ALONSO WINS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX

VICTORY......Fernando Alonso overcame stormy weather at the Sepang International Circuit to claim victory for Ferrari in the Malaysian Grand Prix

FERRARI'S Fernando Alonso won a dramatic Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving the Italian team one of its more unlikely victories in its long history.

In a race that was stopped for 51 minutes because of rain, Alonso looked like he'd be overtaken by Sauber's Sergio Perez until the Mexican ran off the track with six laps to go, giving the Ferrari enough of a gap to hang on.

Ferrari had been considered to be in crisis after a poor start to the season, but a superb display of wet-weather driving gave Alonso a memorable victory. Perez's second-place finish was Sauber's best-ever.

Pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished third ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber and Lotus' Kimi Raikkonen.

The final results from Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday:

1. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari) 2hr 44min 51.812 sec

2. Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber) at 2.263

3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) 14.591

4. Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull) 17.688

5. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault) 29.456

6. Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams-Renault) 37.667

7. Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India) 44.412

8. Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso) 46.985

9. Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India) 47.892

10. Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes-AMG) 49.996

11. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull) 1:15.527

12. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso) 1:16.828

13. Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes-AMG) 1:18.593

14. Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren) 1:19.719

15. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) 1:37.319

16. Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham F1 team) 1 lap

17. Timo Glock (GER/Marussia-Cosworth) 1 lap

18. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham F1 team) 1 lap

19. Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia-Cosworth) 2 lap

20. Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT-Cosworth) 2 lap

21. Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT-Cosworth) 2 lap

22. Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Renault) 2 lap

(Agencies)