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21 HAVING elected to stay out on track during an early Safety Car pe- riod, Vettel carried out an alternate two-stop strategy to beat three- stopping Hamilton and Rosberg to the chequered flag. With Kimi Räikkönen also re- covering to fourth position after picking up a puncture at the end of the first lap, Mercedes' champi- onship advantage over Ferrari was trimmed to 24 points. "We left Malaysia with plenty to think about. It may have been a good result for the sport – but for us, it was a wake-up call," said Wolff, who talked up Ferrari's vic- tory after the race. "This is something you cannot af- ford to happen often and, although we had two cars on the podium, we have been looking very carefully at every area where we could have per- formed better. "Our opposition has raised its game and we must now raise ours even further; as we have said since Melbourne, we expect a season- long battle for both championships and we must maximise every op- portunity. "China is the next chance to do that – a circuit which has been a good hunting ground for the team. Lewis has a great record here and for Nico, it's where he made his first step into the winners circle. "We have the weapons at our dis- posal – and we need to make the most of them this weekend." Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 8 APRIL 2015 FORMULA 1 TENNIS Subscribe to the e-paper Read the MaltaToday and MaltaToday midweek at 5am on the morning of publication on your Desktop, Tablet or Smartphone Subscribe now at www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/maltatodayepaper With any new annual subscription you will get a FREE copy of your choice either Saviour Balzan's 'Saying It As It Is' or 'GourmetToday 100 best recipes' worth over €20 Subscription options 1 edition: €0.80 3 months: €15.00 MaltaToday and MaltaToday Midweek 6 months: €28.00 MaltaToday and MaltaToday Midweek 12 months: €50.00 + FREE BOOK *best value* Mercedes equipped for Ferrari F1 fight Mercedes has explained that it is fully prepared for a "season-long" championship battle with Ferrari, after Sebastian Vettel overcame Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to win the Malaysian Grand Prix Murray up to third MURRAY was beaten 7-6 4-6 6-0 in Sunday's title decider but his run to the final was enough for him to climb above Rafael Nadal into third spot on the new ATP list. Kei Nishikori also moves above Nadal, who slips to fifth following his last-32 loss to Fernando Ver- dasco in Miami. Nadal is now less than 200 points ahead of sixth-placed Milos Raon- ic. The last time the Spaniard was ranked outside the top five was in May 2005 - before he had won any of his 14 Grand Slam titles. Djokovic now holds a lead of more than 4,000 points over Roger Fed- erer at the top of the rankings. The winner of Grand Slam claims 2,000 points, while 1,000 are awarded to champions of the Masters tourna- ments, of which Miami is one. This week is his 141st on top of the pile, equalling the number of weeks Nadal has spent in top spot. Only Roger Federer (302), Pete Sampras (286), Ivan Lendl (270), Jimmy Con- nors (268) and John McEnroe (170) have accumulated more weeks as world number one. Further down the list, new Brit- ish recruit Aljaz Bedene drops to 99th. The Slovenian-born player officially changed his nationality last week having lived in Britain for several years. In the WTA rankings, Serena Williams maintains her hold on top spot after winning in Miami. British number one Heather Watson stays in 41st, three places below her career-high, following a second-round loss to Angelique Kerber in Florida. Murray (l) is now third, while Djokovic has equalled Nadal's weeks as number one