Ricciardo and Rosberg are the big winners but it's Alonso and Verstappen who are arguably the stars of the show at Sepang
Tuesday 4 October 2016 07:25, UK
An all-important victory for Daniel Ricciardo, who must have thought that a 2016 win had already passed him by. In all honesty, the Australian would have been a more-deserving winner in Spain, Monaco and Singapore, but with all the bad luck that has plagued him this season, Sunday's victory was long overdue.
While Ricciardo was out-paced and out-qualified by his younger Red Bull team-mate, he can be thankful for being at the right place at the right time in Sepang, avoiding the first-corner collision, and picking up the pieces after Lewis Hamilton's retirement. It wouldn't be a grand prix without a piece of Ricciardo brilliance, however, and that came in the shape of a masterful piece of defending from Max Verstappen, on older rubber too.
"Imagine if he hadn't fought that out through Turns Four, Five, Six, Seven and Eight," noted Sky F1's Martin Brundle. As Ricciardo said, this was the "game-changing moment" in his race, allowing him first service in the Red Bull pitstops.
That Shoey will leave a good taste in the mouth for some time.
Rating out of ten: 9
Even in an technology-advanced sport like F1 it's still possible for a driver to make his own luck and Verstappen very nearly rode his self-made 'luck' of taking an early pit-stop under the Virtual Safety Car to secure victory at Sepang. That he didn't was chiefly the consequence of Ricciardo's "game-changing" defence against his Red Bull team-mate on lap 40 and Verstappen being 'stacked' behind the Australian when Red Bull called in their drivers when Hamilton's engine went bang.
If Verstappen had known at the time that lap 40 effectively amounted to a shoot-out for the win, would he have pushed harder? Almost certainly. Would he have been more aggressive if only he wasn't fighting his team-mate for track position? Very probably. A very good second place but one tinged with disappointment? Perhaps.
Rating out of ten: 9
Third place would usually be a disastrous result for Nico Rosberg in an all-conquering Mercedes, but if you had handed the German 15 points after being shunted at Turn One he would have snatched it in an instant. And that's not even taking into account the fact Hamilton's retirement has created a monumental 30-point swing in the title race.
Rosberg was the weaker Mercedes driver all weekend and started slower than his team-mate, though he could do little to stop the first-corner collision. His comeback through the field, a quality we haven't seen much of from Rosberg in the past, was admirable, albeit in the strongest car on the grid by far.
He made it up to fifth and, armed with a considerable pace advantage over Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari, he probably could have waited to find the perfect moment to attack. He didn't - and unceremoniously clattered into the Finn. Considering Sebastian Vettel has been handed a three-place grid penalty for his mistake, the 10-second time penalty for Rosberg seems pretty lenient.
Avoiding damage despite two hefty whacks and seeing his title rival surrender 25 points through an engine failure, it's no wonder Brundle claimed Rosberg "had the rub of the green" on Sunday.
Rating out of ten: 7
You win some, you lose some, but a penny for the private thoughts of Ferrari after the stewards meted out a three-place grid for Sebastian Vettel to be taken at the Japanese GP for his first-lap clash with Rosberg and the Mercedes driver then being merely mildly inconvenienced with a ten-second time penalty for whacking into the side of Raikkonen's car with twenty laps remaining.
"If l hadn't taken avoiding action then we would both have been out," complained an irritated Kimi. Nevertheless, there was a bigger, rather more fundamental for Raikkonen and Ferrari to contend with in Malaysia: a straightforward lack of pace. "We were missing speed and we never had the chance to challenge the cars in front," Raikkonen starkly concluded at the end of a weekend when Ferrari were expected to be conspicuous rather than peripheral.
Rating out of ten: 7.5
In the circumstances, this was actually one of Valtteri Bottas' best drives for Williams. No, it wasn't a podium finish, nor did it ever look like being one, but in terms of maximising the potential of the car and tyre management, this was sublime from the Finn.
Avoiding the urge to pit during Virtual Safety Car periods, a risky one-stop strategy paid off for Williams. They were well adrift of constructors' rivals Force India in qualifying, but Bottas comfortably held off Perez in the closing stages despite having to manage his wearing rubber.
"We definitely got everything there was to get from today," said Bottas.
Rating out of ten: 8
While attention has justifiably be trained on Force India's battle with Williams whenever the championship standings are updated, it shouldn't be overlooked that Sergio Perez has accounted for 74 of the team's 124 points this year.
The ongoing curiosity is quite why it took team and driver so long to confirm a renewal of vows for next season - although the announcement was finally delivered late on Sunday night. The delay has been a shame too - otherwise the argument that Perez ought to be considered one of the drivers of 2016 may have gained the traction it deserves.
