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