Malaysia – Race: Vettel wins and ends Ferrari’s drought

The weather is beautiful and hot for the start of the Malaysian Grand Prix, which should cause the Pirelli tires to suffer, but the teams will also have to keep an eye on the weather as rain could appear during the Grand Prix and slightly shuffle the deck.

Before the race even started, the peloton lost a member with the withdrawal of Will Stevens (Manor Marussia) due to an unresolved issue with the fuel system encountered the previous day.

No problem for the formation lap, note that only the McLaren drivers are on a different strategy from their rivals, they have chosen the hard tires while the rest of the field is on mediums for the start of the race.

At the start, no problem, Nico Rosberg gets a good launch, but Sebastian Vettel manages to maintain the lead, while Felipe Massa has already gained two positions and Hülkenberg four after two corners. At the back of the pack, Pastor Maldonado suffers a puncture after being hit by Bottas.

After a lap, Hülkenberg made a magnificent comeback, moving from 13th place on the grid to 7th as Kimi Räikkönen also suffered a puncture after being hit by Felipe Nasr while he was in 12th position. The Brazilian pitted on the following lap to change tires and wing.

At the beginning of the 4th lap, Marcus Ericsson attempts an overtake at the first corner, but the Swede makes a mistake and goes wide, getting stuck in the gravel trap, necessitating the intervention of the safety car – it’s the end of his race. The majority of the drivers pit – even the McLarens, despite being on hard tires, but not Sebastian Vettel, who therefore takes the lead ahead of Hülkenberg, Grosjean, Sainz, and Perez, who have chosen not to stop, just like Merhi, in 10th.

After 6 laps, the safety car pulls away and leaves Sebastian Vettel in command of the race as Rosberg tries his luck on Massa at the first braking point but it doesn’t work, the Brazilian retains the advantage on mediums against the Mercedes on hards. Sergio Perez loses position after position in the pack, ending up 13th behind Bottas’ Williams after the 8th lap.

After 10 laps, Hamilton is now in 2nd place, 10 seconds behind Vettel after overtaking 3 cars in the previous lap. However, the German driver hasn’t stopped while the Brit has, switching from medium to hard tires. The gaps are narrow within the pack, and there are battles at every level, with Ricciardo taking advantage of a mistake by Sainz to attempt an overtake before making an error himself, allowing Rosberg to pass him.

Nico Rosberg manages to gain an advantage over Grosjean at the beginning of the 13th lap following a lock-up by the Frenchman before overtaking Hülkenberg at the start of the next lap, allowing him to return to 3rd place, his starting grid position.

After 15 laps, Vettel continues his charge at the front and holds off Lewis Hamilton well, having lost only one second to the Mercedes over the span of 5 laps. Pastor Maldonado receives a penalty for exceeding the time limit under the safety car regime, a 10-second stop-and-go for the Venezuelan while his teammate goes through the pits for the first time in the race, just like Nico Hülkenberg at Force India.

On the 17th lap, while he was still losing some time to Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel decides to make his first stop of the Grand Prix, giving the lead back to Lewis Hamilton. The German comes out in 3rd position on mediums behind Rosberg but ahead of the two Williams.

After 20 laps, Hamilton sees his lead over Rosberg and Vettel decrease somewhat in the previous lap. He has a 7.2-second advantage over his teammate, who sees the Ferrari of Vettel closing in behind him at just 1 second. The former Red Bull driver is on the attack and has the advantage of the tires.

It is announced on the radio to Fernando Alonso that he has a problem and will need to retire. At the same time, Sebastian Vettel passes Nico Rosberg in the last corner and defends in the 1st corner of the following lap, the Ferrari driver is 2nd and will be able to give everything to catch up with Hamilton. The next lap, Vettel has already reduced the gap to five seconds on the Mercedes and then to 2.5 seconds the lap after. Vettel finally overtakes Hamilton in the same spot as Rosberg, and the Brit takes the opportunity to pit and put on the mediums while Vettel will have to switch to the hards by the end of the race.

After 25 laps, Vettel is in the lead ahead of Rosberg, who is pushed back to 10 seconds, Hamilton, Bottas – in the pits – and Räikkönen who completes the top 5 after a strong comeback. The Red Bulls are battling but out of the points, trying to overtake Hülkenberg. Ricciardo is told to let Kvyat have a go, which he does, but the Russian is hit by Hülkenberg’s Force India, causing him to spin but he gets back on track.

