency.

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko says Pirelli "has promised" to change its tyre compounds in time for next month's Bahrain grand prix.

Pirelli's Paul Hembery, however, said the marque will only look to change tack if the teams "unanimously" demand it.

"That (unanimity) is definitely not the case," he insisted.

"If we do something, and suddenly two or three cars are no longer competitive but some others are suddenly faster, then we just have a new problem.

"We are analysing the situation," Pirelli is quoted by Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, "but there is still no decision."

Despite safety concerns, Red Bull finished 1-2 in Malaysia followed by... two Mercedes (Photo: WRi2)

Mercedes and Red Bull's argument revolves around a safety issue.

"(The) fact is that the tires are not only developing extreme degradation after only a few laps, but big chunks quarry out," Marko told F1's official website.

"So this looks like there is an issue with the basics of the tires.  Note, the tires have these problems -- not us."

So rather than rush back to Milton-Keynes to make improvements to the car that will perhaps make it slower, Marko said the priority for Red Bull is to "sit down with Pirelli".

As for the claim that Lotus is doing so well because its 2010 car - the Renault R30 - is now used by Pirelli as its test mule, Hembery dismissed it as a "conspiracy theory (that is) not based on fact".

And a Lotus source is quoted by Italy's La Stampa: "If our car was like 2010, we would be in bad shape."

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has admitted he is considering dropping Interlagos from the F1 calendar.

Indeed, Britain's Daily Mail reveals that F1 chief executive Ecclestone, who has not travelled to the opening two races of the 2013 calendar, has in fact just returned from Rio de Janeiro.

The city's mayor is reportedly "pitching hard" to become the new Brazil GP host.

"The mayor has told me they can get it done," said Ecclestone.

"I have been unhappy with Sao Paulo for a long time.  It's a super race track, but the facilities need a big facelift.

"We could be there (Rio) for Olympic year (2016), but I know how hard it was for London to run just the Olympics," he added.

Meanwhile, Ecclestone has expressed interest in extending Malaysia's F1 contract, but told The Star newspaper that organisers need to give Sepang a "paint job".

"It is obviously not the same as Singapore," he said.  "Maybe because they don't spend the money."

After dominating most of the earlier practice sessions, Team Penske's Will Power earned the IndyCar season opener's pole position, in St Petersburg which makes it the 30th of his career.

The achievement is Power's 30th career pole, and fourth consecutive in St Petersburg.

Takuma Sato (AJ Foyt Racing) will start alongside him, having lapped second fastest, while KV Racing's Simona de Silvestro maintained her weekend's pace ending up in third.

Canadian James Hinchcliffe (Andretti) had a close battle with Helio Castroneves (Penske) untill the end and eventually beat the Brazilian to fourth place on the grid.

Newcomer Tristan Vautier completed the top six for Sam Schmidt Motorsport; once again showing his potential.


Qualifying results - St Petersburg (IndyCar)
1.Will Power (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'01"2070
2.Takuma Sato (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Foyt - 1'01"5776
3.Simona De Silvestro (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'01"7670
4.James Hinchcliffe (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'01"8229
5.Helio Castroneves (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Penske - 1'01"8991
6.Tristan Vautier (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 1'02"0645
7.Marco Andretti (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'01"6883
8.Ryan Hunter-Reay (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'01"7339
9.Sebastian Saavedra (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 1'01"7944
10.Dario Franchitti (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'01"8150
11.Tony Kanaan (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - KV - 1'01"9139
12.Oriol Servia (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Panther DRR - 1'02"1483
13.Justin Wilson (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'02"1777
14.Charlie Kimball (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'02"1198
15.Graham Rahal (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'02"2709
16.Josef Newgarden (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Fisher - 1'02"1592
17.Alex Tagliani (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Herta - 1'02"3328
18.James Jakes (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Rahal - 1'02"1658
19.Simon Pagenaud (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Schmidt - 1'02"4736
20.Scott Dixon (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Ganassi - 1'02"1715
21.Sebastien Bourdais (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Dragon - 1'02"6537
22.Ernesto Viso (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Andretti - 1'02"1986
23.Ed Carpenter (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Carpenter - 1'02"6634
24.JR Hildebrand (Dallara DW12-Chevy) - Panther - 1'02"3179
25.Ana Beatriz (Dallara DW12-Honda) - Coyne - 1'03"2551

Adapted from GMM

Martin Whitmarsh has failed yet again to "kill off" suggestions McLaren will ultimately scrap the 2013 car and revert to the winning model of last season.

"Everything is an option," he told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport when asked the old question about the possible return of the 2012 car.

"But we have made some initial progress and I believe up to China we will make some more."

Jenson Button apparently agrees, saying qualifying in Malaysia "just two tenths off the guy (Kimi Raikkonen)", who won in Australia, "can't be bad".

Still, the rumours about the 2012 car persist, even though Whitmarsh insists there is nothing "fundamentally" flawed - or unfixable - about the MP4-28.

The team boss was asked on Saturday if he can "kill off" the 2012 car speculation.

"I can kill it off for the time being," he told reporters.  "We have made a clear decision and we are working hard to understand this car in order to improve it and turn it into a race-winning one."

His message is clear -- if fixing the MP4-28 falters, the MP4-27 is always there.

"The fact is," continued Whitmarsh, "we took too long to realise (the mistakes with the MP4-28) and we are responding now."

