Sebastian Vettel claimed his and Ferrari's first win in Formula One since 2013 after finishing well ahead of Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.
Vettel, in just his second race with Ferrari, started second but took the lead on lap 4 of this 56-lap race when Hamilton, the pole sitter, and Rosberg pitted under the safety car. Sauber's Marcus Ericsson spun into the gravel to force the deployment of the safety car. Vettel took command from there, capitalizing on a two-stop strategy compared to three stops for both Hamilton and Rosberg.
Vettel crossed the finish line 8.5 seconds ahead of Hamilton and 12.3 seconds in front of Rosberg at Sepang International Circuit for his 40th career F1 win but his first since the 2013 season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix (21 races ago). The German won 13 grand prix that season, including victories in the last nine races, to earn his fourth consecutive F1 world championship.
Ferrari's last victory occurred nearly two years ago with driver Fernando Alonso winning the Spanish Grand Prix. Vettel joined the Italian team and replaced Alonso this season after spending the past six years with Red Bull Racing.
Vettel won the Malaysian GP for a record fourth time. With the victory, he moved to within three points of Hamilton for the lead in the championship standings. Hamilton scored the win in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix two weeks ago and then placed second in Malaysia to give him 43 points for the season.
Kimi Raikkonen, who is Vettel's teammate, started 11th and then had a puncture of his left-rear tire on the opening lap when he made contact with Felipe Nasr from Sauber, but Raikkonen rebounded nicely for a fourth-place finish.
Williams teammates Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa placed fifth and sixth, respectively, while Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen, at the age of 17, became the youngest points scorer in F1 history with a seventh-place finish. Verstappen's teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr. was eighth. The Red Bull duo of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo completed the top-10.
[SportsNetwork.com]
