2017 Malaysian Grand Prix race result

2017 Malaysian Grand Prix

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PositionNo.DriverCar
133Max VerstappenRed Bull-TAG Heuer
244Lewis HamiltonMercedes
33Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-TAG Heuer
45Sebastian VettelFerrari
577Valtteri BottasMercedes
611Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes
72Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren-Honda
818Lance StrollWilliams-Mercedes
919Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes
1031Esteban OconForce India-Mercedes
1114Fernando AlonsoMcLaren-Honda
1220Kevin MagnussenHaas-Ferrari
138Romain GrosjeanHaas-Ferrari
1410Pierre GaslyToro Rosso-Renault
1530Jolyon PalmerRenault
1627Nico HulkenbergRenault
1794Pascal WehrleinSauber-Ferrari
189Marcus EricssonSauber-Ferrari

Not classified: Kimi Raikkonen, Carlos Sainz Jnr

2017 Malaysian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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48 comments on “2017 Malaysian Grand Prix race result”

  1. Kimi’s luck.

    1. In a way, both Ferraris seemed to have paid unofficial penalties following last week’s mash-up.
      Vettel starts at the back of the grid but comes back to finish 4th, while Kimi who qualified 2nd, doesn’t start at all.

      To complete this ‘story’ birthday boy Max, who really suffered last week, gets the win.
      You really couldn’t make this stuff up.

      Meantime Hamilton hasn’t so far elaborated on the reasons for his poor performance, other than to say they need to do more work back at the garage. Still, he’s only got a 34 point lead to take into the next race ;)

      1. Paid penalties for what? The Ferrari’s also suffered last week, especially Vet given his fight for the championship and his chances for the win in Singapore.

      2. It was obvious Merc were the 3rd fastest car this weekend, apart from those who want to inflate the W08 performance for a certain agenda. So given the circumstances I would say 2nd place is a superb result.

        1. Really? Come on, man, only yesterday HAM put his car on PP on merit, against 2 RBRs and 1 Ferrari. Yeah, statistics say VET should have been on PP, but there’re some chances it’s not the case. I mean, RAI beat VET in Monaco. History could have repeated yesterday. Even so, that Mercedes still is quite strong even on these tracks where they’re not favourites. The Softs worked again extremely well for HAM. If you ask me, I think HAM looks so good and seems to be “overdriving” the car is quite a lot down to the fact that BOT is just 2nd tier driver. Said it multiple times already, Toto seems to be thinking the same way now, today’s race proved me right again… BOT doesn’t look like champ material almost at all. But he looks like a strong no.2, he did a great job again keeping VET behind. Put VER or RIC in BOT’s car… and HAM suddenly won’t look that great anymore and that Mercedes will get even better results.

          1. I would love to borrow your crystal ball. I find such analysis very interesting. When Hamilton was beating ROS people where saying the same things you are claiming now. Rosberg is a 2nd tier driver, he isn’t WDC material etc. But tell you what- Hamilton has had some tough team mates in F1 since 2007 and he is up 9seasons to 2- with two defeats to world champions. I would say not a bad career so far.

            Then when Hamilton is being outperformed by those very same “2nd tier drivers” it’s a further race to the bottom. I think sometimes it’s just best to take an objective view. I don’t think Hamilton is “over-driving the car” as you put it.

            But here in Malaysia it’s clear Merc were not the quickest. Results say so too. Sure Hamilton pulled out a lap from nowhere to grab pole- but it was there for Kimi to take and he locked up into the final chicane. Red Bull we know don’t have the same wizardry to turn up their engines in qualy trim like the other teams hence the deficit over 1 lap.

            But I am sure you will concede as well that 1 lap pace and long run pace are worlds apart. Merc is quick over a qualy lap for known reasons but this year it hasn’t been the class of the field at all the races come race day. But of course, you can cherrypick to suit a certain agenda as I said :)

  2. Well that was unexpected, deserved but unexpected.

    Hamilton mentioned very early on having issues with his energy recovery system. It will be interesting to hear if that played a part. Otherwise Red Bull would appear to be closing the gap on performance.

    1. unlikely that ham was that much off pace… he seemed to be nursing the car whole race…

    2. I’d be a bit worried at Mercedes. That’s two races in sequence they’ve appeared third best. Bottas undoubtedly reflects their real position just now. So with 5 races, Mercedes can ill afford Red Bull to come between them and Ferrari in the race finishes. Otherwise Vettel could make up the championship gap in two races. And they’ve a week to discover what went wrong with the new aero.

