Vettel Storms Ahead of Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel won his first race for Ferrari by powering ahead of the Mercedes team at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The four-time World Champion was able to bring Ferrari their first win in 34 races on a day that Mercedes rued their strategy decisions.

Lewis Hamilton earned his 40th career pole position for his 150th race and only Ayrton Senna has had more poles after 150 races. Hamilton led the field through the first corner after Vettel had fought off Nico Rosberg's attempts to squeeze by the Ferrari on long the pitwall.

Marcus Ericsson's spin proved to be decisive (Sutton Motorsport Images)

The race unfolded on Lap 4 when Marcus Ericsson beached his Sauber in the gravel at Turn One and the need for a recovery vehicle led to a Safety Car period. Both Mercedes drivers pitted to change on to the harder tyre but Vettel stayed out and was able to stretch his first stint into a two-stop strategy thanks to Ferrari's lower tyre wear.

Vettel's Ferrari team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen was having a harder time with his tyres after suffering a left rear puncture following contact with Sauber's Felipe Nasr as Raikkonen made his way up the field from 11th. Ferrari's ultimate pace was underlined by Raikkonen coming through the field to finish fourth.

Kimi Raikkonen suffered a puncture (Sutton Motorsport Images)

Mercedes made another tactical blunder when they fitted Hamilton with hard tyres on his final pit stop and the current World Champion was unable to close down Vettel on the same tyres. Hamilton questioned why he had been put on the "wrong" tyres and was puzzled to hear team director, Paddy Lowe, discuss a possible fourth pit-stop that was accidentally relayed to Hamilton's radio. 

Mercedes bosses Toto Wolff and Nikki Lauda rue their team's mistakes (Getty Images)

Mercedes had needlessly used a set of medium tyres in the first period of qualifying and Hamilton was told over the radio that the softer tyres had already been used. The team's confusing strategy was further highlighted when Rosberg was fitted with medium tyres on his final pit-stop.

Williams had finished pre-season testing on par with Ferrari but haven't been able to keep up with the Prancing Horse. Valtteri Bottas, racing for the first time this season after a back injury, pipped his team mate, Felipe Massa, to fifth spot by passing Massa on the penultimate lap.

Max Verstappen became the youngest-ever driver to win points (Sutton Motorsports Images)

Max Verstappen showed poised overtaking to take seventh and the 17-year-old became the youngest ever driver to score world championship points. His Torro Ross team mate, Carlos Sainz was the last driver to be lapped by Vettel and finished eighth.

Red Bull's lack of pace was shown in dry conditions and Daniil Kvyat finished ninth after tangling with Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 2, ahead of fellow Red Bull driver, Daniel Ricciardo. 

Nico Hulkenberg and Daniil Kyvat clash (Sutton Motorsport Images)

Romain Grosjean in the Lotus missed out on the points by finishing 11th after being spun by an aggressive Sergio Perez and finished ahead of Felipe Nasr's Sauber. 

Both Force India drivers were made to sit in the naughty chair after stewards awarded Perez and Hulkenberg 10-second penalties for their tangles but Hulkenberg may have felt aggrieved for being penalised for what looked like a racing incident. Hulkenberg was further frustrated by being beaten by his team mate by just 0.4 seconds.

Manor were able to bring home one of their cars with Roberto Merhi finishing three laps down in 15th and last place after Will Stevens was unable to start the race. Unreliability also hit the McLaren pair of Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso who both retired but McLaren will be encouraged with the cars competing with the rest of the pack.

Vettel’s first victory since the Brazilian Grand Prix in late 2013 signals a Vettel and Ferrari resurgence. Hamilton and Mercedes now have a serious contender to their current titles and, as Rosberg said on the podium, it's game on.

Drivers' Standings after Round 2 of 19:

1. Lewis Hamilton       43 points

2. Sebatian Vettel       40

3. Nico Rosberg          33

4. Felipe Massa           20 

5. Kimi Raikkonen       12

6. Felipe Nasr             10

= Valtteri Bottas         10 

8. Daniel Ricciardo       9

9. Nico Hulkenberg      6

= Max Verstappen       6

= Carlos Sainz Jr.        6

12. Marcus Ericsson     4

13. Daniil Kyvat           2

14. Sergio Perez          1

Constructor's Standings after Round 2 of 19:

1. Mercedes        76 Points

2. Ferrari            52

3. Williams         30

4. Sauber           14

5. Torro Rosso    12

6. Red Bull          11

7. Force India      7

Hamilton Leads the Way in Soggy Sepang

Lewis Hamilton took pole position in a rain-delayed qualifying session for the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.

The session was stopped for half an hour before the final round of qualifying began and Sebastian Vettel was able to split the two Mercedes with a time just 0.074 seconds behind Hamilton.

