Let's put it this way: if it hadn't been for the two Mercedes missiles, Sebastian Vettel's in Ferrari would have been an unforgettable debut. In reality it was anyway, because the third place conquered by the German brings smiles back to Maranello after two seasons of great disappointments, knowing full well that Mercedes is currently unattainable. In fact, world champion Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off, with a victory ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg, at the end of a race that never had history.
The race immediately lost some protagonists, because Kvyat (Red Bull) and Magnussen (McLaren) were added to the forfeit of the two Manors, who were stranded even before the start of the race due to mechanical problems, and of Bottas (Williams), put ko from a back problem.
Not only that, because at the start (near contact between Vettel, who didn't start very well, and his teammate Raikkonen) Maldonado, rear-ended by the young rookie Nasr, ended up in a wall forcing the safety car to come out, with the Lotus definitively calling Grosjean to the pits , so much so that there were just 13 cars on the track after 5 laps.
Right from the start the grand prix took a rather clear turn, with two very distinct pairs: up front Hamilton and Rosberg racing after him (the German was always second without ever giving the impression of being able to attack his teammate) , Massa and Vettel fighting for third place. Initially it was the Brazilian of Williams who had the upper hand, but the German of Ferrari had the merit of always keeping him in his sights, taking advantage of his rival's pit stop on lap 21 in the best possible way, gaining those few tenths of an advantage that they allowed him out in front after his tire change one lap later.
Unlike Vettel, pit stops were a nightmare for Raikkonen: after losing six seconds at the first tire change due to a problem with the left rear, the omelette was completed in the second change, when the men in red made him restart without that the tire (again the left rear) was fixed, which forced the Finn to park his Ferrari a few corners after rejoining the track. A real pity, because without those mistakes, the Maranello team could have fought for the third-fourth place combination.
Until then, however, both Reds had done very well, keeping at times (especially with Vettel) the same race pace as the phenomenal Mercedes. Also noteworthy is the excellent result of the rookie Nasr, who finished fifth with the Ferrari-powered Sauber.
The Ferrari fans can smile, and not just for the team radio that was heard immediately after the checkered flag, when Sebastian Vettel in perfect Italian wanted to thank the team in the garage like this: "Guys, go Ferrari!". Words from a leader who are very reminiscent of the first Schumacher, in the hope that the results will be the same: “I'm over the moon, it was a fantastic weekend – said Vettel at the end of the race -. Maybe I didn't realize before that Ferrari had such support from the first to the last lap, now I do. It was great to debut in this way, it's an honor for me to race with this red car. I always pushed, it was great to see the checkered flag, a nice reward for the work done by the guys in the team. The car is better than in 2014, it's a good starting point, but in the race I think we are closer to the Mercedes than in qualifying. I'm proud of how the team tackles the GPs, everyone knows where we have to go and the goal is to make life more difficult for Lewis and Nico".
