Formula One Malaysian GP: Ferrari red hot at Sepang

After a two-week break, the Formula One circus made its way to the tropical country of Malaysia. Sepang poses an entirely different approach on how teams set up their cars. Even the drivers have to contend with the heat and humidity and even the occasional tropical monsoon. Track temperature reaching as high as 52 decrees Celcius makes this one of the hottest races on the calendar.

The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team, in their second “home” race, were confident of securing another 1-2 finish. They were not challenged in Albert Park, and the practice sessions at Sepang echoed that sentiment. Nico Rosberg was even quoted that he hopes Ferrari could “close the gap” to the dominant Mercedes runners.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg coming off their domination in Albert Park took their Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 cars to the top of the practice sessions. Saturday Qualifying saw the dreaded monsoon rain make an appearance and jumbled up the field a bit. The biggest scalp taken belonged to Kimi Raikkonen, who got on the track at its wettest and failed to record a decent time to go past Q2.

It was no surprise that Lewis plopped his F1 W06 Hybrid on P1, but what got the paddock abuzz was Sebastian Vettel squeezing his Ferrari onto P2 demoting Rosberg to P3. Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kyvat took 4th and 5th respectively. Max Verstappen took 6^th, Felipe Massa 7th and Valterri Bottas came in at 8th. Marcus Ericsson in his Sauber took 9th and Romain Grosjean rounded up the top 10.

Sunday saw temperatures rise, but this didn’t deter fans from making their way to the track. The circuit was alive with activities prior to the race.

As the lights went out to start the race, Lewis Hamilton, getting a good start, led the field into the first corner, followed right behind by Vettel who held off the charging Rosberg. Maldonado and Bottas touched, with the Venezuelan getting the bad luck of a puncture. Similary, on the following lap, Raikkonen, who was lounging in the mid-field, got tangled up with Felipe Nasr. Both cars suffered a puncture and had to drive all around to get to the pits. This would eventually mean the end of the race for most drivers. But nobody told that to Kimi.

The safety car came out after Ericsson got wayward. He had been dicing it out with Hulkenberg, The Sauber landed in the gravel traps and had to be retrieved by the marshals before the race continued. Race leader Hamilton came in for a change of tires under the safety car, and he was followed by a gaggle of cars making their mandatory stop.

Vettel, who didn’t stop for tires, led the field while both Mercedes cars dealt with the mid-field. But staying in the mid-field and not running upfront was not on the minds of Hamilton and Rosberg. They quickly diposed of their rivals, effortlessly passing Grosjean, Sainz Jr, and the like. Sebastian was running on option tires and on lap 17 pitted for another set of options. Vettel came out behind both Mercedes, but more importantly in front of both the Williams.

Jenson Button, langusihing at the rear of the pack, had to contend with cars passing his McLaren at will. Fernando Alonso, back from a forced medical haitus, also encountered problems with his MP4-30. Alonso had to cut short his first race of the season and crawled back into the pits into retirement. The once promising McLaren-Honda partnership seems to have lost its luster. Fans of the Woking team are left scratching their heads, wondering what can be done.

While everyone’s focus was on the leaders, Kimi Raikkonen, who dropped as far back at 14th due to his tire puncture early on, clawed his way steadily up to 4th before the half way point of the race. The boys in Maranello heeded the challenge by Nico and they are going to take the fight up to the exhausts of the Mercedes.

Lap 37 saw Vettel come in for his prime tires, rejoining just behind Nico. Hamilton, who was out in front, was complaining about his tires. They were not the right tires according to the Brit, but there was nothing he could do. Lewis was in damage limitation mode. Sensing the Mercedes was losing time, Vettel quickly grabbed the chance to hound Lewis for the lead.

As soon as the Ferrari passed the Mercedes, the grandstands erupted. Were they seeing a changing of the guards? Is Ferrari back? There is now a challenger for the Mercedes power unit.

Vettel pulled a comannding lead over both Lewis and Nico, and by the end there was no catching the German. The only thing undecided was who was finishing behind them and in what order.

Kimi Raikkonen, who raced from the back was now up to 4^th. The Finn drove like the Kimi of old: fast, all out pedal to the floor and hungry. Raikkonen was not to be denied his best results this year. The Iceman has overcome the heat of Sepang to finish 4th.

Williams Martini Racing driver Valterri Bottas got the better of his teammate. The Finn swept past Massa to take 5^th, relegating the Brazilian to 6th . Rookies Max Varstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr finished 7th and 8th, while the struggling Red Bulls of Kyvat and Ricciardo rounded up the top 10.

As the fans rushed the track during the podium ceremonies, an ecstatic Sebastian Vettel celebrated with his customary raised finger. It was validation for months of hard work for the team from Maranello. From the looks of it, 2015 will be another epic season in Formula 1.