Four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel became the first driver to solve the puzzle of Mercedes dominance by winning the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang racetrack in Kuala Lumpur. Vettel mastered his tire usage and pit stop strategy to drove his first victory since December 2013 when he was putting the finishing touches on his fourth word title two years.
It was all about heat and tire usage at Sepang with the oppressive heat causing multiple pit stops for tires and Vettel’s two pit stops to three for runner-up Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, made the difference. Vettel used his advantage to hold off Hamilton and his teammate, Nico Rosberg for the podium spots with Vettel winning by nearly nine seconds and Rosberg 12 seconds back.
Only 19 cars were on the starting grid as Manor/Marussia finally started a race – albeit only with a single car piloted by Roberto Merhi – and Sauber lost one of their cars four laps in when Marcus Ericsson spun out.
Hamilton maintains a slim lead over Vettel in the season points standings with 43 to Vettel’s 40 with Rosberg in third with 33 points.
The 2015 Formula One season continues with the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai on April 12, 2015.
2015 Malaysian Grand Prix Results
Position Team Points Time Speed
1 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari 25 1:41:05.793 184.224
2 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes 18 +8.569 Sec 183.964
3 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes 15 +12.310 Sec 183.851
4 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari 12 +53.822 Sec 182.604
5 Valtteri Bottas – Williams 10 +1:10.409 Sec 182.11
6 Felipe Massa – Williams 8 +1:13.586 Sec 182.016
7 Max Verstappen – Toro Rosso 6 +1:37.762 Sec 181.302
8 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso 4 – 180.872
9 Daniil Kvyat – Red Bull 2 – 180.841
10 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull 1 – 180.605
11 Romain Grosjean – Lotus 0 – 180.081
12 Felipe Nasr – Sauber 0 – 180.007
13 Sergio Perez – Force India 0 – 179.501
14 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India 0 – 179.488
15 Roberto Merhi – Manor 0 – 173.25
16 Pastor Maldonado – Lotus 0 – 178.229
17 Jenson Button – McLaren 0 – 175.056
18 Fernando Alonso – McLaren 0 – 172.714
19 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber 0 – 178.368