Vettel thrilled to prove doubters wrong

Sebastian Vettel believes Red Bull have silenced their critics in the best possible way after the German led a one-two ahead of Mark Webber in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

The 22-year-old had secured pole for the first two races of the season in Bahrain and Australia but reliability problems with his RB6 prevented him from turning them into victories - which prompted some questions to be raised as to whether they could successfully challenge for the championship, with Formula One great Niki Lauda recently writing off their chances.

But they got the reward their evident pace this season has deserved and Vettel said: "Yes, we didn't have great races in the first and second one and we didn't do the best job we could, but that's life. So we carry on and we've proven that we can come back."

He added: "You build racing cars to go as quickly as you can. They're built on the limit and sometimes something breaks.

"Obviously it depends when. When it happens on Friday no-one cares but if it happens on Sunday obviously everyone is highlighting the issue and blaming you for poor reliability.

"We are a team, we stick together in good and bad times. We win and lose together and it's not like in football where you probably change the coach after you've lost two times."

The win moves Vettel up to second in the drivers' championship alongside Ferrari's Fernando Alonso with 37 points and just two points behind Felipe Massa.

Red Bull are third in the constructors' standings with 61 points, behind McLaren (66) and Ferrari (76).

The Formula One circus enjoys a short break now before the Chinese Grand Prix on April 18 and the race in Shanghai holds happy memories for Vettel as it marks the scene of his first of four victories last season.

"Hopefully we will have the same result in China as last year," he added. "Every race is a new challenge. We have to work hard and focus on what is happening now to maintain the good performance and then we go race by race."