    3. Yet the general vibe on English speaking sites is that when Hamilton wins it’s purely down to his skill, never the fact that other drivers had their issues or other cars havn’t improved on Mercedes.
      I think Verstappen would have won at Singapore. This could be the end of an era for Vettel and Hamilton.

      1. championships are won in a season, not on a weekend!

        Mercedes has been terrible at Singapore historically! Also in hot temps, mercedes is weak, it is given fact… but today, something was odd… would have could have should have over a weekend that is ended is only fans speculating…

        i think in the end it turned like this…
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIjQ_hBiZxQ

      2. Not yet, but yes, in the next few years Verstappen will be at the front. The question is who on earth will be able to challenge him once Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso are gone? Aside from his team mate, there doesn’t seem anyone anywhere near his level of talent.

        1. I’m a Hamilton fan and I’m thankful he’ll retire sooner rather than later as Verstappen seems like he will dominate the moment he gets a race winning car. He had the pace to win Singapore and won today. While Lewis Hamilton may retire soon, Vettel surely will go longer. How Vettel vs Max will pan out, I have no idea. As for challengers, even Ricciardo seems to be a bit off pace. Ocon, Wehrlein, Lando Norris and probably George Russell could be near him. The future would look bleak for most of Max’s competitors if/when he gets a winning car except Hamilton, Ricciardo, Alonso and possibly Vettel.

          1. I expect Hamilton and Verstappen to be battling it out over the next few years, maybe Vettel at Ferrari too (unless Verstappen goes there). And who knows, maybe Alonso will got a good car finally and a swan song. But it’s the years after that which worry me. I really wouldn’t want to see Verstappen dominating the sport through a lack of any real competition. And that’s as a fan of his. He will certainly have a winning car. Even with Alonso levels of bad luck on team moves, he’d still get a place at the top team with no other drivers near him.

        2. Bert van der Linden
          1st October 2017, 15:00

          What about other youngsters like Vandoorne, Ocon, Leclerc and Gasly….I rememebr the battles between Ocon and Verstappen in F3, great stuff! I don´t think we have to woory about that!

          1. Also Sainz, Norris and maybe Giovinazzi. But Hamilton, Vettel and Ricciardo will be around for at least 5 years… And there are possibilities about Kubica comeback, or Hulkenberg and Perez getting the right car.
            If McLaren and Renault raise their game in the next two years will be really interesting to have ten drivers able to get a win!

      3. No way. It was Ferrari’s to lose. There hasn’t been even the slightest suggestion that it would have been either RB.

      4. I think so to, Vettel wouldn’t have kept off Verstappen on a wet track in Singapore… no way.
        Vettels pole in Singapore showed perfectly what the an engine setting is capable of, the forbid traction controle and got aggressive engine settings in return.

        Verstappens P2 in Monza (fast track) and P2 in Singapore (slow track) showed us where it’s at, Mercedes ofcourse is still the strongest car on high speed tracks while Ferrari is on other track. For Verstappen to be P2 on both tracks with a different driver in front shows his potential…..

  3. Seriously? Has vetel inherited hamilton’s luck

    1. Hamilton is quite lucky with perspective. Definately the luckiest British driver of all time. Compare his DNF’s to Mansell’s. Night versus Day.

      1. Of course, Mansell’s DNF’s were in a less reliable time. But still, Hamilton hasn’t lost a championship due to a tyre exploding in the last race…

        1. But has had lost a championship due to an engine catching fire. Swings and roundabouts

  4. Max Verstappen has now won every race after Kvyat got demoted

    1. He is 17 points clear of Perez, and collected 2 podiums this year
      (1 win!) great achievement for a 20 years old driver!

  5. You Go Shave-z
    1st October 2017, 9:38

    First of all well done t Verstappen.

    I am just wondering if, Vettel is found to have caused the collision after the race whether there is a penalty for being unable to return the car to parc ferme after the race ?

  6. Shame Kimi wasn’t there, shame that Vettel wasn’t there but at least he gave us plenty of entertaining. Shame that as fuel burns and speeds increase aero also increases and we see very little overtaking as a result. I would’ve preferred to see the tyres a bit more critical but on the other hand the drivers did manage to push. The championship is over it was meant to be over.

