What a lovely scene at the end here as Ferrari’s team celebrate a sweet victory. Vettel looks close to shedding a tear of joy. Hamilton leads the drivers’ championship on 43 points, Vettel is three points behind him. The world champion gives him a polite pat on the back as way of congratulations. That’s all from me. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for a full report and reaction in a while! Bye!
“Fantastico, fantastico. Ferrari is back,” says an ecstatic Vettel over the radio as he embarks on a celebratory lap. He takes the 25 points, 8.569 seconds in front of Hamilton, who settles for the 18 points available for second in his 150th F1 GP. Nico Rosberg was quite a way back in third.
SEBASTIAN VETTEL WINS
The four-time world champion wins for the fourth time in Malaysia and for the first time in a Ferrari, in front of Hamilton in second and Rosberg in third!
Lap 56: Vettel is on to the final lap! Ferrari victory imminent! Meanwhile, Bottas overtakes his Williams team-mate, Massa and moves into fifth.
Lap 55: We’re into the penultimate lap and the gap remains 10 seconds. Massa and Bottas are battling each other for fifth.
Lap 54: Well, well, well. Did anybody predict this happening? Ferrari’s tyre choices have been better than Mercedes but Vettel has driven superbly here. And it bodes well for those who were under the impression this was going to be a boring season.
Lap 53: It’s now 9.9 seconds but, with three laps to go, the celebratory fizz will be hitting Vettel’s lips in a few minutes.
Lap 52: Vettel’s lead is 10.2 seconds, Hamilton and Mercedes will not like this. Rosberg is third. raikonnen is fourth, in front of Massa, Bottas, Verstappen and Sainz.
Lap 51: The gap is now 10 seconds but Vettel, hilariously, overlaps his old Red Bull team in his spanking new red Ferrari.
Lap 50: Vettel’s lead remains a shade over 11 seconds.
Lap 49: And the former over takes his team-mate. The 17-year-old will become the youngest driver to score points if he manages to hold that position.
Lap 48: Verstappen and Sainz are having a good battle for seventh.
Lap 47: And the message from the radio to the race leader is: “everyone has made all their stops”. Hamilton brings the gap down to 11.1 – he needs to gain more than that.
Lap 46: Vettel’s gap is now 11.3 seconds
Lap 45: Vettel has won here three times before, Hamilton has won once. Which one is going to do it here?
Lap 44: That gap is 12.5 seconds now. Vettel laps Grosjean back in 11th, who keeps out of the way.
Lap 43: Vettel’s lead is a little over 11 seconds ahead of Hamilton and Rosberg is closing the gap on the world champion too!
Lap 42: Hamilton is now complaining about being spoken to. “Don’t talk to me going through corners,” he snaps. You wouldn’t really want to get on his wrong side, would you?
Lap 41: Hamilton has an angry radio exchange over a perceived lack of a plan. Rosberg is pitting.
Lap 40: Of course Vettel has returned to the front now but Hamilton is gaining quickly on him. He is behind Rosberg, who will be told to let him past. This is all set up for a brilliant finish.
Lap 39 cont: Hamilton is on the radio complaining about it being “the wrong tyre”
Lap 39: And Hamilton now pits! A very good 2.7 stop and he’s on to the slower tyres too to try and make it to the end.
Lap 38: That’s a decent stop, 3 seconds. Hamilton is back in front but Vettel comes out in front of Rosberg in second! He has switched to the harder tyres.
Lap 37: Vettel is heading for the pits!
Lap 36: Button and Perez pit and the latter serves his penalty.
Lap 35: Jenson Button is in 10th and looks well placed to pick up some points now Perez has a penalty.
Lap 34: Raikkonen pits from fourth place, it takes 2.5 seconds. Hamilton is now only 14 seconds behind Vettel. The leader will stop before lap 40.
Lap 33: That lead is now 16 seconds. Perez and Hulkenberg are penalised 10 seconds each.
Lap 32: Vettel’s lead is just under 20 seconds. Perez is being investigated for that aforementioned collision.
Lap 31: And Perez blocks off Grosjean and the latter spins round and round. He steadies and drives on but is down to 14th. “Can’t believe it,’ the Frenchman says.
Updated
Lap 30: Kvyat and Hulkenburg’s duel is simmering nicely in the battle for 10th. Perez and Grosjean are close behind them.
Lap 29: Rosberg overtakes Raikkonen to go third.
Lap 28: Vettel leads at the midway point, 21 seconds in front of Hamilton and 35 clear of Raikkonen. Right behind him, Rosberg is fourth.
Lap 27: We’re heading for halfway and Hamilton finds himself 22 seconds behind Vettel.
Lap 25: Hamilton is up to second, Raikkonen is third and Rosberg is fourth.
Lap 26: Kvyat and Hulkenberg make contact, the former spins but appears OK to continue.
