F1: Daniel Ricciardo Wins Scorching Malaysian GP As Rosberg Finishes 3rd

By Sameer Contractor

1 mins read

Published on October 2, 2016

Highlights

Ricciardo secured his first win of the season and 5th podium of the year
Hamilton's engine blew up on Lap 40 causing him to retire in the race
Rosberg put up a remarkable performance from 17th to 3rd in the race

It was a fiery weekend at the Sepang International Circuit as Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo snatched the victory in the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of teammate Max Verstappen and Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg, who finished second and third respectively. Also helping Ricciardo seal his victory was Lewis Hamilton's untimely retirement from the race after his engine went into a ball of flames on Lap 40 sealing the Australian's win. Malaysian GP F1 The Malaysian GP started with Hamilton on pole and was looking to secure a win after Rosberg's three consecutive victories in the previous races. Meanwhile, Nico started second followed by the two Red Bulls. The action packed race showed excitement from the first corner itself as Sebastian Vettel punted Rosberg into a spin at the very first corner. The Ferrari driver was battling with Verstappen for the third position and understeered into Rosberg breaking his left-front suspension. Luckily, the Mercedes driver escaped without any major damages, but the move did cause Rosberg to lose his dominant position and was pushed back to 17th. The German driver then made a remarkable recovery to the third after hitting Kimi Raikkonen when passing him on Turn 2 and also received a 10 second penalty for the same. Lewis Hamilton's engine blow up on Lap 40 pushed him out of the race The spectacle however, came from Red Bull as Ricciardo showed his finesse on the track as he held on to the second position against Verstappen, despite the latter coming close to a gap of 1.1 seconds, which increased in the closing stages. However, Hamilton's blow up paved the way for the Red Bulls to battle for the pole. Ricciardo's finish at the podium is also well deserved as the driver had been longing won for a long time this season after coming close in Monaco and Spain races. The Malaysian GP also marks the driver's first win of the season, fifth podium finish of the year and fourth win of his career. In fact, it was for the first time that the Australian national anthem was played on podium after being played last in 2014. Both Red Bulls battled hard to fight for the top spot The Malaysian GP also marked Jenson Button's 300th race start and the McLaren driver finished 9th at the end of the chequered flag. Bottas, who started 11th on the grid finished 5th ahead of Sergio Perez, Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenburg. As for retirements, Felipe Nasr of Sauber retired late in the race, while Gutirerrez spun off after a sudden brake failure ending his run. Renault's Kevin Magnussen had a terrible weekend after the fire issue during free practice 1 and the damaged bodywork caused him to lose speed. His slow pace couldn't see him push much and retired the car after 18 laps. Just a bad day Lewis Hamilton Hamilton's DNF has also resulted in Rosberg securing the driver's championship trophy with a lead of 23 points. With five races left, things are only going to get aggressive from hereon as Hamilton will be looking to regain his dominance on the track, something we will be looking forward to at the Japanese GP next week.