Sebastian Vettel, tears in his eyes, a smile wide on his face, waved the Ferrari flag high, his joy unconfined. Millions around the world shared his moment of triumph, be they Scuderia fans or not. Even Lewis Hamilton, who was prowling around in disappointment at coming second, could understand why. For, finally, the vice-like grip of his Mercedes team had been prised open at a steamy Malaysian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel (centre) celebrates his Malaysian Grand Prix victory as Lewis Hamilton (left) and Nico Rosberg stand in the background . Vettel (centre) holds up his trophy as Hamilton and Rosberg applaud the German for his impressive victory . Vettel shows his delight at winning the second race of the 2015 Formula One season in Malaysia . Vetel crosses the finishing line and gives the fistpump as Ferrari team members celebrate by the side of the track . Vettel is mobbed by his team in Parc Ferme after ending Ferrari's 34-race drought in Formula One . 1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari 1:41:05.793 . 2. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) Mercedes +00:08.569 . 3. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes GP+00:12.310 . 4. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari +00:53.822 . 5. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams +01:10.409 . 6. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams +01:13.586 . 7. Max Verstappen (Netherlands) Toro Rosso +01:37.762 . 8. Carlos Sainz (Spain) Toro Rosso 1 lap . 9. Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Red Bull 1 lap . 10. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) Red Bull 1 lap . 11. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus 1 lap . 12. Felipe Nasr (Brazil) Sauber-Ferrari 1 lap . 13. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India 1 lap . 14. Nico Hulkenberg (Germany) Force India 1 lap . 15. Roberto Merhi (Spain) Manor Marussia 3 laps . r. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus 47 Laps . r. Jenson Button (Great Britain) McLaren 41 Laps . r. Fernando Alonso (Spain) McLaren 21 Laps . r. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Sauber-Ferrari 0 Laps . ns. Will Stevens (Great Britain) Manor Marussia . (rank: r = retired, nc = not classified, ns=not started) Fastest Lap: Nico Rosberg, 01:42.062, lap 43. Vettel was right when he said he won the race ‘fair and square’, Ferrari having outpaced the previously impregnable Mercedes machines over 56 absorbing laps. Now a sport that has developed an impressive aptitude for navel-gazing, especially after the procession at Melbourne a fortnight earlier when a Mercedes one-two was expected to presage a period of total Silver Arrows dominance, can rest from its self-loathing criticism, at least for a while. The victors’ joy and the losers’ pain were equally piquant in the circumstances. For Vettel, it was the fulfilment of the dream of a lifetime. He had won in the shiny red car of Ferrari, the team he grew up worshipping. As a boy, he watched over the fence as Michael Schumacher drove around Fiorano, the test track at the team headquarters in Maranello, an industrial town in northern Italy as blandly functional as Detroit, Michigan. But it houses the spiritual legacy of Enzo Ferrari and all that is poetic about the world’s most famous car. ‘I remember when the gate opened in Maranello and it was like a dream coming true,’ said Vettel. ‘I am speechless.’ You would have needed a heart as hard as flint not to be swept along as he screamed over the team radio: ‘Thank you, thank you. Forza Ferrari.’ This was the 40th win of Vettel’s career, but his first for the Scuderia in only his second race for the team since leaving Red Bull. F1 stats provided by F1 Stat Blog . Vettel is soaked by champagne as the bottles are cracked open on the podium after the race . The grid girls run for cover as runner-up Hamilton sprays champagne on the podium . Hamilton (left) chats to race winner Vettel during the post-race press conference in Sepang . Ferrari's Vettel in front ahead of German compatriot Rosberg, of Mercedes, during the Malaysian Grand Prix . Four-time world champion Vettel on his way to a comfortable victory at the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday . Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton leads at the start of Sunday's race at the Sepang International Circuit . Hamilton, of Great Britain, leads at the first corner with Vettel closely behind the Mercedes driver . Re-live every lap of the Sepang race . It was ironic, of course, that Vettel should be the man to blow the apathy away, given how he and Red Bull were so good that they were boring during four, often pulverising years of success. Nine victories in succession in 2013 was Vettel’s most one-sided stretch. Before yesterday, Mercedes had won the previous eight races straddling this season and last. And the losers’ pain? Yes, it was pleasant for a change to see Mercedes panic, if only because it showed they are human. It provides hope for the rest. Hamilton was involved in tetchy radio exchanges with his engineers. So was Nico Rosberg. That is what pressure, especially when it is unaccustomed, can do to even brilliant minds. ‘You’ve put the wrong tyres on,’ exclaimed Hamilton after his third and final stop. The team then accidentally tuned him into a private exchange on the pit wall. They apologised for the mistake. Then, annoyed by the confusion, he said: ‘Once again I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.’ In growing exasperation, he instructed them not to talk to him going through corners. ‘I almost just went off,’ he added. Finally, they told him he could catch Vettel in the dying laps. No chance. It was a crazy, false hope to express and Vettel won by 8.5sec. Rosberg, who is out of form, was third, a place ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, who fought from 11th on the grid and an early puncture. Hamilton was gracious in defeat and loyal to his team. The fact was that Ferrari, who were able to run a two-stop strategy, just had too much pace on the day. Hamilton powers his car during the race (left), and then looks on from the podium after finishing in second place (right) Sauber driver Marcus Ericsson, of Sweden, spins off the circuit as he crashes out of the race . The heat — 60 degrees Celsius on the track — played to their strengths in a way the colder Shanghai circuit a fortnight hence will probably not. The ghost of the day was Ross Brawn. He established the Mercedes super-team before being rashly pushed out at the end of 2013. The question of long-term importance is whether Mercedes can continue on a clear-headed path of success without him. That burden falls to Toto Wolff, the team principal, and Paddy Lowe, the technical director. Wolff said: ‘There is no panic, but we were in a new situation. We were not in control of things today. ‘We had new information which was different from what we had assessed over the weekend. ‘It was clear the winning streak was not going to go on forever. It is not the end of an era, but maybe the start of a new era, of a good battle, a battle we would like to take on. It’s about staying calm and trying to come back with confidence and with the speed we have had in the last couple of races.’ Brawn’s name also cropped up at Ferrari, where he masterminded the Schumacher years of unbroken glory. His old job there as technical director has been taken by the highly-rated, Cambridge-educated James Allison, a tall and slightly awkward-looking British engineer. Ferrari's Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen makes his way back to the pits with a blown out tyre . Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen, the 17-year-old from the Netherlands, on his way to an impressive seventh-place finis . ‘Ross has about a billion championships under his belt as a technical director and I have precisely zero,’ he said. ‘Come and talk to me in a few years’ time when, if I am lucky, I hopefully might have half of what he has won. It would be premature to say anything different.’ Allison started to oversee the development of Vettel’s car in January, 2013. Since then two Ferrari team principals have been sacked. The third, Maurizio Arrivabene, belted out the Italian national anthem that greeted Vettel’s win. Allison, the subject of more interviews than in any other one-hour period of his life, summed up the mood of the day: ‘It’s good to win in anything but there is something absolutely fantastic about this team. At Ferrari, they work especially hard but we also have the history and tradition of the team bearing down on our shoulders. ‘Everywhere you go in the factory, there is the evidence of their massive success and anyone who works there when it is not successful is cowed by that. ‘But there is also the weight of expectation of an entire nation. Those things are pressures that we soak up and when the pressure is released by a day like this, boy, does that feel good. Everybody here won’t be able to find proper words to express what they feel.’ INCIDENT 1 . Lap 39 – Hamilton complains about choice of tyres . Hamilton: 'This is the wrong tyre man.' His engineer replies they had no choice. Engineer: 'The other was well used.' INCIDENT 2 . Lap 40 – With Vettel picking up the pace, Hamilton vents his anger again . Hamilton: 'I can hear you (in response to one engineer trying to grab a quick word). I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing. Paddy (Lowe, team technical chief) says I might be doing another stop.' Engineer: 'That was just miscommunication. That was just chatter.' INCIDENT 3 . Lap 42 – Hamilton snaps after being distracted . Engineer: 'Lewis you are scheduled to catch Vettel with five laps remaining.' Hamilton: 'Don’t try and talk to me through the corners, man, I nearly went off.'
Sebastian Vettel finished 8.5 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton to win the Malaysian Grand Prix . Vettel, the four-time world champion, ended Ferrari's 34-race drought at Sepang International Circuit . Hamilton finished in second place ahead of Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg . The British world champion was heard complaining to his team over the radio during the race . McLaren driver Jenson Button, of Great Britain, was forced to retire due to a loss of power .