  7. Well it’s clear Mercedes are sandbagging… Or will people now finally realise the Ferrari is the better car ? Vettel will be in a position to win every remaining race. Hamiltons wins look over for this season.

    1. But a consistent few races for Hamilton where he gets P2 to P4 and the odd win could seal it for Hamilton even with Vettel in a rocketship Ferrari.

    2. Really… where do you see that Ferrari being really better than Mercedes and RBR (here)?! Just for the record, let’s not forget that a Mercedes took the PP on merit. Mercedes didn’t look too good in the FPs, yet they “managed” to recover in time for Quali what it looked to be some lost ground to Ferrari and RBR and put their car on PP. Then, you’re missing something important: Mercedes performs just as good on Softs as on SuperSofts. HAM took another FL with Softs after getting rid of SS. Yeah, it was a great recovery from VET, but all that speed “finished” once he got behind a RBR… although he was even 1.5sec faster! I knew VET won’t have some easy time with RIC… and I was right.

      1. Really… where do you see that Ferrari being really better than Mercedes and RBR (here)

        It’s very obvious looking at the race pace of Merc, Ferrari and Red Bull in this race and the last that Merc had the 3rd best car.

        let’s not forget that a Mercedes took the PP on merit

        That doesn’t mean they had the best car.

        1. It’s very obvious? HAM finished less than 10sec behind VER, not 30sec. Maybe BOT is the problem… and not the car. Said it before, Toto said it now too, BOT is no champ material. Put a better driver in the 2nd Mercedes and we’ll see even better Mercedes’ potential. Anyway, it’s the best car overall without doubt. The tech issues RBR and Ferrari had so far this season compared to Mercedes speak volumes. Back in 2005 McLaren looked great too (partially the same way Ferrari looks now for some)… didn’t win any champs in the end because it had too many tech issues. So, yeah, reliability matters when we’re talking about ”best” car.

          1. @mg1982 – just look back at the previous results the second half of the season.

            Spa – Mercedes had the one lap pace (just) but it did look like Vettel had the faster race car. Vettel was able to stick within a second almost all race.

            Monza – Mercedes clearly was the faster car here

            Singapore – Ferrari were the much the quicker car all weekend.

            Malaysia – Ferrari looked stronger all weekend and nearly a second a lap faster in race trim.

            In the past 4 races the Ferrari has been the stronger car on 3 occasions to Mercedes 1. At best you could say 2-2 but given that included 3 tracks where many expected Mercedes to dominate that’s not looking good for Mercedes. Ferrari will be strong in the remaining races, they’ve shown great speed at the last 3 races ( Monza removed as its a much different set up) whereas Mercedes have now struggled at a mix of tracks.

          2. @ Ben
            I agree. Mercedes no longer look favourite for Japan, Brazil, Mexico or maybe the US. And Abu Dhabi should be even. They need to up a level or they’ll be looking at a few 5th and 6th places for both drivers. If the three teams are more or less even, it’s still OK for Hamilton. But if Mercedes have dropped behind a bit, which Singapore and Malaysia suggest, they could quickly be in trouble.

          3. Have to say @mg1982 you do to focus your opinion heavily on one lap pace. Getting the fastest lap when you put on a new set of tyres means very little, the average lap times over a sting pain a much clearer picture and both Verstappen and Vettel had the upper hand here. 10 seconds behind Verstappen is still a decent chunk of time, especially seeing as Ferrari were faster, and Vettel starting towards the front of the grid would have been further up the road. This was supposed to be a track that was likely to suit Mercedes. The last 3 are supposed to suit Ferrari. Vettel wind the last 5 races he’ll still overturn that gap. And reliability from Mercedes ain’t a given either. This championship is far from over

  8. How crucial was Alonso’s block on Vettel? Some critical laps as Vettel closed in on Ricciardo, but apparently only had a small window to get past before he had to back off to preserve the car. Also a great defense by Ricciardo.

    Verstappen, though. Outdriving Ricciardo consistently when he has the chance. And that really is tough to do, as Vettel knows.

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      1st October 2017, 10:38

      Not sure if I could say Verstappen consistently outdrives Ricciardo in the races. Verstappen blew his chances of beating ricciardo in Italy. Then a few races before this in Hungary, he beat Ricciardo, but caused him to retire. And gave himself a 10 second penalty and a couple of penalty points.

