Formula One:Red Bull finally got the reward their pace this season has deserved as Sebastian Vettel led a one-two ahead of team-mate Mark Webber at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Reliability issues have dogged the team's start to the season with Vettel having surrendered pole in the opening two races.
This time it was his team-mate Webber who started on pole in Sepang but the German was quick off the mark to steal the lead after the first lap which he then largely retained for the rest of the race.
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg claimed third place although it had proven a disastrous race for his team-mate Michael Schumacher who retired early with suspension problems.
Meanwhile, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton enjoyed a superb outing to battle his way from 20th on the grid to finish sixth while his team-mate Jenson Button took eighth having started from 17th.
Renault's Robert Kubica continued his impressive start to the season as he climbed two places from sixth to finish fourth with the Force India of Adrian Sutil successfully holding off Hamilton to secure fifth.
Behind the 2008 champion was Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who also produced a scintillating drive to climb from 21st on the grid to finish seventh while Toro Rosso's Jaime Alguersuari and Williams rookie Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
Meanwhile, Bahrain GP winner Fernando Alonso saw his race ended on the penultimate lap due to an engine problem with his Ferrari after he had tried to move ahead of Button.
The Spaniard's exit means Massa moves top of the drivers' standings on 39 points with Vettel and Alonso two points behind, while Button and Rosberg are both on 35 and Hamilton is on 31.
"It is a very good result, especially after the first two races where we did not finish where we wanted to," said Vettel.
"I am very, very happy."
Despite concerns over a fuel tank size that would not allow them to cross the finish line, Virgin completed their first race of the season as Lucas di Grassi claimed 14th place ahead of the HRT duo of Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna.
Jarno Trulli took 17th for Lotus while the Italian's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen was not classified after spending several laps in the pits due to a problem with his car.
A heavy downpour had fallen without fail around the same time each day in the build up to the race but the drivers took to a dry circuit on Sunday and as soon as the five red lights went out, Vettel made his move as he quickly passed Rosberg before getting the better of Webber at turn one.
The Australian briefly regained pole but then surrendered it again as Vettel completed the first lap at the head of the pack.
But Pedro de la Rosa's race was over before it had even started as his Sauber came to a stop at turn three on his lap to the grid after suffering engine failure.
Button and Hamilton had started towards the back of the grid after a strategic error during yesterday's rain-soaked qualifying saw them fail to progress from Q1.
But they made quick work of passing the slower cars as Hamilton climbed to 13th after the first lap with Button making up one place into 16th.
Hamilton's typically aggressive driving had seen him climb to 10th after 10 laps before tussling with Renault's Vitaly Petrov for ninth.
He then passed the Russian but defended his position in questionable fashion down the pit straight with a weaving manoeuvre that saw the black and white flag being waved for "excessive weaving".
There was disaster for seven-time world champion Schumacher on the same lap though as his race too came to an end when the 41-year-old's Mercedes came off at turn six after suffering a broken left rear suspension.
Massa and Alonso were also working their way through the field and as Hamilton continued to push towards the front, the Ferrari duo were up to seventh and eighth respectively after 20 laps with Button just behind in ninth.
Hamilton, meanwhile, had worked his way up to third but was one of the few drivers left on the track yet to make a pit stop and once he did after the 31st lap he re-emerged just ahead of Button in seventh.
Vettel was still on pole and was over five seconds faster than Webber after 36 laps with his team-mate over 14 seconds ahead of Rosberg.
Massa, meanwhile, snuck ahead of Button on turn one of lap 44 to move into seventh while Hamilton was unable to find the pace he needed to get the better of Sutil and was in sixth.
Alonso had his eyes on Button as the race entered the closing stages but his race came to a frustrating end with just one lap remaining when smoke plumed out of his Ferrari after attempting to snatch eighth from Button.
But at the front it was as you were as Vettel maintained his comfortable lead over Webber to secure a welcome first win of the season after reliability problems had denied him in the first two races of the season.