Just two weeks after the dramatic Singapore Grand Prix, the Formula One teams and drivers travelled to the Sepang International Circuit for the final F1 event at the circuit. The event organizers previously announced that the 2017 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX would be their final grand prix.
The weekend didn’t really get off to the best start, with the first free practice session having been postpones for 30 minutes due to heavy rain that had soaked the circuit. Red Bull were the quickest in the conditions, finishing nearly a second clear of the drivers behind on the timesheet. Fernando Alonso was quick in his McLaren, earning P3 on the timesheets. Ferrari finished ahead of Mercedes, with Lance Stroll also proving his skill in the rain to finish within the top ten.
Despite the wet morning, the dry conditions arrived for the afternoon’s practice session. Sebastian Vettel topped the session with a comfortable lead, with teammate Kimi Räikkönen setting the second fastest time. The two Red Bull drivers were the next fastest and Alonso set a lap time worthy of a top five in the session. The Mercedes drivers finished close behind the Spaniard. The session was ended roughly 10 minutes prematurely for an unusual incident involving Romain Grosjean. His Haas received a severe puncture from a dislodged drain cover in turn 13, causing him to crash violently into the barriers. He was uninjured, but the session did not resume.
The final free practice session on Saturday was again run in dry conditions. Räikkönen led the session with his teammate less than 0.2 seconds behind. Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen sandwiched the two Mercedes drivers, of which Valtteri Bottas led the way. The top three teams were separated comfortably from the rest of the teams. Lewis Hamilton reverted his car to the Singapore Grand Prix setup, while Bottas stuck with the new aero upgrades that the team had provided. Meanwhile, there was concern in Vettel’s garage, with the team instructing him to stop near the end of the session.
With his World Championship hopes already slowly drifting away after the loss of points in Singapore, Vettel would have yet another hurdle in his quest to take home the title, starting last on the grid. The German failed to set a lap time in qualifying due to power unit issues. With Vettel out of the way, Hamilton was able to take the pole position for the race. Räikkönen also starts on the front row of the grid. The Red Bull drivers locked out the second row of the grid, with very little time separating the duo. Bottas concluded the top five.
Sunday’s race was run in dry conditions, despite the earlier concern over the threat of rain. Räikkönen’s race ended before it had even began, suffering a mechanical failure that prevented him from even starting the race. With Vettel starting from the rear of the grid, it was a less than ideal weekend for Ferrari. However, Vettel was able to make his way through the field quite quickly. Hamilton was able to maintain the lead off of the grid, thanks to the absence of his competition in the front row. However, Verstappen was able to quickly take the lead of the grand prix, where he would eventually stay for the remainder of the race.
Meanwhile, Bottas lost his position to Vettel in the pit cycles. Vettel went on to chase down Ricciardo. The challenge was tough because of the backmarkers that Ricciardo was putting between the duo. Vettel was able to get close, but never really able to make a proper overtaking move. He was forced to drop back to cool his engine, ending his chance to finish on the podium. Verstappen took the race victory, becoming the fifth winner of the season. Hamilton finished on the second step of the podium, extending his championship lead, while Ricciardo maintained his position on the bottom step of the podium. Vettel finished in P4 and was later involved in a post-race incident that is likely to gain negative attention from the FIA for multiple reasons.
The teams will have very little time to recuperate after the race, as they head to Japan for the Japanese Grand Prix next week. This is the first of two back to back weekends in the schedule this month, with the end of the season now just six races away.
