Like Jeremy Renner's character from the Academy Award winning film - The Hurt Locker - the Red Bull and Mercedes AMG racing teams were clouded in tension as their drivers were getting increasingly frustrated by team orders and driver rivalry.

More than skill or strategy - frustrations between team mates and radio messages spilled out the plot of the Malaysian Grand Prix from the end of the middle stint.

In the Mercedes AMG camp, Nico Rosberg missed a podium appearance by obeying instructions to not challenge his team mate and personal friend - Hamilton - from Team Principle Ross Brawn.

The eventful and tense Malaysian Grand Prix could have ended in disaster for the Austrian-U.K. racing team.

Defending champion Vettel ignored team orders - which post-race claimed he was unaware of, and 'stole' a rightful win away from Webber by racing him unexpectedly. At that stint of the race Webber was 'coasting' his car to the end of the race and wasn't prepared for an attack by his team mate.

Vettel's radio message from his team could not have been sharper or clearer to the millions of motorsport enthusiasts the world over as he crossed the finishing line, "Great job Sebastian, it looked like you wanted it more. But still there'll be some explaining to do."

The green room and podium were showing a multitude of emotions as all three winners felt glum, gloomy, anger, frustration, disappointment and remorse.

Despite all the tension, the race staged its fair share of incidents - starting with Alonso whose race ended at the end of the first lap, after his mildly damaged front wing broke off completely and sent him skidding into a gravel trap.

Force India retired both their cars after a pit stop error involving a wheel nut. Button retired as well while his team mate Perez contributed two points to the team by bringing home his McLaren in ninth.

Nostalgia hit third place winner Hamilton during a pit stop as he 'accidentally' pulled in at his former team - McLaren's - pit box. The McLaren crew were all set to receive Button before Hamilton came in on lap seven. Fortunately Hamilton completed his pit-stop in the right garage and resumed his fight for the lead.

Last week's race winner Raikkonen and the Lotus team in general seemed to lack pace despite finishing a respectable seventh behind his team mate.

Massa on the other hand finished a credible fifth in the sole prancing horse after a weak start and a surprisingly unimpressive middle stint.

At the end of the race Vettel leads the drivers' championship at 40 points while Kimi Raikkonen and Mark Webber trail the German at 31 and 26 points respectively.

On the constructors championships, Red Bull is leading at 66 points while Lotus and Ferrari are currently tied at 40 points as the F1 circus heads to China in three weeks.