( CNN ) -- Ferrari 's Fernando Alonso won a rain-hit Malaysian Grand Prix Sunday holding off a thrilling challenge from young Mexican Sergio Perez . Lewis Hamilton , who started from pole , finished third in his McLaren but teammate Jenson Button was out of the points . Reigning two-time world champion Sebastian Vettel , second to Button in the season-opener , finished 11th after a late puncture . Alonso , a two-time world champion and driving a Ferrari which has been uncompetitive in qualifying in the two races to date , showed his experience to hold off Sauber 's rising star Perez with Hamilton a well beaten third . The victory takes him to the top of the driver standings after two races with 35 points , five points clear of Hamilton . The race was hit by a torrential downpour at the start which saw all the leading contenders rushing to change to wet tires . A safety car was quickly called into action before the race was halted . When it resumed , Hamilton lost first place after a slow pit-stop with Alonso eventually appearing at the head of the field . But Perez looked to be the faster and set for his maiden victory until he overshot a corner on lap 50 out of 56 . By now racing on dry tires , Alonso held him off to claim his first GP win for eight months . But in the post-race press conference he was realistic about his team 's chances in the next few months . `` The win changes nothing , '' he said . `` We are in a position that we do n't want . The goal was not to lose many points . `` We did the job track side . So this is a positive news but coming to China and Bahrain there is a lot of stuff coming to the car and this is the real job to do , '' added the Spaniard . Button , who started from second on the grid , made a rare mistake as he drove into the side of HRT 's Narain Karthikeyan and lost his front wing . He eventually finished 14th . Vettel 's Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was fourth with former world champion Kimi Raikkonen fifth for Lotus . Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher , who started third on the grid , span early in the race and took the last points in 10th place .
Fernando Alonso wins Spaniard GP for Ferrari . Ferrari 's Sergio Perez finishes 14th in his the next few months . Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton completes podium . World champion Lewis Hamilton out of the points .