**At mid-race**, Sebastian Vettel is well established in the lead with just under a 21-second advantage, but he is slower than Lewis Hamilton, who now has fresher tires and is using them to close the gap. Next, we have Rosberg passing Räikkönen at the beginning of the 29th lap and Sainz rounding out the top 5.

Hamilton gradually reduces the gap to Vettel, and he is informed over the radio that he can win but must overtake the Ferrari on track. On the verge of scoring points, Grosjean is battling with the Force India cars; the Frenchman manages to slip outside to pass Perez, but the two touch and Grosjean spins.

The commissioners have some work to do at the moment with investigations launched for the Kvyat/Hülkenberg and Grosjean/Perez collisions. The Mexican receives a 10-second penalty following his contact with the Lotus, the same sanction for his teammate following his collision with Kvyat’s Red Bull.

After 35 laps, Vettel saw his lead significantly decrease to just a 14.4-second advantage over Hamilton, and 27 over Rosberg, while Kimi Räikkönen is in 7th place after going through the pits.

Vettel is informed that he will be pitting at the end of the 36th lap, probably to come out ahead of Rosberg who is closing the gap on his compatriot. Hamilton therefore takes the lead as Vettel comes out on hard tires just in front of Nico Rosberg and manages to maintain the advantage in the esses. The following lap, Lewis Hamilton pits to switch to hard tires – no longer having fresh enough mediums to finish the race – allowing Vettel to retake the lead ahead of Rosberg.

After 40 laps, Vettel is on the attack on the track, setting the fastest lap in the race. He pushes Rosberg back to 3.6 seconds and Hamilton to 14.5 seconds with 16 laps to go. But the world champion responds by setting the fastest lap himself with his newly fitted hard tires.

Rosberg is asked to stop for a tire change at the end of the 40th lap while Jenson Button informs his team over the radio that he’s losing power. Rosberg comes out on mediums and goes after Vettel and Hamilton while Button is slow on the track. Button finally pits to retire.

Nico Rosberg is on the attack on the track with his mediums, setting the fastest lap of the race, 1 second quicker than Hamilton’s a few laps ago. However, the German still has an 11-second gap to his teammate and 25 seconds to Vettel, who is coming back from the backmarkers.

After 45 laps, Vettel still has an 11-second lead over Hamilton and 22 over Rosberg, but the two Mercedes drivers are closing in on the Ferrari. However, the German manages to maintain the gap through the traffic. At the back of the pack, with both McLaren-Hondas having retired, Roberto Merhi is still in the race, last and two laps down from the leaders but still in contention to see the checkered flag.

In the pack, the two Toro Rosso cars are battling, but there’s no contest, Verstappen passes Sainz with fresher mediums compared to the Spaniard’s hards. The Dutchman is 7th behind the two Williams, who are also in a fight.

Maldonado returns to the pits to retire on his side, it’s the 4th retirement of this Grand Prix after Ericsson, Alonso, and Button.

After 50 laps, Vettel is still firmly in the lead with a 10-second advantage over Hamilton, 17 over Rosberg, and 50 over his teammate Räikkönen, who is 4th in the race. Vettel continues his attack and catches up with the two Red Bulls of Ricciardo then Kvyat, pushing them a lap behind, with the Russian having just passed his teammate.

The battle between the Williams drivers is intense at the end of the race, but Felipe Massa manages to maintain the advantage in the two hairpins before Bottas finally gains the upper hand a few corners later.

On his side, Vettel enters the final lap with a comfortable 10-second lead over Hamilton and 15 over Rosberg. The German driver thus wins the Malaysian Grand Prix, his first victory with Ferrari in his second Grand Prix for the Scuderia and the first win for the Reds since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix!

Vettel leads Hamilton, Rosberg, Räikkönen, Bottas, Massa, Verstappen – youngest driver to score points in F1, Sainz, Kvyat, and Ricciardo who finishes 10th. Out of the points, we find Grosjean, Nasr, Perez, Hülkenberg, and Merhi who allows Manor Marussia to finish their first Grand Prix of the year.

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix – Ranking