Hamilton: Vettel was just too fast

Sebastian Vettel ended a streak of 8 victories for Mercedes F1 by winning the Malaysian GP. If the weather remained dry at Sepang and Lewis Hamilton started on pole, the pilot Ferrari made the difference by making one stop less after taking advantage of the safety car to take the lead of the race.

If the Scuderia's strategy is to be welcomed, Sebastian Vettel still showed himself to be superior managing to maintain his lead over Lewis Hamilton who had fresher tires. The Briton does not, however, question his team's strategy.

“We knew they had progressed but we didn't know how much. I don't know if it would have made much difference to stay on the track. They probably would have been as good as us, if not better, because the tire damage was very close. But I think we lost so much time during the first stop that it was almost impossible to regain it.", said the Mercedes driver.

Lewis Hamilton retains the lead in the championship but is only 3 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel.

Discover the analysis of the Malaysian GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2005 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.