Vettel Claims First Victory for Ferrari
The Malaysian Grand Prix is always a roll of the dice as the high humidity boils the brain whilst torrential rain can further put the cat amongst the pigeons. Yesterdays qualifying saw rain and changing track conditions result in the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel get between the two dominant Mercedes-Benz cars. There was also some friction between the two silver arrows due to Rosberg arguably not moving far enough off of the racing line whilst Hamilton passed on a flying lap. Hamilton then appeared to slow down in front of his teammate. Many questions needed answering during the race, primarily, could Ferrari have really caught up with Mercedes?
As the lights went out, Vettel got to work quickly defending his second position on the grid. Ferrari have evidently found some pace over the past two weeks, this was very clearly displayed by Raikkonen who, despite getting a puncture in the opening laps, finished fourth. A safety car sent both Mercedes into the pits for their stops, but Vettel stayed out longer aiming to make his tyres last. After his stop the new Ferrari driver chased after Rosberg and passed him without much fuss. His predecessor, Alonso who is now at McLaren, retired on his race debut adding to the pain the British team are suffering. Another blow was the retirement of Jenson Button on lap 41. The 17 year-old Max Verstappen again proved that age is but a number with a very strong showing. Watch this man, he is naturally talented at this age, imagine him with more experience! In Hamilton’s eyes the second stop resulted in a poor tyre choice and so Vettel got past the leading Mercedes whilst it was in the pits. Hamilton just didn’t have the pace to catch up. A final daring move from Bottas on Massa during the final lap resulted in the Williams cars finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
I ended my last race report convinced that Mercedes had the other teams covered. Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari have proven me wrong.
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Nico Rosberg
4. Kimi Raikkonen
5. Valtteri Bottas
6. Felipe Massa
7. Max Verstappen
8. Carlos Sainz Jr
9. Daniil Kvyat
10. Daniel Ricciardo
11. Romain Grosjean
12. Felipe Nasr
13. Sergio Perez
14. Nico Hulkenberg
15. Roberto Merhi
DNF Pastor Maldonado
DNF Jenson Button
DNF Fernando Alonso
DNF Marcus Ericsson