Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has claimed that Ferrari couldn't be beaten during Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix.

Taking advantage of an early safety car at Sepang, Sebastian Vettel was able to see off the challenge of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg and end the Scuderia's 34-race wait for a victory.

Speaking after the race, Lauda suggested that Ferrari's strategy played a key role.

He told reporters: "Very simple, they were unbeatable today I would say. Because they did a perfect strategy, and Vettel did an incredible job. The car performed, the tires lasted. For us it was a three-stop strategy.

"Why? Because with the tires at their peak, for us it was important to make three stops. Ferrari was less hard on tires altogether, therefore they had to do a two-stop, and one race.

"I went to [Maurizio] Arrivabene right away and congratulated him, from my heart, because he is competition, and more competition is better, and if Ferrari wins Bernie can't complain about boring Vettel, which he said. Vettel is not boring any more! I think it's very good this result for the total image if F1, which we're always complaining about – I'm not, but some other people."

Vettel started the season with a podium finish at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.