Vettel paints Sepang red
A dominant Sebastian Vettel and tactically brilliant Ferrari dominated the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit here on Sunday. Vettel was barely troubled en route to what he described as a “dream win” in the famous red car.
Ferrari beat Mercedes on outright pace, and Vettel reminded everyone of just why he won the drivers’ championship for four years on the trot.
Mercedes were found wanting on several levels on Sunday. Their threepit stop strategy backfired and their poor choice of tyres for Lewis Hamilton’s car in his final stop added insult to injury — “Wrong tyre, man!” an irate Hamilton even snapped at his team over the radio.
So desperate were Mercedes, and so great was the car’s hunger for tyres that the team even considered making a fourth stop. The only thing that would have changed is the gap between Hamilton and Vettel. The Brit eventually finished the race 8.569 seconds after Vettel.
Rosberg occupied the final place on the podium while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was in top form, jumping seven places to finish fourth. His race becomes even more impressive when one takes into consideration his first-lap puncture, which was caused by a brush with Sauber’s Felipe Nasr.
Sunday was also a day of cruel irony. Vettel lapped both cars of his former team, Red Bull, while Fernando Alonso, who retired from the race in the 21st lap, could only look on from the garage as his former side Ferrari utterly dominated proceedings.
Mercedes made their first strategic error when the safety car was deployed in the fourth lap, after Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson’s car spun on Turn One. Mercedes pitted both their cars and when they resumed, they found themselves in the middle of the field, with no way of overtaking their way to the front. Ferrari, wisely, kept Vettel out on the track as he made full use of his car’s lower tyre degradation.
Both the Williams drivers, Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa, finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Toro Rosso’s 17-year-old Max Verstappen was the seventh driver to cross the finish line, and in doing so, became the youngest driver to score championship points.
McLaren had a day to forget. Both their drivers could not finish the race due to mechanical troubles.
While Alonso’s race ended in the 21st lap, Jenson Button, the 2009 champion, retired from the race 20 laps later.
This was the first win since 2013 for both Ferrari and Vettel.