Verstappen victorious in final Malaysian Grand Prix

Max Verstappen has succeeded in scoring his second Formula 1 career win, with victory in the final Malaysian Grand Prix to be held at Sepang International Circuit.

He finished ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo, Hamilton's race having been compromised by battery issues. Fourth went to Sebastian Vettel who had fought his way from the back of the grid. Sadly his Ferrari team mate had been unable to even start the race.

Malaysian Grand Prix - Race results

There had been drama even before the start of the race. Ferrari mechanics flocked to Kimi Raikkonen's car on the grid to investigate a problem with his power unit. No quick fix proving possible, the car had to be pushed away onto pit lane for further treatment which ultimately proved futile.

With the front row now all to himself, and starting on the dryer side of a track still slightly damp in parts from rain an hour before the start, pole sitter Lewis Hamilton had an easy time of it when the lights went out. However, he was soon on the radio complaining about the same battery de-rates issue he had experienced in Saturday's qualifying session.

Behind him, Valtteri Bottas had been busy trying to sweep past the Red Bulls around the outside of turn 1. He succeeded in passing Daniel Ricciardo, but Max Verstappen successfully hung on to second place. Meanwhile Stoffel Vandoorne was up to fifth place after Esteban Ocon had been forced to pit early. The Force India had suffered a slow puncture after first corner contact with William's Felipe Massa.

Hamilton's battery problem wasn't getting any better. On lap 4 Verstappen duly pounced, able to use DRS to take the lead down the inside of turn 1. The Briton attempted to fight back, but soon slipped out of DRS range of the Red Bull. At the same time, Hamilton's team mate was also under pressure from Ricciardo for third place. Bottas finally succumbed on lap 9 after running wheel-to-wheel with the Australian through turn 3.

From his starting position at the back of the grid, Sebastian Vettel had quickly scythed his way through half the field. Unlike the majority of cars on supersofts, he had begun the race on the longer-life soft compounds. By lap 10 he was up to ninth place and back into the points, having made short work of Fernando Alonso's McLaren and Kevin Magnussen's Haas in quick succession.

Early pit stops for both of the Williams, and then for Vandoorne, soon boosted him up another three places. After that, Vettel's next target was Perez. It took him until lap 20 to eliminate the gap between them, but once done it was simplicity itself for the Ferrari to use DRS to fly past the Force India. Next on Vettel's hit last was Bottas, two seconds down the road.

Tyre wear was now an issue for the race leaders. Hamilton pitted first on lap 27, taking soft tyres and getting back out ahead of the Bottas/Vettel tussle. Verstappen held out one lap further before coming in, temporarily handing the lead to his team mate Ricciardo. Vettel pitted at the same time, with Bottas following suit on lap 29.

Once Ricciardo completed his own pit stop on lap 30, Verstappen was back in charge. He held an eight second lead over Hamilton, who had a similar advantage over Ricciardo in turn. Perez had moved back ahead of Vettel with Bottas dropping to fifth. Vandoorne had dropped a long way back, but was still running ahead of both Williams cars.

Rounding out the top ten was Esteban Ocon. After his early puncture, the Frenchman's day had been further compromised by contact with Carlos Sainz while fighting for eighth place on lap 26. Both sides blamed the other for the incident, and race stewards politely declined to intervene. It became a moot point when the Toro Rosso suffered a terminal engine issue on lap 30, Sainz becoming the first retirement of the race.

The stewards were also disinclined to investigate two incidents involving Kevin Magnussen. The first was a tangle with Alonso on lap 33, and the second was contact with Jolyon Palmer in turn 1 on lap 38. The latter incident tipped the Renault into a spin, and left the Haas carrying damage for the remainder of the race. Palmer's team mate Nico Hulkenberg was also having a tough day, suffering on well-worn tyres after pitting early on lap 9.

Vettel was continuing to press hard. Having dispensed with Perez for the second time, he set a new race lap record as he bore down on Ricciardo for fourth. His charge was briefly delayed as he attempted to lap an unhelpful McLaren, which earned a verbal rebuke from Vettel over the team radio: "Come on Alonso! Really? I thought you were better than that."

Once Vettel had taken care of backmarker business, he made a move on Ricciardo into turn 1 on lap 49, only to be forcefully rebuffed by his former team mate. With Vettel fighting for a championship and Ricciardo having nothing comparable to lose, the German was forced to play safe and settle for fourth. Despite that caution, Vettel was hit by Lance Stroll after the chequered flag, ripping off the rear left wheel of the Ferrari.

Verstappen had no problem closing out the race, maintaining a safe margin over Hamilton and Ricciardo to the finish. Having just turned 20 the day before, it's Verstappen's second career F1 victory in 55 race starts. His first win came in Spain last year, in what had been his maiden appearance for Red Bull. He's the fifth different race winner in the 2017 season to date.

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