Rating out of ten: 8.5
Another drive of the day contender from Fernando Alonso. Just like at the Belgian GP, the Spaniard started at the back of the grid and finished seventh. In fact, this was the fourth time in six races that Alonso finished in that position, which is both a sign of McLaren's progress and his immense skill.
A frenetic first lap saw Alonso rise up to 12th and he continued to go about his business under the radar, with McLaren stating that he carved through the field "with verve and flair". It was eventually a three-stop race for Alonso, too, with the last of which a free stop under the Virtual Safety Car. That allowed him to consolidate his place at the end of the race.
Rating out of ten: 9
There wasn't much to choose between the two Force India drivers in Malaysia, but it was Perez who held the edge over Nico Hulkenberg both in qualifying and on race day.
With such fine margins between them, Nico can consider himself a tad unfortunate to have lost out to Sergio this weekend, especially after losing two places during the first-corner bedlam. But the numbers and standings don't lie: in the battle to be the first among equals at Force India, it's Perez who is currently in pole.
Rating out of ten: 8
A tale of two days for Jenson Button. The Brit was one of the star performers in qualifying, parking his McLaren in ninth as he proved his Formula 1 credentials ahead of next year's 'sabbatical'. Sunday's race started well, too, rising to sixth, but from then on it was downhill for Button.
He pitted a couple of laps before the Virtual Safety Car and that effectively ruined his race, finishing a long way away from both eighth and 10th in Sepang.
Rating out of ten: 8
A point gained, a point made and a pointed response to his critics. Jolyon Palmer's breakthrough into the top ten at Sepang was as easily missed as it was overdue: the Englishman is justified in believing he has held his own against Kevin Magnussen since the opening third of the campaign.
The result may not be enough to keep Palmer's seat for another year but, if his stint with the team does prove short-lived, he'll able to depart with his head held high.
Rating out of ten: 8
Malaysia was always going to be tough for Toro Rosso and their 2015-spec Ferrari engine, and Carlos Sainz found it so. After qualifying 16th, the Spaniard nearly didn't even start the grand prix, managing to turn his engine back on after a malfunction just before lights out. Knowing they didn't quite have the pace, Toro Rosso opted for an alternative strategy after the first Virtual Safety Car but were hampered by the second.
Finishing a few seconds behind Palmer's Renault, this was a frustrating afternoon for Sainz.
Rating out of ten: 6.5
Was Marcus Ericsson the unnoticed star of the Malaysia GP? It's difficult, bordering on impossible to impress in a Sauber, but Ericsson's effort in hauling his C35 to 12th and the respectability of the midfield deserves proper acknowledgment. "Very happy with that performance," concluded the Swede with good reason.
A tenth up on his team-mate in qualifying, Marcus could have done no more this weekend.
Rating out of ten: 8
Another race goes by for Felipe Massa and his road to retirement continues to be one plagued by misfortune. His qualifying run into Q3 was ruined by a throttle issue ahead of the formation lap, which saw him start from the pitlane. His strong race pace, meanwhile, was squandered after a puncture, just a couple of laps after his first pitstop, demoted him to 19th.
"All the bad luck he could have had, he had," said Williams' Rob Smedley.
Rating out of ten: 7
Sometimes, it's just not your day. Daniil Kvyat will have known that Sunday wasn't his as early as the first corner in Sepang when he collided with Magnussen with the resultant damage requiring an emergency pit-stop.
"From then onwards his race was more or less lost," said team boss Franz Tost. Still, there were some green shots of recovery to cling to for the Russian: his defeat of Sainz in qualifying was his first since June's European GP.
Rating out of ten: 7
After losing out in qualifying, Pascal Wehrlein was eager to put his Manor team-mate back in his place on Sunday and, much like Ocon, started the race fantastically. He couldn't hold 15th for long in the opening stages but, after a wheel-to-wheel battle with the Frenchman in the closing stages, was able to take back the position.
Rating out of ten: 6
16th of 16 finishers at the chequered flag, Esteban Ocon was actually as high as seventh after ten laps. The remaining 46 laps, however, consisted of a steady plunge back down the field, two separate penalties for speeding in the pitlane, and the black mark of being overtaken by his team-mate.
But the weekend did mark one important improvement for the youngster: first the first time, he beat Wehrlein in qualifying.
Rating out of ten: 6
Did not finish: Felipe Nasr, Lewis Hamilton, Esteban Gutierrez, Kevin Magnussen, Romain Grosjean, Sebastian Vettel
Don't miss the F1 Report for all the reaction and analysis from the Malaysia GP. Former F1 world champion Damon Hill and The Sun's Ben Hunt join Natalie Pinkham in the studio at 8:30pm on Wednesday on Sky Sports F1.
