NewsBite

Max Verstappen wins Malaysian Grand Prix

A CHAOTIC collision saw Sebastian Vettel’s car crumple in a weird post-race brain fade — and the German wasn’t happy.

Alex BlairAlex Blair
@alexblair_1
7 min read
October 1, 2017 - 10:02PM
Well, at least he finished the race.
Well, at least he finished the race.

Live: F1 Malaysian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has taken pole and will look to silence Sebastian Vettel’s championship hopes with a fourth win on the trot in Malaysia.


Max Verstappen has celebrated his 20th birthday with a win at the Malaysian Grand Prix after a clutch play early in the race saw him overtake Lewis Hamilton for first.

Hamilton claimed second, while Daniel Ricciardo took third.

Sebastian Vettel somehow finished fourth after an engine mishap over the qualifying weekend saw him start at the back of the grid.

7:33pm

Verstappen wins Malaysian Grand Prix, Vettel fumes

Max Verstappen has celebrated his 20th birthday weekend in style with a stunning win in Malaysia.

The Red Bull young gun overtook Lewis Hamilton to claim first place in the fourth lap and didn’t look back for the rest of the race.

Daniel Ricciardo took third behind Hamilton, while Sebastian Vettel claimed fourth after a blistering drive saw him bounce back from last place on the grid.

Well, at least he finished the race.
Well, at least he finished the race.

Chaos erupted during the victory lap as youngster Lance Stroll came into contact with Sebastian Vettel, forcing the Ferrari to spin out and see his wheel sit on top of his car.

Vettel hitched a ride off Pascal Wehrlein to make it back to the pits.

“I went on the outside to pick up a bit of rubber — I think Lance wasn’t looking and wanted to do the same,” he said. “I was there already and we had contact - it was completely unnecessary. I think he just didn’t look.”

7:20pm

‘Relentless’ Vettel on a warpath

Sebastian Vettel has found his way into fourth place over Sergio Perez and sits seven seconds behind Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo in third.

“Vettel started 15 places behind Bottas on the grid — he’s now 12 seconds ahead of him,” Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle.

“We haven’t seen those big, amazing moments from Vettel — but he’s been pretty relentless in moving forward.”

Vettel took a swipe at former F1 champion Fernando Alonso as the struggling star held him up late in the race.

“Hey come on Alonso, really? I thought you were better than that,” he said.

6:50pm

Magnussen tees off, Youngster’s daring play falls flat

Kevin Magnussen has blasted Jolyon Palmer for a collision in Turn One which saw Palmer spinning as Max Verstappen lapped the struggling drivers.

“What a ****ing lunatic,” Magnussen said of Palmer.

Esteban Ocon has tried to go off-road to take ninth place off Felipe Massa. The 21-year-old made a daring move on the outside of the F1 veteran, putting his wheels into the grass and making a mess.

His plucky attempt wasn’t as fruitful as he hoped, losing seconds as Massa continued his fight with Lanc Stroll for eighth.

6:41pm

Vettel puts Bottas under the pump

Sebastian Vettel has cleared Sergio Perez out of fifth and is closing in on Valtteri Bottas in fourth. The German is over a second faster than the Finn and will have a prime opportunity to make a dash for the podium in the second half of the race.

Bottas’ pace next to the top three has been severely wanting. He currently sits over 30 seconds behind race leader Max Verstappen and looks to be having trouble holding off a rampant Vettel on his tail.

6:30pm

Vettel making a quiet move

Ferrari gun Sebastian Vettel is determined to pull home a favourable result despite their weekend horror show.

The 30-year-old has squeezed his way into sixth place after starting on the back of the grid and is making a serious move on Sergio Perez in fifth.

Teammate Kimi Raikkonen has changed clothes and is officially out of the race.

6:20pm

Verstappen moves into first

Red Bull youngster Max Verstappen has pulled off an amazing overtake to squeeze into first place in the fourth lap. The teen firebrand pressured Lewis Hamilton on the inside and eventually forced the championship leader down to second.

Daniel Ricciardo has muscled his way into third place ahead of Valtteri Bottas, giving Red Bull the serious upper hand as the Mercedes begins to dip behind Ricciardo’s pace.

The Aussie outpaced Hamilton by a second in the 10th lap.

6pm

Raikkonen horror show before lights out

A killer start from Lewis Hamilton has seen the Mercedes gun shoot ahead of the pack as a bitter struggle for second, third and fourth encapsulated Turn One.

