Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton has conceded that Ferrari "were too quick for us" after he was beaten at the Malaysian Grand Prix by Sebastian Vettel.

Hamilton was on pole at Sepang, but had to settle for second place as Ferrari got Vettel's tactics spot on to better the Mercedes duo of Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who completed the podium.

Speaking after the trophy presentation, Hamilton said: "Firstly huge congratulations to Ferrari and Sebastian, they had huge pace today.

"I knew coming into this weekend they'd made a step, we didn't know how much, but they were too quick for us.

"We need to get back together as a team and work out where we lost time, and I'm sure we'll be fighting at the next race."

Vettel's victory ended Ferrari's 34-race winless drought and was the four-time world champion's first triumph since 2013, after he failed to win a race in his final season with Red Bull.

The third Grand Prix of the season takes place in China in a fortnight's time.