Four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel got back to winning ways as he outclassed reigning champion Lewis Hamilton to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Vettel, who moved to Ferrari this year from Red Bull as Fernando Alonso ‘s replacement, won a strategic battle as Mercedes struggled with tyres in the scorching heat. Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg was third from Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who fought back from an early puncture.
Both the McLarens drivers, Alonso and Jenson Button, retired from the race, the BBC reported.
Ferrari and Vettel’s performance came as a wakeup call for both Mercedes and Formula One, with the German manufacturer having dominated the sport since the start of last season.
With the win, Ferrari is likely to put up an unexpected fight for the world championship title this season against Mercedes.
Vettel, who started second on the grid, took the lead when Mercedes chose to call in Hamilton for a pit stop during an early safety car period, while Ferrari left the German out on track.
With Mercedes preferring to do the majority of the race on the slower hard tyre, as they found that it had greater resilience on their car, Vettel opted for the faster medium tyre for all but one stint and Hamilton was unable to get on terms with him.
Vettel was still eight seconds in the lead when he made his first pit stop on lap 17, stopping 13 laps after Hamilton had made a pit stop, and he closed on the Mercedes duo after rejoining in third.
A second stop by Hamilton only seven laps after Vettel’s first put him 24 seconds behind the Ferrari, with half the race and one further stop for each remaining. Mercedes continued to believe they could win until Hamilton made his final stop on lap 38, one after Vettel.
The world champion rejoined 14 seconds behind and despite being slightly faster than the Ferrari, he was unable to close at anything like the required rate, Vettel holding him at a distance of about 10 seconds.
This was Vettel’s 40th career win and he is now only one short of Ayrton Senna, who is third in the all-time list, and the first time Mercedes had been beaten since last July’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
With the conclusion of the Malaysian Grand Prix, Hamilton, who won the season opening Grand Prix in Australia, is currently leading the drivers’ championship on 43 points, three points adrift of second-placed Vettel. (ANI)