Valtteri Bottas made a daring move behind Daniel Ricciardo as the two drivers prepared for the first corner. The Aussie was forced back to fourth as the Mercedes overtook.

Kimi Raikkonen’s car was wheeled to the pits minutes before lights out in Malaysia with turbo issues. The Scuderia will look to start the F1 veteran from the pits, but their hopes of a successful race have been sent spiralling after a Sebastian Vettel engine mishap saw the German forced to the back of the grid.

5:15pm

Lewis Hamilton may ‘take a knee’ in USA

Lewis Hamilton says he’s ready to bring politics to the podium.
Lewis Hamilton says he’s ready to bring politics to the podium.

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he could consider ‘taking a knee’ at October’s United States GP as protests continue to sweep through the NFL.

Hundreds of NFL players have knelt down during the American national anthem in recent weeks in response to stinging criticism from President Donald Trump with Hamilton publicly supporting their protests on social media.

And when Formula 1 heads to Austin for round 17 of the 2017 season in October, the championship leader says he will have to start thinking about taking a knee himself on the grid when the anthem plays before the race.

“I’ve not even thought about that race but of course I will have to start to think about it - what would be right for me to do or do I even need to get involved?,” Hamilton said in an interview with The Times.

“It’s not my national anthem, but the issue that is in the States...well, it’s not just in the States, it is a global thing. It’s more focused and probably at its worse perhaps in America. I think we all do need to stand together.”

Trump has been locked in a feud with NFL players, owners and league officials over the symbolic protests. Last week, he called protesting players “sons of b*****s” who should be fired.

Previously, only a handful of players had taken a knee during the anthem but last week, after Trump’s comments, nearly 200 chose to make their point. And Hamilton said he could “identify with a lot of those individuals”.

“It’s important for everyone to stand up for what they believe in,” the Mercedes driver added. “I don’t plan on being more political but I do feel we should all stand up and stick by what we believe in.”

— with Matt Moldridge, Sky Sports

5pm

Uh, Mark?

Aussie F1 legend Mark Webber had a strange moment on live TV while describing Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas’ qualifying disappointment which saw him place fifth on the grid for today’s race.

“He’s going down there with the old dog barking in his head,” Webber said while hosting England’s Channel Four coverage of the weekend.

When asked what kind of dog, Webber replied instantly before woofing at his co-host.

“Rottweiler, a Finnish rottweiler,” he said. “An arctic wolf ... woof!”

Take a look at the strange encounter below.

4:30pm

Bottas needs a ‘good look in the mirror’

Valtteri Bottas says he needs to take a “good look in the mirror” after another faltering qualifying at the Malaysia GP, while Mercedes have admitted they are “worried” by the Finn’s recent form.

Bottas was a disappointing fifth and some 0.6 seconds off pole-sitting teammate Lewis Hamilton in Sepang — and he has not out-qualified the championship leader since before the summer break.

Saturday’s deficit was also consistent with a gap of over half a second to Hamilton in every qualifying session since the season resumed, while he is now 51 points behind the championship leader in the standings.

“For me, I’m still really far away,” Bottas said after Saturday’s qualifying session. “It’s tricky being such a big amount of time off the pace. As a driver it’s difficult to accept.

“I need to try and find the answer and not let it get in my head. It’s so easy to try too much in this sport but I need to have a look good in the mirror again.”

Bottas was brought in as Nico Rosberg’s replacement in 2017 by Toto Wolff, formerly part of his management team, and he initially impressed by sealing two pole positions and two race wins in the first half of the season.

But his post-August malaise is starting to concern the Mercedes boss.

“Yes I’m worried because I want Valtteri to do well and everybody wants Valtteri to do well,” Wolff explained. “You need to have the car in the sweet spot to extract maximum grip and that is not easy.

“Valtteri seems to struggle more with finding the sweet spot than Lewis. There are so many factors involved but I have no doubt that with his intelligence that he’s going to fit the jigsaw together.

“We have many more races to do together to undo the problem and very good drivers are able to pick themselves out of a difficult situation. I have no doubt that Valtteri will do that.”

Bottas earned a contract extension with Mercedes for 2018, but was only offered a one-year deal.

— with Matt Morlidge and Jonathan Green, Sky Sports

More related stories

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one/live-f1-malaysian-grand-prix-at-the-sepang-international-circuit/news-story/7bdeeacd518fe897ec2ffcb73d23c6a5