Vettel's Ferrari win at Malaysia shows his success not just down to Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel laid to rest his 2014 demons and persistent doubts about his ability by taking his maiden victory for Ferrari in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

It was a hugely emotional win for the German, given his keen interest in the sport’s history and the parallels his move to Ferrari has with that of his boyhood hero Michael Schumacher.

But, crucially, it was his first non-Red Bull win and ought to go a long way in silencing his doubters who had grown in number following a dismal campaign for the former world champion last year.

For a long time now Vettel has had to battle the perception that his stratospheric success was down simply to the dominant Adrian Newey-designed Red Bulls.

And despite winning four world championships on the trot, a feat matched only by Juan Manuel Fangio and Schumacher, doubts about Vettel’s ability had lingered.

The numbers said he was a great of his sport – four world championships, fourth in the all-time grand prix winners list with 40 victories including Sunday’s race, third in the all-time pole position count with 45 – his achievements go on and on.

But was he as good as the numbers made him appear?

Hadn’t he achieved so much success only because he was sat in the best car, because Newey had exploited the exhaust-blown diffuser concept to such devastating effect that all Vettel had to do behind the wheel to unleash the unbeatable Red Bull on the opposition was point and squirt?

Hadn’t he struggled when attempts had been made to curb exhaust-blowing, an esoteric form of aerodynamic wizardry aimed at producing more grip at the rear of the car, and the effectiveness of the counter-intuitive technique he had perfected to maximize the concept had been limited?

The general rule of thumb in Formula One is that a truly great driver is able to win in cars that are not the class of the field.

Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton had all done so. Vettel had too when he won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix driving a Toro Rosso in torrential conditions, as he pointed out in the face of comments from peers that he had never won in a bad car.

But that was passed off as an anomaly and fans and peers alike remained unconvinced of Vettel’s status as a true great. He was among the top three drivers in Formula One, they agreed, but wasn’t on the same level as Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton.

“At the moment we are not fighting against Sebastian only. We are also fighting against Newey…” Alonso, widely hailed as the best driver currently racing in Formula One, had declared at the 2012 Indian Grand Prix as his championship hopes dwindled in the face of a renewed charge from Vettel and Red Bull.

His chance to provide a convincing answer to his critics came in 2014 when Red Bull and Renault had been caught out by the revolutionary turbo-hybrid rule changes and had lost their winning habit. Let’s see how good he really is, they said. He was finally in a ‘bad car’ and here was his moment to shine. Except he didn’t.

He struggled to come to terms with the new generation of cars, a fact he openly admitted, and scored only 4 podiums and no victories.

It was a far cry from the record-equaling 13 race wins he had taken only a year ago as he romped home to his fourth title which hardened the belief that Vettel owed his success largely to Newey’s dominant designs.

It didn’t help that new and unheralded team-mate Daniel Ricciardo raced to three wins and five podiums, making Vettel look decidedly ordinary and not half as formidable as he had seemed during his four-year reign over the sport.

Yes, the car was now devoid of the blown diffuser that he had structured his driving around but the truly great drivers are able to adapt to get the maximum out of any car.

Instead here was Ricciardo week in and week out exploiting the full potential of the Red Bull even as Vettel seemed all at sea. Further evidence then that Vettel wasn’t truly a great?

Far from allaying them, Vettel’s performance through the year only raised further doubts about his ability. But on Sunday, Vettel quelled those doubts by winning in a car that wasn’t a Red Bull, had no exhaust blowing and certainly wasn’t the class of the field. Yes, the Ferrari isn’t what one would call a bad car and it’s true that the searing hot temperatures suited it but the SF 15-T certainly isn’t the benchmark. Yes, he had struggled with the current generation of cars last year, but he had gone away over the winter, recalibrated his brain and altered his driving style to get the most out of the car. The move to Ferrari had also rekindled that spark that had seen him blaze his way to those multiple championship wins and on Sunday Vettel looked every bit the formidable force he had in his pomp.

It was something that wasn’t lost on those watching.

“I thought Sebastian drove brilliantly today, I think he did a classic Vettel,” former team boss Christian Horner said.

“I think he’s obviously got a very good feel in the car. He’s got good feel for the driveability, he’s very good with looking after the tyres and in that situation he’s quite often unbeatable.”