      As much as I feel some people will hate me saying this, I still think that on the whole, including everything about these two drivers, Ricciardo is overall marginally better. He’s much better at keeping out of trouble and in my opinion, his overtakes are quite a bit cleaner and never result in any problems. Verstappen has better pace on the whole, that is clear, but he has cost the team many more points than Ricciardo has and these were due to his own actions. I’m not including any of his bad luck as that is out of his control. The other positive thing about Ricciardo is that I think he’s quite possibly the best driver on the grid when he sees an oppertunity to get a better result than expected. There have been several races this year that his pace is incredible at times when these things happen. But I’ll be honest that we haven’t got uch chance to see if Verstappen could do similar.

      1. but he has cost the team many more points than Ricciardo has and these were due to his own actions.

        Please….do explain yourself? hahaha

        1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
          1st October 2017, 12:06

          He was at fault for finishing 10th and not much higher in China. He was responsible for taking his team mate out in Hungary and he gave himself a 10 second penalty. How obvious is it that due to these, he has been responsible for costing the team quite a few points. ricciardo hasn’t had any of these incidents during the race that were his own fault. Ricciardo may have crashed in qualifying in Australia and Baku, But he had to retire anyway in Australia and he made up for his poor qualifying in Baku by winning.

          It is pretty clear that although Verstappen is often quicker than Ricciardo, he has messed up the teams results more than Ricciardo. And it is due to these moments and the lack of evedence of Verstappen’s skill this season that I can’t rate him above Ricciardo. I did imply many would not agree with me….

          1. 10th in China?
            He had a problem in the qualification so he started at the back, but still passed his teammate (a.o) to finish on the podium. His second best race of the season, hands down.

      2. You really might like the flat earth society

      3. I’m pretty sure if Max didn’t suffer as much mechanical problems and first lap brainfarts from other drivers…he would have been in front of Ricciardo by a mile. When Max is in a championship winning car, he will dominate the field in a way we have seen Schumi doing it.

        Ricci is a great driver and that is telling something about the talent and ability of this 20 year old freak of a talent to outperform his very quick teammate in Q’s. On pace they are pretty similair but in racemode Verstappen is in another league

    2. Not crucial at all if you ask me. RIC was too far ahead to make the undercat… while VET couldn’t pass him on-track anyway. VET was lucky that RAI did not start tho, few more points for him.

  9. – HAM was clearly driving with one eye on the WDC, he didn’t obstruct VER too much because of that.
    – VER passed HAM at the right time and literally flew to the finish line.
    – BOT seemed to charge for 2nd at the start, then slowed down RIC blowing his chances of a 2nd finish before disappearing into the warm and cosy pastures that lie between the front and the midfield.
    – RAI needs an exorcist now
    – VET had the quickest car and drove beautifully before crashing into Stroll after the finish line. His comments about Alonso were farcical, this is the guy who deliberately crashed into HAM few weeks ago.

    1. Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
      1st October 2017, 10:28

      Lets think about the positives that were brought from Bottas holding Ricciardo behind at the start though. Bottas held him behind for longer than Hamilton managed to keep Verstappen behind. And because Bottas had done this, it really did help prevent Ricciardo from challenging Hamilton. Horner actually said that if Bottas didn’t have that good start and didn’t manage to defend Ricciardo like he did, then Ricciardo may have managed 2nd. I’m not so sure, but I think he’ll have been ahead of Hamilton in some of the race but hamilton may have got past him again later on. The fact that Ricciardo was quicker than Hamilton and Verstappen at one point did show how good for Hamilton is may have been that Bottas did soem good defending there. I personally think these upgrades that Mercedes have put on Bottas’s car just haven’t worked out. 45 seconds is the furthest behind Hamilton he’s finished this season. He vertually always has good performance somewhere in the race when compared to Hamilton, but in this case, that didn’t happen. But i largely think this is due to this upgrade not working out.

  10. Looks like the upgrades are working well for force India in this high downforce circuit, and Renault target (Williams) slipping away.

  11. Mercedes were exceptionally lucky for the second week in a row. Ferrari really should’ve taken maximum points last race and this race based on what the cars were capable of. VET drove well, two Red bull’s did a sterling job and HAM took a leaf out of ROS’s book.

  12. Colin NotMcRae
    2nd October 2017, 2:35

    Meanwhile, Stoffel Vandoorne goes about his business calmly and without any of the histrionics we’ve come to expect from Alonso. And he has the results to show for it.

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