Sebastian Vettel wins F1’s Malaysia GP to leave Lewis Hamilton frustrated

Sebastian Vettel won his first grand prix since the end of 2013 and left the seemingly unbeatable Lewis Hamilton not only well beaten but very frustrated.

“Yes, yes,” bellowed Vettel as he took the flag, and then “Ferrari is back! Grazie, grazie.” He was very emotional at the end, when he added: “There are plenty of positives. We beat them fair and square. Today was a very special day and will always remain part of me.” Hamilton said: “Sebastian and Ferrari did a great job today. Ferrari were too fast for us.”

In the intense heat of the Sepang Circuit, Vettel was the coolest man out there and Ferrari’s two-stop strategy was a winner when three cars were required to come in four times for fresh rubber. Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, who were second and third respectively, each came in three times.

It was also, ultimately, a triumphant afternoon for Vettel’s team-mate Kimi Raikkonen. Despite starting in 11th place, and then suffering a puncture which put him to the back of the field, he finished fourth, ahead of the Williams pair Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

The race took shape as early as the fourth lap when the safety car came out following Marcus Ericsson’s spin into the gravel on Turn One. Hamilton and Rosberg took the opportunity to come straight into the pits and fit the hard tyre; Vettel stayed out, not pitting until lap 17.

Hamilton came in again on lap 25, to go on to medium rubber, but there was no way he was going to get through the heat of a Malaysian afternoon without a third stop.

Before his second visit to the pits he said: “I’m slipping around all over the place.” But when he came out again he said: “This is the wrong tyre, man!” And then: “This tyre is not feeling good.” Hamilton and Vettel came in for further stops but that left the British driver too much to do at the end and he was beaten by 8.5 seconds.

It was a thrilling grand prix, with plenty of overtakes, lots of strategies vying with each other and a fresh winner. Formula One’s business model may be broken but the sport still has the capacity to thrill.

For some time it was an encouraging display by McLaren, especially in the context of their recent travails, Jenson Button was challenging points for most of the race and Fernando Alonso was actually in a scoring position in ninth when he had to retire.

He said: “The car went better than expected until the retirement. To be able to run with the pack and even catch the Red Bulls before the pit stops was nice surprise. We had some technical issues which we are investigating but it has been a nice weekend. If we keep this rate up, we will enjoy success very soon.” Button finally retired too but both drivers took some encouragement from the afternoon.