2015 Malaysian GP: Vettel beats Mercedes with Ferrari strategy

Sebastian Vettel won the 2015 Malaysian GP at the Sepang International Circuit, taking his first victory with the Scuderia in only his second race for Ferrari. The two Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crossed the line behind him. The deciding factor was an early Safety Car period: Mercedes pitted both cars, while Vettel stayed out. In the end he made it through on two stops, whereas the Silver Arrows needed three.

It was Ferrari's first win since the 2013 Spanish GP and Vettel's first since Brazil 2013.

Hamilton led from pole position, with Vettel following from second on the grid and Rosberg from third. The order did not last long. After three laps Marcus Ericsson spun his Sauber at Turn 1 and came to a stop. The Safety Car was deployed.

That was the moment the race was decided. Mercedes brought Hamilton and Rosberg in on lap 4 and fitted hard tyres. Because both cars came in one behind the other, Rosberg lost a lot of time as second in the queue: according to our data, his trip through the pit lane took 33.7 seconds. Ferrari left Vettel out on medium tyres, which put him at the head of the field. After his stop Hamilton initially dropped to 5th place.

After the restart it became clear that the Ferrari was much kinder to its tyres in the Sepang heat than the Mercedes W06. Vettel extended his lead until his first stop on lap 17, when he switched to mediums again. Hamilton then led from lap 18 to 23, until he pitted himself on lap 24 and handed the lead back to Vettel.

By pitting under the Safety Car, Mercedes had committed to three stops. Vettel, by contrast, made do with two, on lap 17 and lap 37. Hamilton stopped on laps 4, 24 and 38 and therefore led for one more lap on lap 38. After that Vettel was back in front and stayed there until the chequered flag.

Hamilton cut the gap at one point, from around 14 to about 10 seconds according to grandprix.com. He got no closer. According to formula1.com he was also struggling with the balance of his car. At the finish he was 8.569 seconds behind Vettel. Rosberg lost time through the double stop and traffic; he did close in on his team-mate but was never able to mount a serious attack. As a consolation prize he set the fastest lap of the race.

formula1.com put the result into context: the W06 was harder on its tyres than the Ferrari, so 2nd and 3rd places were no disaster for Mercedes. Even so, Mercedes might have been able to win the race had it left one car out.

The strongest comeback came from Kimi Räikkönen. He started only from 11th place and picked up a left-rear puncture on the opening lap after contact with Felipe Nasr. He could only reach the pits after a full lap, stopping on lap 2, and dropped to second-to-last as a result. From there he fought his way up to 4th. By gaining seven places, he made it a perfect day for Ferrari.

Carlos Sainz also gained seven places. The Toro Rosso rookie went from 15th on the grid to 8th. His team-mate Max Verstappen made history: by finishing 7th at 17 years, 5 months and 27 days old, he became the youngest points scorer in the history of the Formula 1 World Championship. He was also the last driver not to be lapped.

Williams scored points with both cars. Valtteri Bottas recovered from contact with Pastor Maldonado on the first lap and snatched 5th place from his team-mate Felipe Massa on the penultimate lap.

It was a bitter afternoon for Red Bull. Daniel Ricciardo damaged his front wing on the first lap. He dropped from fourth on the grid to 10th, losing six places. Daniil Kvyat finished ninth. Both were lapped by Vettel, and both ended up behind the cars of sister team Toro Rosso.

Force India picked up two time penalties of 10 seconds each. Nico Hülkenberg ran off the track at Turn 1 while battling Ricciardo, and Kvyat went past. Trying to win the place back at Turn 2, Hülkenberg spun the Red Bull around. Sergio Pérez later spun Romain Grosjean at Turn 12 as the Lotus driver tried to pass him around the outside. Grosjean had previously climbed as high as 3rd place. The spin and traffic left him only 11th.

The retirements:

• Will Stevens (Manor Marussia): Stevens was unable to start due to a fuel system problem. His team-mate Roberto Merhi finished 15th, three laps down.
• Marcus Ericsson (Sauber): He spun out after three laps, triggering the Safety Car.
• Fernando Alonso (McLaren): Alonso parked his car after 21 laps with a failure in the energy recovery system (ERS).
• Jenson Button (McLaren): Button's turbocharger failed after 41 laps, just as he was closing in on the cars ahead.
• Pastor Maldonado (Lotus F1): After a first-lap puncture and a 10-second penalty for failing to respect the required time under the Safety Car, he retired after 47 laps with a brake problem.

In the drivers' championship, Hamilton stayed in front with 43 points. Vettel climbed to 2nd with 40 points, leaving him just three points behind the Briton. Rosberg dropped to 3rd on 33 points, followed by Massa (20) and Räikkönen (12).

In the constructors' standings, Mercedes led with 76 points ahead of Ferrari on 52 and Williams on 30. McLaren, Lotus F1 and Manor Marussia were still without a point after two races.

Sepang 2015 was the first time the dominance with which Mercedes had started the season was broken. Ferrari showed that its new car could keep pace in extreme heat, above all when it came to tyre wear. And Vettel, who had moved to Maranello after a difficult final season at Red Bull, delivered his first win in only his second race.

On top of that came a record whose impact reached far beyond the race: at 17, Verstappen was now the youngest driver ever to score championship points. At Red Bull, meanwhile, this race fuelled fears that they would be nothing more than a midfield team in 2015.