Vettel fought bravely to protect Scuderia image in Malaysia

Had the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen started the Malaysian Grand Prix at the front of the grid, there is evidence to suggest that they would have reached the chequered flag and left sufficient time to have Usain Bolt run a whole 400 metres before the other competitors crossed the line.

Such was the dominance of the Ferrari on the final race at Malaysia’s famed Sepang circuit, except that the only red car that made it to the grid, started from the back.

Sebastian Vettel, however, not only managed to finish fourth but also set the fastest lap ever at the circuit.

ENGINE TROUBLE

It’s an achievement which will bring some measure of comfort to the German who had a horrid start to the race in Singapore two weeks ago that saw him collide with his teammate and exit the race on the first lap.

Practice in Malaysia was going well for the four-time champion until engine trouble cropped up at the worst of times to deny him the chance to qualify for the race.

The Ferraris had the pace, and so had the Red Bulls.

The likely line-up at the start was anticipated to be the Ferraris followed by the Red Bulls then the Mercedes. Lewis, Hamilton, however produced a stunning qualifying lap to leapfrog competition and set a time which ultimately proved to be unbeatable, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen just 0.045 seconds (less than the time it takes one to blink) slower than the Brit.

With Vettel starting last, the onus of keeping Scuderia’s name in the limelight at Malaysia rested on Raikkonen.

However, in a strange twist of fate, Raikkonen’s car developed mechanical problems on the formation lap and the plan changed to having the Finn start from the pit lane. That changed again to a non-start for Raikkonen.

Hamilton made a clean getaway at the start with the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo both tucking in behind the Merc in a single file.

Mercedes’ Valterri Bottas saw an opportunity and grabbed it, passing Ricciardo by sweeping the outside of Turn 1. The Finn’s attempt to pass Verstappen was, however, thwarted by the 20-year-old whose birthday had been celebrated the previous day.

Vettel shot from 19th at the start to 12th by the second lap. On the fourth lap, Verstappen made a move on Hamilton.

Knowing that a tussle with Verstappen could jeopardize his championship hopes and acknowledging the superior pace of the Red Bull, Hamilton did not even make an attempt to defend the pass.

By the 26th lap, Vettel had climbed up to fifth spot and was closing in on Bottas. Hamilton pitted and came out ahead of both Bottas and Vettel.

In the next lap, the race leader, Verstappen, also went in for a set of new tyres and so did Vettel.

Bottas pitted in the 28th lap, with Vettel gracefully executing the undercut on him. Ricciardo pitted in the subsequent lap.

In theory, Vettel had faster tyres than Ricciardo, and it showed, reducing the time between him and the Australian by more than one second per lap in certain instances. Ricciardo, however, had more durable tyres.

The one chance that Vettel had to overtake Ricciardo was aggressively defended by the Australian.
STING IN THE TAIL

Perhaps sensing that the new Ferrari engine had maxed out for the race and that pushing harder for a podium position could end up disastrously, Vettel was advised to hold back.

Verstappen maintained his lead to take the chequered flag with Hamilton grabbing 18 points in second position.

Ricciardo secured the final podium slot while Vettel, in fourth, took home 12 points.
If the German thought his weekend’s woes were over, there was another sting in the tail at Sepang as he came into contact with the Williams of Lance Stroll in the slow-down lap which oddly meant that he finished the race fourth despite starting last but couldn’t get the car to the garage in one piece.

Vettel has a 34-point deficit to recover with only 125 points available.