Vettel: Mercedes will be back at the forefront

Sebastian Vettel got off to a good start to his tests at the Malaysian GP as he set the benchmark time on the first day while his rival for the title Lewis Hamilton failed outside the top five more than 1”4 behind the Ferrari.

Despite this hierarchy favorable to the Ferrari driver, the latter expects to see the Silver Arrows in better shape for the rest of the weekend at Sepang.

“It would be nice to keep up the pace all weekend, but I don't know what the others did, commented Sebastian Vettel. It’s only Friday, we can always try different things. Our car looked good from the start but unfortunately we were unable to finish the session following the red flag. We would have liked to have more answers, but the afternoon still went well. »

Sebastian Vettel also noted the good performances of the drivers Red Bull who were closest to the Ferraris, Daniel Ricciardo et Max Verstappen finishing less than nine tenths behind the first SF70H.

“I don’t know what they did this morning but they seemed fast in the mixed conditions with the intermediate tires. However, there wasn't a lot of driving.", underlined Sebastian Vettel.

Sebastian Vettel's last victory at the Malaysian GP dates back to 2015. The German is 28 points behind Lewis Hamilton following his retirement in Singapore.