Sepang, Malaysia – When Nico Rosberg joked with Sebastian Vettel in Melbourne a fortnight ago that he hoped Ferrari could move up and join the fight with Mercedes, nobody imagined it would happen so soon.
But on Sunday, in the searing heat of Sepang, the man some thought was washed up in 2014 rediscovered his mojo. Vettel drove a superbly judged, strategic race that made full use of his car's superior tyre wear and put Ferrari back in the winners' enclosure for the Malaysian Grand Prix.
As Vettel savoured his first victory since Brazil 2013, Ferrari's first since Spain that year, and their first together in only his second race for the Scuderia, he was emotional.
“Last year was not a good year for me. We had a great car and I was struggling to extract the performance,” he said. “This year's car is fantastic and when the gates first opened for me at Maranello it was a great day for me.
"I grew up watching Michael Schumacher and now I'm driving that red car. We had a great car, great strategy and great pace. It's been a really, really great day, one that will always remain with me.”
At the start, it looked like business as usual as Lewis Hamilton retained the lead from pole position while Vettel, starting second on the grid, had to squeeze Nico Rosberg against the pit wall to keep his compatriot from overtaking at the first corner.
“He did the same last year,” Rosberg said. “I kind of shut my eyes and prayed he would leave me enough room and he did, but if it had been a centimetre less it would have been a different story.”
OUT OF BALANCE
Hamilton, however, was already struggling with his Mercedes' balance, and when Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson spun in the first corner while fighting with Nico Hulkenberg and the safety car was deployed while the stricken Sauber was taken away, Mercedes led a mass dash into the pits to change from the medium-compound Pirelli tyres to the hards.
Crucially, Ferrari kept Vettel out on his mediums. Mercedes stacked Rosberg behind Hamilton in the pits, as the Red Bulls, Williams, Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso and the McLarens also stopped.
When Hamilton rejoined, he had fallen from first to fifth and began losing time behind the other cars which had stayed out. Rosberg fared even worse, as he was delayed behind Hamilton and then while trying to get back out of the pits because of the heavy traffic flow.
Mercedes had locked itself into a three-stop strategy, but as Hamilton fought his way back past Carlos Sainz Jr, Romain Grosjean and Hulkenberg within a single lap to take up the chase in second place, 10 seconds adrift, it became clear that the Ferrari had both the pace and the tyres to get by with a two-stopper.
With Rosberg similarly trapped among slower cars, Mercedes never recovered sufficiently to launch a counter-attack. Underlining how strong the red cars were in the high ambient and track temperatures - 33C and 60C respectively - Vettel's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was able to recover from a first-lap puncture caused by a brush with Felipe Nasr.
At one stage, Hamilton had an angry exchange with his team over the radio when they started talking to him while he was cornering and again when they fitted another set of hard tyres for his final stint when he had wanted mediums.
But the fact was he had used up all of those. He was also confused when he intercepted a team discussion on whether a fourth stop might be necessary, but later he backed down on criticism of his chosen strategy.
'TOO FAST'
“First, huge congratulations to Ferrari and Sebastian,” he said. “They had some good pace today. We did everything we could because we knew they came here having made a step forwards, but they were too fast for us today.
“I was definitely struggling with the balance all day and was uncomfortable in the car. It was good on the medium tyre, and that's why I wanted another set at the end because I knew the hards weren't good for me. But I think the team made the best choices today.
"We weren't expecting Ferrari to be so quick, but I don't really know if I had stayed out with Sebastian early on whether that would have made a difference. They were a little better on tyre degradation and after that first pit stop I just had so much ground to make up it was pretty much impossible.”
Rosberg, an unhappy third, admitted he still wasn't too clear on the strategic choices the team had made for him.
“It was quite complex out there,” he said. “Congratulations to Ferrari, they did an awesome job. But there's a big difference between getting close and beating us because they are faster! Now I say bring it on; we are gonna fight back big time!”
In the end, Hamilton was 8.5s behind the Ferrari, with Rosberg another 3.7s down. Poignantly, Vettel lapped both Red Bulls on his 52nd lap, but took no delight in that.
“I have spent my entire life with Red Bull; we celebrated our first win together with Toro Rosso at Monza in 2008, then we won for the first time as a team in China in 2009,” he said. “But this is maybe a little bit extra. Today I probably don't understand yet how it is, but it's very emotional.
“I'm happy and proud to beat these guys [Hamilton and Rosberg]. They were phenomenally strong last year and to be the first one to beat them fair and square is an incredible achievement.”
RACE IN NUMBERS
16: Months since Vettel’s most recent F1 victory – in Brazil in November 2013
22: Months since Ferrari’s last win – gained by Alonso in Spain in May 2013
4: Vettel’s win was his fourth in Malaysia – one more than Michael Schumacher
MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX RESULTS
1 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari - 1hr41m05.793s
2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes +8.569s
3 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes +12.310
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari +53.822
5 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams +1:10.409
6 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams +1:13.586
7 Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso +1:37.762
8 Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso +1 lap
9 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull +1 lap
10 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull +1 lap
11 Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus +1 lap
12 Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber +1 lap
13 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India +1 lap
14 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India +1 lap
15 Roberto Merhi (Spain) Marussia +3 laps
Retirements
Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - 9 laps
Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren - 15 laps
Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren - 35 laps
Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber - 53 laps
Fastest Lap: Nico Rosberg,1:42.062, lap 43
DRIVER STANDINGS
1 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes - 43
2 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari - 40
3 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes - 33
4 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams - 20
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari - 12
6 Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber - 10
7 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams - 10
8 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull - 9
9 Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India - 6
10 Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso - 6
11 Carlos Sainz Jr (Spain) Toro Rosso - 6
12 Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber - 4
13 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull - 2
14 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - 1
CONSTRUCTOR STANDINGS
1 Mercedes - 76
2 Ferrari - 52
3 Williams - 30
4 Sauber - 14
5 Toro Rosso - 12
6 Red Bull - 11
7 Force India - 7
Story: The Independent