Max Verstappen took victory at the final Malaysian Grand Prix, becoming the fifth different race winner this season. Lewis Hamilton extended his points advantage over Sebastian Vettel, despite a good recovery from the German. There was further drama at the Ferrari garage before the race even began.
Despite the forecast for rain during the race, the Malaysian Grand Prix started under dry conditions. With Sebastian Vettel already starting at the rear of the grid following some power unit issues on his car during qualifying, it was more drama for Ferrari before the start of the race, as Kimi Räikkönen fails to start the race. Räikkönen was set to start in P2.
With no competition on the front row, Lewis Hamilton was able to maintain the lead easily. A little further back, his teammate made a move around the outside of the Red Bulls in turn one and turn two. Meanwhile, Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon were side-by-side into the first corner. In the transition into turn two, Pérez forced Ocon a little wide and Ocon made contact with Felipe Massa. Ocon suffered a slow puncture and was forced to pit.
Max Verstappen was able to take the lead of the grand prix from Hamilton with some assistance from the DRS. Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas battled side by side in corners one and two on lap 9. Ricciardo was on the outside of turn one, giving him the inside line for turn two. Ricciardo won the battle. Meanwhile, by lap 10, Vettel had made his way to P10 from the rear of the grid.
On lap 25, Ocon and Carlos Sainz made contact. Ocon was ahead slightly with Sainz on the inside as the duo headed into the corner. Ocon moved to the inside and made contact and spun off, out of his top ten position.
By lap 26, Vettel had caught up to the rear of Bottas’ car, making a non-aggressive attempt to overtake the Mercedes, but not getting through. Hamilton took this opportunity to pit for fresh rubber. The next lap, Verstappen and Vettel followed into the pits. Bottas pitted a few laps later, coming out behind the sole Ferrari driver. Ricciardo pitted a lap later, coming out far ahead of Vettel.
Verstappen was lucky to not be collected in an incident between Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen on lap 39. Magnussen overtook Palmer on the outside down the straight, while at the same time Verstappen was lapping them. After Verstappen got by, Palmer dove to the inside of the corner and lost the rear of the car, sending him into a spin. Both drivers escaped without serious damage and were able to resume the race.
Vettel made a fantastic recovery going from the back of the grid to comfortably into the top five, but he was determined to advance further up the grid to a podium position. Only Ricciardo stood in the way. Ricciardo and Vettel battled their way through the backmarkers, allowing Vettel get right to the Ricciardo’s gearbox. Down the main straight on lap 49, Vettel motioned toward the inside at the end of the straight, but wasn’t able to actually make an overtake attempt. He didn’t have the chance to make an attempt, as he dropped back due to what appears to have been engine temperature management. He fell far out of the DRS zone within a few laps.
Meanwhile, Verstappen took race victory for the final Malaysian Grand Prix to become the fifth different race winner this season. Hamilton finished in a comfortable P2, with Ricciardo concluding the podium. With the points, Hamilton further strengths his World Drivers’ Championship lead over Vettel.
A bizarre event after the finish of the grand prix left the Ferrari of Vettel with terminal damage, causing some concern about whether or not the team will be forced to make a gearbox change for the next race. During the cool down lap, Vettel and Lance Stroll made contact. The Williams escaped damage, but the left-rear suspension on the Ferrari was completely sheared off, leaving Vettel stranded trackside. Pascal Wehrlein pulled over to give Vettel a ride back to the pits, in a move that the FIA will be unhappy about for safety reasons.
Above results table does not include any post-race penalties
