Rome - After a hiatus lasting almost two years, the world of Formula 1 once again reverberated to the sound of a Ferrari taking the chequered flag on Sunday. In only his second race for the Italian giant, Sebastian Vettel won the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes duo, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

 Following the ease of Hamilton’s win in Australia, many were fearing that the 2015 season would be a carbon copy of the previous year’s championship, characterised by dominant Mercedes performances. However, in delivering Ferrari’s first victory in 34 races, Vettel sent a message to the German team that a win this time round wouldn’t necessarily be as straightforward.  

 After starting on pole position, Mercedes’ Hamilton maintained his lead until the fourth lap when his team decided to pit following the deployment of a safety car. By the time the Englishman had made his way back up the field to second place, Vettel was 10 seconds ahead. Much has been made of Ferrari’s impressive race pace and this showed as Vettel used his softer ‘medium’ compound tyres to great effect to keep his distance ahead of the chasing pack.

 Hamilton cited Mercedes’ three-stop strategy as a reason behind his failure to add to his recent string of victories, but acknowledged that even with better tactics, “Vettel still would have been hard to beat.”

 The turnaround at Ferrari is even more remarkable when considering that 2014 was their worst season since 1993 in terms of races won. The Italian outfit changed their team principal in both April and November to try and arrest the slide down the rankings with Briton, James Allinson currently at the helm. However, when Vettel rounded the final corner at a blisteringly hot Sepang Circuit on Sunday, it appeared that Ferrari was back a vengeance.

 On a memorable weekend for Italian motorsport, MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi won the season opening race in Qatar on Sunday. The nine-times world champion took the victory after a tense finish to the race, with fellow Italian Andrea Dovizioso placed second.