2015 Malaysian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Sebastian Vettel delivered his first Ferrari victory in Malaysia, defeating Mercedes through a combination of pace, tyre management and strategy. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg completed the podium after Ferrari made the heat of Sepang work in its favour.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Pole time	1:49.834
Fastest lap	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes
Fastest-lap time	1:42.062 on lap 43
First	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Second	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Third	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
27 March 2015	Practice 1	10:00 – 11:30
27 March 2015	Practice 2	14:00 – 15:30
28 March 2015	Practice 3	14:00 – 15:00
28 March 2015	Qualifying	17:00
29 March 2015	Race	15:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Lewis Hamilton arrived at round 2 leading the 2015 F1 World Championship on 25 points, with Nico Rosberg on 18. Mercedes headed the constructors’ standings with 43 points.

Race entries

Fernando Alonso returned to McLaren after missing Australia, and Valtteri Bottas was fit to rejoin Williams. Manor Marussia finally ran its cars, although Will Stevens‘ fuel-system problem prevented him from starting the race.

Free Practice

Nico Rosberg led opening practice, but Mercedes had a disrupted morning on the other side of the garage as engine trouble sidelined Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari stayed within four tenths of the fastest time, suggesting a closer contest than in Melbourne. Fernando Alonso began his first race weekend in the McLaren, Manor Marussia finally got both cars onto the track, and Raffaele Marciello took Felipe Nasr‘s Sauber for the session.

Lewis Hamilton recovered to head FP2, turning a morning short of running into a more useful afternoon. Ferrari again kept the gap to Mercedes below four tenths, an encouraging sign in Sepang‘s demanding conditions. Fernando Alonso finished ahead of Jenson Button for the second session running, although McLaren remained in the lower half of the field. Manor‘s priority was more basic: building mileage and finding enough speed to clear the qualifying threshold.

Nico Rosberg restored the familiar Mercedes order in FP3, with Lewis Hamilton following him and Ferrari roughly half a second behind. After Lewis Hamilton‘s interrupted Friday, the final hour gave both Mercedes drivers another opportunity to prepare for qualifying. Ferrari remained the leading threat, having shown a smaller deficit throughout the weekend than at the season opener, while Fernando Alonso continued adapting to a McLaren package still short of outright pace.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix FP1, 27 March 2015

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:40.124	20
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.373s	17
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.861s	13
4	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+1.419s	14
5	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+1.472s	26
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.663s	15
7	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	+1.679s	23
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+1.758s	23
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing	+1.931s	18
10	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+1.940s	16
11	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+1.979s	23
12	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	+2.443s	19
13	36	Raffaele Marciello	Sauber	+2.497s	13
14	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.761s	20
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+2.769s	13
16	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.930s	15
17	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+2.976s	19
18	28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia	+6.562s	8
19	98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia	+7.559s	8
20	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	No time	4

Free Practice 2 Classification

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix FP2, 27 March 2015

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:39.790	16
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.373s	29
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+0.428s	26
4	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing	+0.556s	17
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+0.660s	31
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+0.770s	27
7	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.862s	29
8	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	+1.430s	30
9	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+1.471s	30
10	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+2.009s	8
11	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	+2.087s	15
12	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	+2.198s	30
13	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.452s	24
14	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+2.501s	31
15	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+2.540s	28
16	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.716s	25
17	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+2.847s	24
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+3.158s	7
19	28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia	+5.914s	12
20	98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia	+7.439s	6

Free Practice 3 Classification

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix FP3, 28 March 2015

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:39.690	13
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.184s	10
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.555s	9
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+0.576s	13
5	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+0.701s	14
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+0.716s	15
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+0.900s	19
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+0.911s	19
9	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	+1.299s	18
10	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+1.510s	19
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	+1.516s	16
12	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	+1.902s	18
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing	+2.086s	14
14	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	+2.114s	15
15	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.301s	13
16	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.410s	14
17	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	+2.427s	18
18	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	+2.629s	13
19	98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia	+6.957s	9
20	28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia	+7.369s	6

Qualifying

Lewis Hamilton headed qualifying for Mercedes, with Sebastian Vettel second and Nico Rosberg third.

Lewis Hamilton secured pole in a rain-affected session, but Sebastian Vettel split the Mercedes cars to qualify second. Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens received permission to start despite qualifying difficulties; Stevens ultimately remained unable to race.

Qualifying Classification

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying, 28 March 2015

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:39.269	1:41.517	1:49.834	13
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:39.814	1:39.632	1:49.908	13
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:39.374	1:39.377	1:50.299	13
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:40.504	1:41.085	1:51.541	16
5	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing	1:40.546	1:41.665	1:51.951	16
6	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	1:40.793	1:41.430	1:51.981	16
7	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:40.543	1:41.230	1:52.473	17
8	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	1:40.303	1:41.209	1:52.981	18
9	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	1:40.249	1:40.650	1:53.179	14
10	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:40.340	1:41.748	1:53.261	18
11	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:40.415	1:42.173	—	7
12	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	1:40.361	1:42.198	—	11
13	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	1:40.830	1:43.023	—	9
14	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:41.036	1:43.469	—	11
15	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:39.814	1:43.701	—	9
16	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	1:41.308	—	—	7
17	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	1:41.636	—	—	8
18	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:41.746	—	—	8
—	98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia	1:46.677	—	—	7
—	28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia	no time	—	—	—

Romain Grosjean received a two place grid penalty for failing to “leave the pitlane in the order of his arrival.”

Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens were granted permission to start by race stewards.

What happened in the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix?

Hamilton led Vettel and Rosberg away, while early punctures disrupted Kimi Räikkönen and Pastor Maldonado. Marcus Ericsson spun off on lap four, bringing out the safety car and the race’s decisive strategic choice.

Both Mercedes drivers stopped, but Vettel stayed out. When racing resumed, the Ferrari had clear air while Hamilton and Rosberg had to work past cars that had also delayed their tyre changes.

Vettel maintained competitive pace and made a two-stop strategy work against Mercedes‘ three stops. His fresher tyres during the middle phase helped him attack, and he emerged from the final stops with enough of an advantage to hold Hamilton off.

Vettel won ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg, ending Ferrari‘s victory drought. Räikkönen recovered to fourth, while Bottas passed Felipe Massa late for fifth. Max Verstappen took seventh to become Formula 1’s youngest points scorer.

Further down the points places, Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo completed the scoring positions. Nico Rosberg set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2015 rules.

After the race, Lewis Hamilton headed the drivers’ standings with 43 points, followed by Sebastian Vettel on 40. Mercedes led the constructors’ table on 76, with Ferrari on 52.

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix race results

The 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix was held on 29 March 2015, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	56	1:41:05.793	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	+8.569	18
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+12.310	15
4	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	56	+53.822	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	56	+1:10.409	10
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	56	+1:13.586	8
7	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	56	+1:37.762	6
8	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	55	+1 Lap	4
9	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing	55	+1 Lap	2
10	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	55	+1 Lap	1
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	55	+1 Lap	0
12	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	55	+1 Lap	0
13	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	55	+1 Lap	0
14	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Force India	55	+1 Lap	0
15	98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia	53	+3 Laps	0
Ret	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	47	Brakes	0
Ret	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	41	Turbo	0
Ret	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	21	Power Unit	0
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	3	Spun off	0
DNS	28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia	0	Fuel system	0

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time of Day	Time	Avg. Speed
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	43	16:22:26	1:42.062	195.516
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	45	16:25:40	1:43.125	193.501
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	46	16:27:13	1:43.648	192.524
4	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	45	16:27:39	1:43.902	192.054
5	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	40	16:17:47	1:43.990	191.891
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	42	16:21:20	1:44.088	191.710
7	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	40	16:17:30	1:44.124	191.644
8	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull Racing	41	16:20:06	1:44.514	190.929
9	33	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso	42	16:21:39	1:44.579	190.810
10	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus F1	36	16:11:22	1:44.812	190.386
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	46	16:29:37	1:44.822	190.368
12	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus F1	38	16:15:01	1:45.070	189.919
13	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	42	16:21:43	1:45.312	189.482
14	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	37	16:13:19	1:45.345	189.423
15	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	37	16:12:46	1:45.507	189.132
16	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	38	16:14:57	1:46.056	188.153
17	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	17	15:36:24	1:48.460	183.983
18	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	3	15:09:09	1:48.760	183.475
19	98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia	44	16:28:36	1:49.040	183.004

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded. Time of Day is local.

2015 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix.

2015 Post-Race F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	43
2	Sebastian Vettel	German	Ferrari	40
3	Nico Rosberg	German	Mercedes	33
4	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Williams	20
5	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	12
6	Felipe Nasr	Brazilian	Sauber	10
7	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Williams	10
8	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Red Bull Racing	9
9	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Force India	6
10	Max Verstappen	Dutch	Toro Rosso	6
11	Carlos Sainz	Spanish	Toro Rosso	6
12	Marcus Ericsson	Swedish	Sauber	4
13	Daniil Kvyat	Russian	Red Bull Racing	2
14	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Force India	1
15	Romain Grosjean	French	Lotus F1	0
16	Jenson Button	British	McLaren	0
17	Roberto Merhi	Spanish	Manor Marussia	0
–	Pastor Maldonado	Venezuelan	Lotus F1	0
–	Kevin Magnussen	Danish	McLaren	0
–	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	McLaren	0
–	Will Stevens	British	Manor Marussia	0

2015 Post-Race F1 Constructors’ Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Mercedes	76
2	Ferrari	52
3	Williams	30
4	Sauber	14
5	Toro Rosso	12
6	Red Bull Racing	11
7	Force India	7
8	Lotus F1	0
9	McLaren	0
10	Manor Marussia	0

2015 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2015 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	15 March
2	2015 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	29 March
3	2015 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	12 April
4	2015 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	19 April
5	2015 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	10 May
6	2015 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	24 May
7	2015 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	7 June
8	2015 Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	21 June
9	2015 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	5 July
10	2015 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	26 July
11	2015 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	23 August
12	2015 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	6 September
13	2015 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	20 September
14	2015 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	27 September
15	2015 Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	11 October
16	2015 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	25 October
17	2015 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	1 November
18	2015 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	15 November
19	2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	29 November