Vettel 'lucked' into Ferrari win, says Button

Jenson Button believes Sebastian Vettel is lucky to have found himself driving a more competitive Ferrari, suggesting Fernando Alonso would have achieved the same had he stayed.

Vettel, in only his second race with Ferrari, claimed victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix after comfortably out-performing Mercedes, marking the first time the Scuderia has won a race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

A historic success for Vettel, who has now notched up 40 F1 career wins, Button is more sceptical about the effect the driver itself had on returning Ferrari to success, saying 'sometimes things work out for you'.

"He has definitely lucked into a situation, I would say," Button told the Daily Mail. "I am sure he had the same information as Fernando when Fernando left the team.

"It is one of those situations which sometimes works out for you, for example [Daniel] Ricciardo was overtaken by his new team-mate [Kvyat], and lapped by his ex-team-mate on the same lap. Who would have thought that at the end of last year? So sometimes you do luck into a situation."

Even so, McLaren driver Button says he is pleased to see Ferrari returning to form and praised Vettel's performance.

"I am really happy to see Ferrari win. I thought Mercedes were going to trounce it this year, so it is great for the sport and for other teams to see another take it to Mercedes.

"It is not as if the weather was funny or safety cars destroyed their race, Sebastian was just quicker. I was very impressed by him. He did a great job which shows things can turn around over a winter, which is good to see for every team. It's nice to see someone challenge them."