Adapted from GMM

Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton completed a sour-faced podium on Sunday by finishing third, after his faster teammate Nico Rosberg was told by boss Ross Brawn to hold station.

Nico Rosberg "holding station" (Photo: WRi2)

First and second of the same race were Red Bull teammates Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, who had their fair share of team orders controversy.

"If I'm honest, Nico should be standing here, he had better pace," said Hamilton. "I can't say it is the best feeling being up here (on the podium)."

Hamilton was just as happy as Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel to stand on the podium in Sepang (Photo: WRi2)

Earlier, Rosberg pleaded to be able to pass the sister W04, but Brawn's answer was "negative".

"Remember this one," Rosberg said over the radio as he pulled into parc ferme in fourth position, but he soon reassured reporters that he understood and respected the team's decision.

Red Bull's Marko, who in the Vettel-Webber row took the side of the Australian, said of the Mercedes situation it is obvious the team wanted its "number 1" driver to finish in front.

Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand prix under controversial conditions from teammate Mark Webber and Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton.

The Red Bull drivers had allegedly agreed to hold position after the fourth and final round of pitstops with Webber leading and Vettel second.

The start of a wet/dry Malaysian GP (Photo: WRi2)

However, in an action that supposedly ‘needed explaining' after the race, the current world champion challenged Webber, and in the final stages pulled ahead and claimed his 38th career victory by 4.2 seconds.

Red Bull was not the only team to be hit by controversy in the Sepang heat. The Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg finished third and fourth respectively, despite the German driver believing that by the end of the race he had a clear pace advantage which was played out over the radio in an entertaining exchange with team boss Ross Brawn in the race's closing stages.

Nico Rosberg uselessly chassing down Lewis Hamilton (Photo: WRi2)

Ferrari after displaying impressive pace yesterday were also not free of problems. Fernando Alonso was up to second by the first corner from the start but tapped Vettel's Red Bull at Turn 2 and damaged the front wing of the car; within a few corners, the Spaniard had slid into the gravel with a shattered front wing and became the first high profile retirement of the race.

Alonso now lies 22 points behind Vettel in the driver's championship.

Fernando Alonso's first lap in Malaysia was also his last (Photo: WRi2)

The race's opening stages were characterized by a wet start and Vettel and Webber running first and second after the Australian made an uncharacteristically good start off the line.  The two cars switched positions after Vettel pitted too early for slicks, handing the advantage to Webber.

The Red Bull team's pit decisions allowed for Hamilton to capitalize on the brewing inter-team battle, with the Mercedes at that point seemingly capable of challenging the blue cars for a victory.

Hamilton's pace led to Vettel - who had dropped behind his teammate - making the bizarre “Mark is too slow, get him out of the way. He is too slow” claim over the radio, after Webber was in front and clearly held a pace advantage at this point.

Mark Webber leading Sebastian Vettel reminescent of Turkey 2010 (Photo: WRi2)

Red Bull's race now echoed Turkey 2010, with anxious faces on the team's pitwall after Vettel made his final pitstop that now put him on the tail of his teammate after he emerged.

In a clear contravention of team orders, Vettel challenged Webber for a few laps after the team had turned the engines down and issued the “multi 21” directive, a term believed to mean “hold station” within the Red Bull camp. The rest of the race saw Webber drop back, and Vettel claim a win that puts him level with Sir Jackie Stewart in terms of wins.

Amidst the controversy, Felipe Massa finished fifth for Ferrari after a difficult Grand Prix, with the Lotus' of Grosjean and Raikkonen finishing sixth and seventh. Hulkenberg, Perez and Vergne rounded out the top-10 with each driver opening their 2013 points account.

McLaren also showed improved pace with Jenson Button on course for fifth until a loose front wheel forced the 2009 world champion to stop in the pit-lane and wait for two minutes for the mechanics to retrieve the stricken car.

Jules Bianchi once again repaid Marussia's faith in him by finishing 13th making him once again the best of the backmarkers ahead of the two Caterhams and teammate Chilton who was classified as 22nd and last.

Three happy clams on the podium (Photo: WRi2)

Race results* - Malaysian Grand Prix (Kuala Lampur)
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 56 laps 1.38'56"681
2 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 4"298
3 - Lewis Hamilton (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 12"181
4 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 12"640
5 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 25"648
6 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 35"564
7 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 48"479
8 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 53"044
9 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4/28-Mercedes) - 1'12"357
10 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'27"124
11 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'28"610
12 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1 lap
13 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1 lap
14 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1 lap
15 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1 lap
16 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 2 laps

Fastest lap: 1'39"199 (Sergio Perez)

Retirements
Lap 1 - Fernando Alonso
Lap 2 - Paul Di Resta
Lap 27 - Adrian Sutil
Lap 45 - Pastor Maldonado
Lap 51 - Daniel Ricciardo
Lap 53 - Jenson Button

Drivers' championship
1.Vettel 40; 2.Raikkonen 31; 3.Webber 26; 4.Hamilton 25; 5.Massa 22; 6.Alonso 18; 7.Rosberg 12; 8.Grosjean 9; 9.Sutil 6; 10.Di Resta, Hulkenberg 4; 12.Button, Perez 2; 14.Vergne 1.

Constructors' championship
1.Red Bull-Renault 66; 2.Lotus-Renault, Ferrari 40; 4.Mercedes 37; 5.Force India-Mercedes 10; 6.McLaren-Mercedes, Sauber-Ferrari 4; 8.Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1

*Unofficial