Daniel Ricciardo won the Malaysian Grand Prix in a race rhythmed by Rosberg’s spin at the start and Hamilton’s DNF. Max Verstappen finished second ahead of Nico Rosberg.
Lewis Hamilton started from pole position ahead of Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen. Felipe Massa remained stuck on track before the formation lap, the throttle not working. He eventually managed to start from the pitlane. Jolyon Palmer complained about a lack of power during his formation lap.
At the start, Sebastian Vettel, Rosberg and Verstappen collided with each other, having Rosberg spinning and starting again last, and Vettel breaking his wheel and not being able to continue. Esteban Gutierrez also had a puncture and had to pit during the virtual safety car. Several other drivers stopped during the virtual safety car.
Good start of race for Fernando Alonso as he was P9 after six laps. Massa’s race went even worse as he got a puncture. Romain Grosjean suffered from a braking failure and went into the gravel on lap 9. During the virtual safety car, Verstappen, Rosberg and Force India stopped.
Nico Rosberg continued his comeback in sixth place in the 20th lap. Kevin Magnussen, after being hit by Daniil Kvyat on the first lap, had to give up. Hamilton and Raikkonen stopped on lap 21, Raikkonen got back just ahead of Rosberg. One lap later, Ricciardo stopped, leaving Verstappen in the lead of the race.
Rosberg stopped on lap 31 to get soft tyres just like Raikkonen who copied Rosbergs strategy. On lap 38, Rosberg put a daring and bold move to overtake Raikkonen and they had a slight contact but it was enough for Rosberg to get a 10 second penalty.
The race took a complete new turn on lap 41 as Hamilton’s engine went on fire. The virtual safety car allowed all the leader to pit when Gutierrez’s wheel went off, putting an end to the Mexican’s race.
At the restart, Verstappen remained very close to Ricciardo but his tyres, more used than Ricciardo’s, eventually lost their speed and the Dutchman had to settle for second position.
Daniel Ricciardo claimed his fourth victory in Grand Prix, his first win of the season ahead of Max Verstappen and Nico Rosberg who finished more than ten seconds ahead of Raikkonen. Bottas, Perez, Alonso, Button and Palmer completed the top 10. In the championship, Nico Rosberg got 23 points more than Lewis Hamilton.