Nico Rosberg admitted in the post-qualifying press conference that he was "annoyed" by not "driving well enough" and was a second behind his team-mate on the first run of final qualifying. Hamilton was improving on his second run but had to back off after passing a slow Rosberg through Turns 7 and 8 and Hamilton remained coy afterwards when he couldn't recall the incident during the press conference.

Vettel showed skill in the rain to split the Mercedes pair

Traffic had earlier cost Kimi Raikkonen a likely second row grid slot after Marcus Erikkson slowed Raikkonen going round the final corner and the 2007 World Champion couldn't improve on 11th when the downpour curtailed the second qualifying period.  

The qualifying session had started in tropical sunshine and McLaren continued their fight at the back of the grid. Fernando Alonso returned behind the wheel this weekend following his pre-season accident in Barcelona that Alonso blamed on a car steering issue. The double world champion also rubbished wild rumours of the concussion he suffered after the accident. Alonso had the measure of his team-mate, Jenson Button, all weekend but a mistake caused Alonso to run wide and allowed Button to out-qualify his team-mate with a time of 1 minute 41.636 seconds. This underlined McLaren's lack of pace with a time that was almost 2.5 seconds off Hamilton's time at the top of the Qualifying One timesheets.

Manor hit the tarmac in Malaysia for the first time this season 

Manor returned to the track after not racing in Australia but only Roberto Mehri could post a time after Will Stevens suffered a fuel system problem. Mehri's time was outside the 107% classification rule but stewards cleared the team to race after Manor had earlier posted practice times that was within 107% of the fastest driver's time. 

Felipe Nasr was unable to continue his form from Australia and finished half a second behind the cut-off point and didn't progress into the second round of qualifying.

Tropical storm clouds gather over the Sepang circuit

Rain can often be a great equaliser and the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Dannil Kyvat qualified in 4th and 5th in a turbulent week for the Milton Keynes-based team.  Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul told Friday's press conference that Renault may quit the sport after earlier accusing Red Bull Technical Director, Adrian Newey, of lying about their engine performance. 

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Abiteboul was "brave" to sit between him and Torro Ross team boss, Franz Tost, at the press conference as the two teams are unhappy about the quality of their Renault engines.

Unhappy couple - Renault's Cyril Abiteboul and Red Bull's Christian Horner

Abiteboul said that Renault "are looking at a lot of options, including getting out of Formula One" as well as purchasing a team. Horner joked that Renault's lack of power had left him "depressed" and contemplated the possibility of Red Bull being "forced" out of the sport if they cannot find an engine supplier. Despite achieving four consecutive Constructor's and Driver's titles, Horner conceded it's now "worrying times" for the Red Bull brand in F1.

It's also worrying times for the future of the German Grand Prix with the announcement on March 20 that owners of the Nurburgring have backed out of staging the race. The German Grand Prix had been alternating between Nurburgring and Hockenheim and it had been hoped that Hockenheim could step in but track officials were unable to come to an agreement with F1 commercial boss, Bernie Ecclestone.

Hockenheim officials may have been hesitant in promoting a race in just four months after last year's race brought low crowds. It's hard to understand why the Germans have quickly turned away from F1 after the success of German drivers, Michael Schumacher and Vettel, still fresh in their minds. The current German combination of Rosberg in a Mercedes racing for the championship should inspire the imagination of German motorsport fans but it hasn't.

There has been a German Grand Prix every year since 1960 and it's removal from the calendar once again highlights race entrance fees and the disappearance of F1's European race tracks.

Max Verstappen showed maturity beyond his 17 years by qualifying 6th in Sepang and, not only equalled his father Jos' best grid position, but he became the first teenager in 54 years to qualify in the top six. Williams drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas will line up on Row 4 after Lotus' Romain Grosjean received a two-place grid penalty after queue jumping in the pit-lane before the start of the rain affected second qualifying period.

Drivers line up in the pit lane below the oncoming storm clouds

The second of the 19-race 2015 season will see Hamilton looking to continue his successful start but Vettel and Rosberg will have other ideas going into Turn One.

Grid for Malaysian Grand Prix:

Hamilton (Mercedes)             Vettel (Ferrari)

Rosberg (Mercedes)              Ricciardo (Red Bull)

Kyvat (Red Bull)                   Verstappen (Torro Rosso)

Massa (Williams)                  Bottas (Williams)

Ericsson (Sauber)                 Grosjean (Lotus)*

Raikkonen (Ferrari)              Maldonado (Lotus)

Hulkenberg (Force India)      Perez (Force India)

Sainz (Torro Rosso)              Nasr (Sauber)

Button (McLaren)                 Alonso (McLaren)

Merhi (Manor)                      Stevens (Manor)  

* After two-place grid penalty