FORMULA ONE CHINESE GRAND PRIX: SEBASTIAN VETTEL scored a stunning second career win in Shanghai yesterday dominating a rain-lashed Chinese Grand Prix to lead team-mate Mark Webber home, giving Red Bull Racing its first grand prix win, a little over six months after he had done the same for sister team Toro Rosso.

At a storm-tossed Monza last year Vettel announced himself onto the world stage by claiming pole and then a faultless victory for the tiny Italian team.

Yesterday, in similarly sodden conditions in Shanghai he repeated the feat, leading a treacherous race from lights to flag after claiming pole on Saturday.

“I am extremely happy,” said the 21-year-old German afterwards. “It’s the second time now I’ve won a grand prix in the wet. The car was fantastic, it is definitely necessary to mention the team did a really, really good job in preparing the car.”

Indeed Vettel’s hopes of even completing the race were in doubt overnight on Saturday as the team worked to repair a faulty driveshaft that had threatened to wreck his qualifying runs that afternoon.

The problem had restricted Vettel to just a single run in each of qualifying’s three mini-sessions, but the the lack of running hadn’t fazed the youngster and with seconds remaining in the shoot-out for the top 10 grid spots, Vettel coolly used his single run to claim the second pole of his short career.

It gave him the perfect platform for the race, if the reliability issue could be solved. It was and Vettel was able to cement his dominant position after the race was started under the safety car as heavy rain and strong winds whipped across the circuit.

“We were struggling a bit with reliability, but we fixed it overnight,” Vettel said. “That speaks of the quality of our team, everybody was trying to fix it. Both cars finished the race. Having a double win for Red Bull is incredible.”

The safety car led the field for the first eight laps but after conditions improved enough for the green flag to start the real racing, Vettel immediately began to display the kind of wet-weather skill that had seen him cruise to victory in Monza last year.

By the time the first round of pit stops proper began, with Webber coming in on lap 14, Vettel had established a six-second lead over his team-mate and a vast 14 second gap to Brawn GP’s Jenson Button, who had started fifth but climbed to third after light-fuelled front-row starter Fernando Alonso had pitted under the safety car and slipped back and following a mistake from fellow Brawn driver Rubens Barrichello.

After two races of almost total dominance, neither Brawn driver was able to match the pace of the Red Bulls yesterday and though Button briefly battled for second with Webber, the Australian was eventually able to pull away from the championship leader and crossed the finish line second and almost 35 seconds clear of the Brawn driver.

“I couldn’t get temperature into the front and rears so it was a difficult race and every lap you thought you were going to throw the car off, you really did,” said Button. “So to finish the race is an achievement and to come home on the podium is also great.”

The Briton admitted that he had been unable to match the pace of the Red Bull drivers all afternoon. “We couldn’t challenge these two guys (Vettel and Webber), who were amazingly quick but it is great to get six points on the board and that is important to keep the consistency,” he said.

For Vettel the going was no easier, though he admitted that in leading the race he had enjoyed the advantage of not having to contend with the vast curtains of spray thrown up by any cars in front.

“It was very difficult race, a lot of aquaplaning, you were just catching the car, keeping it on circuit. I think I had the best conditions as no cars were running in front of me the whole race so it was quite comfortable but still difficult with the aquaplaning, especially in the last corner,” he said.

“On the last two laps I backed off, I didn’t want to risk going off the track in the same way. Winning the second race, and having won for Toro Rosso and Red Bull is fantastic.”

For rivals of the now title pacesetters, Red Bull and Brawn, it was less than fantastic. Despite utilising a makeshift double diffuser, which propelled him to the front row in qualifying, Renault’s Fernando Alonso could do no better than ninth, while the BMWs of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica trundled home 12th and 13th.

It was a more productive afternoon for McLaren and defending champion Lewis Hamilton. Again armed with an interim diffuser the troubled team dragged themselves out of the lower orders yesterday to claim seven points, with Heikki Kovalainen taking a useful fifth place, with Hamilton one place further back.

Asked to take positives from the race Hamilton responded: “Just that we finished and obviously the reliability of the car is fantastic, so it was great job from the guys.”

For Ferarri though, matters go from bad to worse. Kimi Raikkonen limped to the flag in 10th place, while Felipe Massa failed to finish, the Brazilian’s car grinding to halt after just 20 laps. On Saturday, Raikkonen moaned that the championship was already over for the team and that new developments were desperately needed.

However, while Renault and McLaren have already developed temporary versions of the crucial double diffuser, Ferrari are not expected to introduce a version until the Spanish GP in a months’ time.

For Red Bull Racing, though, it seems their need for the trick element is less pressing.