Vettel: ‘We beat Mercedes fair and square’

Sebastian Vettel is delighted to have outraced his Mercedes rivals “fair and square” after the Ferrari driver showed strong pace and used a clever strategy to win the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The four-time world champion elected to stay out on track during the early Safety Car period as both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg dived into the pits for hard tyres.

This enabled Vettel, who had managed to defend his second position at the start, to open a significant gap in front. Behind, Hamilton struggled in hot conditions and failed to mount a proper challenge to threaten the leading Ferrari.

Vettel eventually took the chequered flag 8.5 seconds ahead of the reigning world champion to secure his maiden win for Ferrari, his first since his Brazil 2013 triumph with Red Bull.

“Today in the race, (everything was) really spot on, the whole team was there,” said a jubilant Vettel afterwards. “Great strategy, great pace. We beat (Mercedes) fair and square.

“So great achievement, we have a great car, and plenty of positives (to take).

“We have to enjoy the day. We know that these guys are incredibly strong and difficult to beat. But today we did an excellent job and that’s what we have to keep doing the whole year.”

Click here for Sunday's gallery from the Malaysian Grand Prix

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Sainz samples new Madring: ‘You’ve created quite a cocktail’

The Spanish Grand Prix’s future home is still surrounded by construction barriers, deadlines and heavy…

14 hours ago

Ten years on: Marko reveals Horner resisted Verstappen promotion

Helmut Marko has revealed that Max Verstappen’s in-season promotion from Toro Rosso to Red Bull…

16 hours ago

Schumacher and Irvine paint the town red in Monaco

On this day in 1999 in Monaco, a dominant Michael Schumacher secured his 35th career…

17 hours ago

Rosenqvist finds 233 mph magic at Indy on Fast Friday

Sometimes at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, speed doesn’t build gradually – it arrives like it…

18 hours ago

McLaren powers up: Intel returns to F1 after 20-year hiatus

Nearly two decades after its last high-speed venture in Formula 1, American computing giant Intel…

19 hours ago

Verstappen admits to 'super tough' Nürburgring 24 Hours qualifying

Max Verstappen’s Nürburgring 24 Hours debut is already delivering the kind of storyline only he…

20 hours ago