2017 Malaysian Grand Prix

2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
Race 15 of 20 in the 2017 Formula One World Championship ← Previous race Next race →
Layout of the Sepang International Circuit
Race details
Date	1 October 2017 (2017-10-01)
Official name	2017 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix[1][2]
Location	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	5.543 km (3.444 miles)
Distance	56 laps, 310.408 km (192.879 miles)
Weather	Cloudy
Attendance	110,604[3]
Pole position
Driver	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Time	1:30.076
Fastest lap
Driver	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Time	1:34.080 on lap 41 (lap record)
Podium
First	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Second	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes
Third	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer
Lap leaders

The 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix (formally known as the 2017 Formula 1 Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix)^[4] was a Formula One motor race that was held on 1 October 2017 at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor, Malaysia. The race marked the 37th running of the Malaysian Grand Prix, and the 19th time that the race had been run as a World Championship event since the championship's inception in 1950, all World Championship events having been held at the Sepang International Circuit. This was also the last Malaysian Grand Prix, as the race had not been contracted for the 2018 season and beyond.^[5]

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a 28-point lead over Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel in the World Drivers' Championship. Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas was third, a further 23 points behind. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes held a lead of 102 points over Ferrari, with Red Bull Racing a further 143 points behind in third place.

Report

Background

Driver changes

Reigning GP2 Series champion Pierre Gasly made his Formula One debut, replacing Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso.^[6] The first free practice session saw several substitute drivers take part, including Sergey Sirotkin filling in for Nico Hülkenberg at Renault, Charles Leclerc replacing Marcus Ericsson at Sauber, Antonio Giovinazzi replacing Kevin Magnussen at Haas, and Sean Gelael taking the place of Carlos Sainz, Jr. at Toro Rosso.^[7]

Free practice

The second free practice was red-flagged after Grosjean crashed heavily at Turn 14. Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Räikkönen dislodged a drain cover embedded in the apex of Turn 13. Grosjean, the next driver through, struck the cover which sliced into his rear wheel. This caused the rear tyre to immediately deflate as Grosjean put load onto the steering wheel, causing him to spin into the barrier on the outside of Turn 14.^[8] The third practice session was concluded with Kimi Räikkönen fastest but his teammate Sebastian Vettel had an engine problem that required a replacement.^[9]

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel failed to set a time in Q1 as his replacement engine did not run properly meaning that he would start last on the grid. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton took pole position with a time of 1:30.076, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen and Max Verstappen.^[10]

Race

Kimi Räikkönen pulled off the grid due to a power unit issue. Hamilton got off well with Ricciardo, Bottas and Verstappen behind. Verstappen overtook Hamilton for the lead on lap 4, and led until lap 28 when he pitted, leaving Ricciardo in the lead. Ricciardo then also pitted and Verstappen retook the lead. Coming into the last laps, Hamilton tried fighting back but Verstappen won comfortably to take his second win in his career, a year after his previous at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Vettel came back from last to 4th through the field, almost overtaking Ricciardo in third. He later collided with Lance Stroll on the cooldown lap, wrapping his left-rear tyre over the right side of the car. Pascal Wehrlein gave him a ride back to the paddock after the crash.^[11]

Classification

Qualifying

Pos.	Car no.	Driver	Constructor	Qualifying times			Final grid
				Q1	Q2	Q3
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:31.605	1:30.977	1:30.076	1
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:32.259	1:30.926	1:30.121	2
3	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:31.920	1:30.931	1:30.541	3
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	1:32.416	1:31.061	1:30.595	4
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:32.254	1:30.803	1:30.758	5
6	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.527	1:31.651	1:31.478	6
7	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Honda	1:32.838	1:31.848	1:31.582	7
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:32.586	1:31.778	1:31.607	8
9	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	1:32.768	1:31.484	1:31.658	9
10	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	1:33.049	1:32.010	1:31.704	10
11	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:32.267	1:32.034		11
12	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:32.576	1:32.100		12
13	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	1:33.000	1:32.307		13
14	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	1:32.650	1:32.402		14
15	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	1:32.547	1:32.558		15
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	1:33.308			16
17	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	1:33.434			17
18	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.483			18
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.970			19
107% time: 1:38.017
—	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	No time			201
Source:[12]

Notes

• ^1  – Sebastian Vettel failed to set a time within the 107% requirement, but received permission from the stewards to start the race; he also received a 20-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit components.

Race

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	56	1:30:01.290	3	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	+12.770	1	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	56	+22.519	4	15
4	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	56	+37.362	20	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	56	+56.021	5	10
6	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India-Mercedes	56	+1:18.630	9	8
7	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren-Honda	55	+1 Lap	7	6
8	18	Lance Stroll	Williams-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	13	4
9	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	11	2
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	6	1
11	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda	55	+1 Lap	10
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	17
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	16
14	10	Pierre Gasly	Toro Rosso	55	+1 Lap	15
15	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	55	+1 Lap	12
16	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	55	+1 Lap	8
17	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	18
18	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari	54	+2 Laps	19
Ret	55	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Toro Rosso	29	Engine	14
DNS	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	0	Battery	—1
Source:[13]

Notes

• ^1 – Kimi Räikkönen did not line up on the grid as a result of a power unit issue.

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 Lewis Hamilton* 281 2 Sebastian Vettel* 247 3 Valtteri Bottas* 222 4 Daniel Ricciardo* 177 5 Kimi Räikkönen 138 Source:[14]

Constructors' Championship standings Pos. Constructor Points 1 Mercedes* 503 2 Ferrari* 385 3 Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer* 270 4 Force India-Mercedes 133 5 Williams-Mercedes 65 Source:[14]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for the sets of standings.
• Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

References

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