The teams spent the weekend in Malaysia for this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. The Sepang International Circuit underwent a few renovations prior to the race, including a newly paved surface and some modifications to the final corner. The new circuit proved to be a little faster according to some data collected on Friday.
The weekend started with an immediate red flag when Kevin Magnussen’s car burst into flames in the pit lane. The safety crew was able to extinguish the fire and Magnussen was uninjured. Once free practice one resumed, it was a fairly standard running order, as Nico Rosberg led the way for Mercedes by just under half a second. The Ferrari drivers were directly behind, with Fernando Alonso separating them from the Red Bulls. In the afternoon, Lewis Hamilton was able to lead free practice two ahead of his teammate. Sebastian Vettel was the faster of the Ferrari drivers, as Kimi Räikkönen suffered some issues early in the session. Red Bull, McLaren and Force India blended together to complete the rest of the top ten.
It was roughly 15 minutes before either Mercedes driver made it out onto the track on Saturday morning, but when they did, they took the top of the leaderboard. Hamilton led the session, with Max Verstappen separating the two Mercedes drivers. Meanwhile the Ferrari drivers were in P4 and P5. Esteban Gutiérrez had a scary moment when he spun his Haas early in the session, but he was able to continue. Qualifying was a similar story, as Hamilton took pole position from his teammate; setting the fastest qualifying time in over a decade at the circuit. They were followed by Red Bull, Ferrari and Force India, with each team taking their own row on the grid, for a rather organized grid. Jenson Button started P9, as his teammate started at the rear of the grid with a massive amount of grid penalties. Felipe Massa completed the top ten.
The race started poorly for Sebastian Vettel and Nico Rosberg, as the pair made contact in the first corner. This put Vettel out of the race, moved Rosberg into the rear of the field and brought out the virtual safety car. Romain Grosjean brought out the virtual safety car a few laps later, as he spun off the track after what looks like a brake issue. The virtual safety car occurred during the pit stop window, prompting a few drivers, like Max Verstappen and both Force India drivers, to come in for a tyre change. With one of the fastest cars on the circuit, Rosberg quickly made up positions and it turned into a tyre strategy game. Rosberg’s side of the garage had attempted an undercut on Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari, but it did not work. Rosberg and Räikkönen made contact in the turn 1 and 2 combo corners. This allowed Rosberg to get by, but prompted an investigation by the stewards which led to a ten-second time penalty. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were involved in a battle for P2, which later turned to a battle for the race lead when Hamilton’s engine caught fire and put him out of the race. With Hamilton out of the way, Red Bull was able to earn their first 1-2 finish since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix. Ricciardo crossed the line ahead of his teammate. Rosberg was able to keep his podium position, as he was able to create a gap larger than ten-seconds to Räikkönen.
Malaysia was the start of yet another back-to-back race weekend for the teams, as they head over to Japan next weekend. The race will be held on the weekend of October 9 at the Suzuka Circuit.
