The Starting Grid: Malaysian Grand Prix

Coming off a 1-2 finish in Australia, Mercedes were aiming to continue their dominant form into the Malaysian Grand Prix, but with Ferrari hot on their tales could they keep the prancing horse at bay?

Fernando Alonso returned to McLaren Honda after the injury he suffered following an accident in pre-season whilst Valtteri Bottas was also back in his Williams after missing the Australian Grand Prix due to a back problem he sustained in qualifying. Manor Marussia also made a return to Formula 1 after not being able to run both their cars in Australia.

Majestic Malaysia

FP1 and FP2 were again dominated by Mercedes, with Nico Rosberg topping the morning session and Lewis Hamilton the afternoon, but Ferrari proved to be edging ever closer to the Silver Arrows being less than half a tenth behind in both practice sessions. Both Red Bull's made it into the Top 10 in FP1 and FP2 and Fernando Alonso outpaced his team mate Jenson Button on his return to the car. Sauber also showed their pace with a Top 10 appearance by Marcus Ericsson both sessions.

FP3 saw Nico Rosberg top the time sheets, nearly two tenths quicker than team mate Lewis Hamilton. Both Ferrari's were half a second off the pace with the Williams' close to a second behind the time set by Rosberg. Sauber were continuing their form and both Toro's Rosso also made it into the Top 10.

Q1 got underway in dry conditions and saw both McLaren Honda's struggle. The Manor Marussia's failed to make the 107% time but were granted by the stewards to race. Felipe Nasr made up the final place in the Q1 knockouts and lined his Sauber up in 16th place.
Q2 started off dry but with the threat of a thunderstorm on the horizon there was a queue of cars lining up in the pit line. Everyone was trying to get a clean lap in before the heavens opened. Kimi Raikkonen got caught out by the traffic and couldn't make it into Q3. Pastor Maldonado joined alongside Raikkonen in P12 with both Force India's lined up beside each other on the seventh row of the grid. After promising pace during the practice sessions, Carlos Sainz got caught out in the difficult track conditions and could only put his Toro Rosso in 15th.
The rain put a holt to proceedings and a half hour delay was put on Q3. The cars then returned and intermediate tyres were the best choice. Lewis Hamilton took pole position, with Sebastian Vettel splitting the two Mercedes' with less than a tenth of a second separating the World Champions. Rosberg could only managed third, with the Red Bull's of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniel Kvyat taking 4th and 5th. Max Verstappen got his best qualifying result of 6th. Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean made up the fourth row of the grid with Valtteri Bottas and Marcus Ericsson making up the final two places in the Top 10.

After a rain soaked qualifying, conditions for race day were hot, hot, hot! Pole sitter Lewis Hamilton got a clean start after a busy first lap left Kimi Raikkonen and Pastor Maldonado with punctures after coming into contact with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Nasr, which resulted in them both having to come in for a new set of shoes.
The Sauber of Marcus Ericsson braked too late into turn one, leaving him in a spin and out of the race. The safety car had to make an appearance and when both Mercedes' pitted this left Sebastian Vettel out in the lead. Once the Safety Car went in, Vettel was able to extend his lead and give him some clear air between himself and second place.
The cars who didn't pit under the Safety Car, then came in to make their stops. Hamilton was handed back the lead from Vettel, Rosberg moved up to second and the Ferrari came out in third. Vettel on fresher tyres was able to catch up to the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, overtaking him and setting his sights on Lewis Hamilton.
Fernando Alonso sadly had to retire due to an engine problem and team mate Jenson Button joined him with a turbo failure. The Red Bull's suffered from brake issues, but Kvyat and Ricciardo were able to continue. Kvyat was later hit by the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg sending him into a spin, which resulted in him dropping down the pack. Both Force India's were slapped with penalties after Hulkenberg's team mate Perez sent Romain Grosjean into a spin. They both received a 10 second penalty. Pastor Maldonado added his name to the list of retirees after bake failures resulted in him missing the chequered flag.

The finger is back!

Sebastian Vettel went on to win the Malaysian Grand Prix with Lewis Hamilton in second and Nico Rosberg in third. Even after the early puncture, Kimi Raikkonen brought his Ferrari home in fourth followed by the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Both Toro Rosso's finished in the points, bringing home 7th and 8th for Verstappen and Sainz. Kvyat and Ricciardo rounded off the points finishers.

Next stop on the F1 2015 was China. Could Ferrari continue their time on the top or would the Mercedes bounce back?