MOTORSPORT: Ferrari's red letter day

If a week is a long time in politics, two weeks is even more so in Formula One.

In Melbourne on March 15 it looked as though we were in for a season of even greater Mercedes domination than last year, yet already Ferrari has toppled the German squad.

Mercedes may still have the best car, but the Italian team triumphed at Malaysia's Sepang circuit yesterday because of a better strategy and an ability to use its tyres better.

And the Merc drivers, particularly world champion Lewis Hamilton, were not happy.

Sebastian Vettel was victorious in just his second outing for F1's most famous team – and for the first time since 2013, having been comprehensively outshone at Red Bull Racing last year by Australia's Daniel Ricciardo.

It was Ferrari's first GP victory for almost two years and must have left Fernando Alonso wondering at the wisdom of his decision to walk away from the Italian team to rejoin McLaren.

The Mercs of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg followed Vettel across the finish line – 8.5 and 12.3 seconds respectively in arrears after three pitstops to Vettel's two.

Emphasising the extent of Ferrari's improvement after its miserable 2014, Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth, albeit almost 54 seconds behind Vettel, but he'd had an unscheduled early stop after a puncture.

Ricciardo ended a lap down for the second race in a row, despite the Renault power unit being more driveable than it had been in Melbourne, and he was behind not only his new Russian teammate Daniil Kyvat but the two youngsters in Red Bull's junior team, Toro Rosso.

The 17-year-old Max Verstappen became the youngest driver to score points in a GP – six for seventh place – with his almost equally impressive 20-year-old teammate Carlos Sainz Junior next across the line.

The Mercedes-powered Williams cars were ahead of the Toro Rossos, with Valterri Bottas – recovered from the back injury that kept him out of the Melbourne race – overtaking Felipe Massa on the last lap as they filled fifth and sixth places.

Neither of the McLaren-Hondas finished – Alonso's MP-30 lasting just 21 of the 56 laps and Jenson Button's 41.

Hamilton still leads the world championship, but by only three points over Vettel (43-40), with Rosberg another 10 points back. Ricciardo, third in last year's world championship, is eighth this season with nine points.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said Malaysia had been "a really difficult afternoon" for the team that won four straight world titles in 2010-2013 and was runner-up to Mercedes last season.

"Some contact at the first turn damaged Daniel's front wing, which seemed to deteriorate through the race," Horner said.

"Then after the safety car [which came out on lap four] we started to see brake temperatures climb and needed to nurse the cars quite significantly through the second half of the race.

"I don't think the drivers could have done any more today. There's plenty to understand following this weekend and plenty to address before China in two weeks.

"Sebastian [Vettel, who won four drivers' titles with RBR before his switch to Ferrari this season] drove an incredible race, so congratulations to him and Ferrari. Hopefully we will give them a harder time soon."

Ricciardo said it had been "a really frustrating race" for him.

"I was ready for a fight going into the race and hoping for something special – but it wasn't to be!" Ricciardo said.

"I had a bit of contact on the first lap, which hurt us, and then we had a few issues throughout the race, which we had to manage.

"It took a long time to pass cars as we didn't have the pace and we had some problems with the brakes, which didn't make our afternoon easy.

"It was a good job by Seb [Vettel] – a great drive from him."

Vettel's post-race emotion told that it was one of the best among his 40 GP wins.

"I can recall from the victories Fernando [Alonso] had and especially the victories Michael [Schumacher] celebrated with the team ... it's incredible to become part of that, something special," Vettel said.

"Last year was tough. I have definitely missed not just the champagne but the top step in particular, so it's great to come back after last year when I just couldn't get on top of the car.

"The balance of this car seems to suit my way a lot more than last year in general.

"The strategy today was obviously ace.

"They [Mercedes] pulled in [when the safety car came out early], which surprised us a bit, but on Friday you could already see that they weren't too happy on the medium compound [Pirelli tyres] and struggled.

"I was able to keep up with them, then after that I knew I had to deliver. Make the tyres last.

"They had a strong second stint but I was able to rebalance the car a little more and have a solid gap over the last few laps.

"I was looking at the top of the chassis and thinking, 'This is the red car, you are about to win for Ferrari', but I made myself stop thinking that or I may have missed the next apex or something.

"So it was great relief when I crossed the line."

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff said the shock result was "a wake-up call" to his outfit.

"It's going to remind us it's not an easy ride," Wolff said.

"There is fierce competition out there and we can't afford to be complacent and can't make any mistakes.

"We need to continue to develop flat out and I think it [the defeat] is the right thing at the right time, probably.

"We've got a massive battle out there."

Formula One World Championship driver standings after two of 19 races – 1. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, Mercedes) 43 points; 2. Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Ferrari) 40; 3. Nico Rosberg (Germany, Mercedes) 33; 4. Felipe Massa (Brazil, Williams-Mercedes) 20; 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Ferrari) 12; 6. Felipe Nasr (Brazil, Sauber-Ferrari) 10; 7.  Valtteri Bottas (Finland, Williams-Mercedes) 10; 8. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Red Bull-Renault) 9; 9. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany, Force India-Mercedes) 6; 10. Max Verstappen (Netherlands, Toro Rosso-Renault) 6; 11. Carlos Sainz Junior (Spain, Toro Rosso-Renault) 6; 12. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden, Sauber-Ferrari) 4; 13. Daniil Kvyat (Russia, Red Bull-Renault) 2; 14. Sergio Perez (Mexico, Force India-Mercedes) 1.

F1 constructor standings – 1. Mercedes 76 points; 2. Ferrari 52; 3. Williams-Mercedes 30; 4. Sauber-Ferrari 14; 5. Toro Rosso-Renault 12; 6. Red Bull-Renault 11; 7. Force India-Mercedes 7.

Picture courtesy of  Ferrari