With the second race of the season now done and dusted, the Malaysian Grand Prix gave a tantalising glimpse into the future of the championship as Sebastian Vettel was able to elude the grasp of the McLaren’s once more to take the chequered flag, but for how much longer will he be able to?

What other plots are developing in a season which is looking capable of matching 2010 for drama?

Before the F1 circus rolls into Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix, here are five lessons we can take away from Sepang.

1 – MCLAREN CAN CATCH RED BULL – Pre-season testing seems an eternity away at the moment. When BBC commentator Martin Brundle branded the McLaren MP4-26 a “mess” before the Australian Grand Prix, few would have expected two podium finishes for the Woking-based team in the first two races of the season.

There are still problems for McLaren to iron out, and Lewis Hamilton’s outburst against his team will have done little for morale, but there was a time when both Hamilton and Jenson Button put pressure on championship leader Sebastian Vettel.

Were it not for Hamilton’s botched pit strategy or Button’s tyres halting his charge for the lead, the German would have been given something serious to think about for the first time this season. They have their flaws, but if they can get it right come race day, Red Bull’s stroll to both championships will raise to a sprint.

2 – THERE ARE TWO MCLAREN DRIVERS – It is little wonder Jenson Button was smiling like the cat that got the cream after Sunday’s race in Sepang. The 2009 world champion has just secured a 2nd placed finish which moved him ahead of his team-mate and in to second place overall on the drivers leaderboard.

For all the talk of Lewis Hamilton v Sebastian Vettel, Button gave a stark reminder of his ability to the rest of the grid – His ever increasing knack of being in the right place at the right time has marked him out as a real contender for this year’s crown. Both of his race victories last year were built upon a slick race strategy, and while perhaps lacking the raw speed of his illustrious team mate, Button is wily and has a canny ability to find himself in the thick of the action.

The Malaysian Grand Prix proved no different, and if he continues to use his racing intelligence as well as his racing ability, he may well be in contention to win his second world title.

“For all the talk of Lewis Hamilton v Sebastian Vettel, Button gave a stark reminder of his ability to the rest of the grid.”

3 – FERRARI FIGHT ON – Talk of Ferrari’s demise before the race was proved to be premature. After their disappointing qualifying session on Saturday, Felipe Mass admitted his team were well off the pace of the race leaders, while Fernando Alonso’s pre-race prediction that Ferrari were  capable of challenging for both the drivers and constructors championship raised a few eyebrows as both cars limped home in 6th and 9th respectively.

If the race result was far from the defiant two-fingered salute to the Ferrari naysayers, then it was the performance of Alonso, and in particular his speed that shows that Ferrari still have something to fight for this season.

“Talk of Ferrari’s demise before the race was proved to be premature.”

The Spaniard himself was reassured to discover the Ferrari F150 Italia could fight “wheel to wheel” with their race rivals, and while Rome wasn’t built in a day, Ferrari, especially with Alonso on board, are one of the few teams on the grid capable of developing a winning car mid-way through the season, as they proved so ably last year.

4 – RED BULL HAVE KERS FOR CONCERN – Red Bull designer Adrian Newey doesn’t like KERS. If he had doubts of the cumbersome power-boost device ruining his perfect aerodynamic bodywork before the Malaysian Grand Prix, he will now be certain the temperamental system has no place on a Red Bull car that was easily quick enough without it in Melbourne two weeks ago.

Both Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber were forced to make do without it at various points in Sunday’s race, leaving them particularly vulnerable on Sepang’s long straights.

Its failure perhaps made the end race result seem closer than it should have been. One thing is certain, the must find a way of making it work, or face up to the prospect of having their early season advantage nullified as the chasing pack gradually close in.

5 – RENAULT LOOK TO CONTINUE THIER SUCCESSFUL START – Despite the sight of Vitaly Petrov being sent airborne after running over a rain gully and subsequently pulling his steering column clean from its fixings likely to have sent team principal Eric Boullier into meltdown, Renault will reflect on a job well done in Malaysia.

Nick Heidfeld’s electrifying start and his ability to stick so gamely to his task once he had been passed by Hamilton and Button to secure his podium finish will have justified the selection of the German as Robert Kubica’s replacement.

Coupled with Petrov’s 3rd place finish in Melbourne, Renault finally look able to emerge from the shadow of Fernando Alonso and Flavio Briatore as they go in search of their first race win since 2008. It is a shame we will be unlikely to see what the talented Kubica would be capable of in this year’s car.

Top Five Conclusions will be a regular feature on Formula1Fancast – keep an eye out for the next one after the Chinese Grand Prix. Also don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

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