Verstappen wins final Malaysian F1 Grand Prix

Qualifying is on Saturday at 7am and 9am and the race starts on Sunday at 9am.

Vettel clocked a new lap record to go quickest in second practice with his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen second. He must make Raikkonen feel old, considering that Raikkonen raced against Verstappen’s father – Jos Verstappen – when making his F1 debut back in 2001.

Hamilton had been on just his 10th lap of the afternoon when he took too much speed into turn eight, resulting in a sideways excursion into the gravel and a wrecked set of soft tyres.

“The whole race went well”. Hopefully it won’t happen again, but it’s part of racing.

His father, the former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, looked emotional as his son stood on the podium.

Hamilton’s only win in Malaysia was in 2014.

Last year, Hamilton was cruising to victory in Sepang when his engine cut out late on and he retired.

After a restless Friday night, Lewis Hamilton admits he was not expecting to find enough time to claim pole for the Malaysian Grand Prix. After all, it was the circuit where Raikkonen won his first ever Formula One race way back in 2003.

“Straight away the vehicle felt good and I saw Lewis was struggling a bit with traction. of course he has more to lose than me in the championship so I went for it in turn one”, Verstappen said of his overtake on lap four.

“We’re definitely lacking performance, it seems like Ferrari and Red Bull are very strong”, Bottas said.

According to Sepang International Circuit CEO Datuk Razlan Razali, the country wouldn’t want to host Formula 1 after this, even if it was offered for free. Still, given his position – and where Vettel was – he might have expected to be further ahead.

Ferrari had swapped Vettel’s engine after third practice. Many would say the crash was Vettel’s fault, while others put the blame on Verstappen. “Stroll’s not looking where he’s going”. Stewards chose to take no further action.

He also finished first there during the 2008 F1 season.

“We’ve had a great history here”, said Carey, who replaced former supremo Bernie Ecclestone in January. “He did a fantastic job today”. “I’ve been struggling with the auto today, so we have to review and try to understand where we have gone wrong with the balance”, said Hamilton. It is just trying to weigh-up the balances but at the moment I am here to stay.

Mistakes on some level are unavoidable but the severity of Vettel sandwiching Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in Singapore can not be underestimated in terms of the title.

Vettel drove like someone keen to defy the odds.

He now has a mountain to climb as he is 28 points behind Hamilton in the title chase. What was considered a banker win for Ferrari instead saw Hamilton hugely increase his advantage in their head-to-head duel. The last one comes in Austin. “But he only had one attack”.