Updated
Lap 24: Vettel overtakes Hamilton on the final bend and the world champion decides to pit. On go to the medium tyres – they’ve changed their mind with that and the stop takes 3.1 seconds. Hamilton will need to stop again on those and is down to third, Vettel leads from Rosberg.
Lap 23: Another two seconds gained by Vettel!
Lap 22: Vettel overtakes Rosberg with such ease! And now he’s closing on Hamilton. Kvyat and Button have pitted. The gap is five seconds. The message for Vettel from the radio is “good boy, good boy”.
Lap 21: Fernando Alonso’s race looks to be over. He’s retiring.
Lap 20: Rosberg, in second, sees Vettel’s Ferrari closing on him rapidly. He’s on his radio to confirm both will have another stop to make each.
Lap 19: Ricciardo now pits. Vettel’s lap is over two seconds quicker than Hamilton thanks to his new tyres.
Lap 18: Vettel pits! And the stop takes 2.4 seconds, which is really good. Really, really good. They have also stuck with the medium tyres as part of their two-stop strategy. But Hamilton is our leader once more, Rosberg is in second. Kvyat overtakes his team-mate, Ricciardo, with the Australian struggling with his brakes.
Lap 17: Vettel’s lead is now 8.7 seconds to Hamilton – but when will he make a stop? Down the field, Button moves to 10th past Perez, and Nasr is also fighting to pass him.
Lap 16: Maldonando penalised 10 seconds for exceeding the safety car time. Grosjean and Hulkenberg head down the pits for the first time.
Lap 15: Sainz and Raikonnen have pitted. Vettel is told to keep going as he is.
Lap 14: Rosberg is into third, 18 seconds behind.
Lap 13: Hamilton is 9.9 seconds behind at the beginning of the lap, it goes to a fraction above 10 at the end of it. The message from the Mercedes camp is for him to sit patiently and look at the bigger race picture instead of rushing to cut the gap.
Lap 12: Rosberg climbs to sixth, past Sainz.
Lap 11: Hamiton is now 10 seconds behind Vettel.
Lap 9: Nothing of note.
Lap 10: Massa and Rosberg continue to drive side by side but the latter finally overtakes, Hamilton is up to second.
Updated
Lap 8: Massa, Rosberg and Kvyat have now zoomed past Perez. Vettel leads. This actual racing is quite good, which I’m sure will be appreciated by everyone who watched the yawn-inducing season opener.
Lap 7: We are racing again! See ya, safety car! Massa and Rosberg have a decent battle during turns one and two but the former holds on to eighth place. Hamilton jumps to fifth, overtaking Perez, who is also usurped by Ricciardo.
Lap 6: Hulkenberg is in second, Grosjean third but Vettel has led for a full lap, equalling the time he spent in front in the entirety of last season. Sainz is fourth, Perez is down in fifth. Rosberg, meanwhile, is ninth after his stop.
Lap 5: Hamilton and Rosberg have pitted with the safety car out, but Vettel is staying in. He leads, while Hamilton is back to sixth. How will that gamble pull off?
Lap 4: Ericsson has found himself beached on the gravel after braking late. The tractor is coming to move him and we have the safety car out.
Lap 3: Massa is in the pits to get a wing replacement, while Raikkonen heads in for his tyre to be replaced. Hamilton’s lead is a second.
Lap 2: Now Raikkonen has a puncture after making contact with Ericsson’s Sauber and there is rubber flying all over the track.
Lap 1: Hamilton is off well and leads without a modicum of trouble but Vettel takes second place by overtaking Rosberg. Ricciardo is fourth, Massa is in fifth, Kvyat is in sixth. Down the field Maldonado appears to have a puncture.
Updated
WE'RE OFF
Fifty-six laps ahead of us at Sepang!
Temperature on the track: a horrific 61 celsius. Formation lap has passed by without problem and we are moments away …
We’re almost ready. Final preparations are being made. Drivers from certain teams are drinking a certain energy drink, covers are being removed from tyres, mechanics are hurrying off the grid. It’s hot, hot, hot! Lewis Hamilton is unhappy, though, because some minion has left his steering wheel out in the sun and it’s hot to touch. Sack him!
Peter Sauber does not speak much English but he’s just said shit live on TV, which I found impressive but the commentators on Sky felt they needed to apologise awkwardly for. Yes, folks, that big bad word shit. We won’t censor you, Mr Sauber. Swear all you like!
Good morning from London (not, unfortunately, Sepang). Forget to change your clocks or did your clever gizmos do it automatically? My phone changed, meaning all of a sudden I took it from my pocket and saw it was 2.30am. How brilliant, because it meant an hour less to wait until we watch another procession*.
I joke – kinda! – but Lewis Hamilton starts on pole again and, well, we don’t need to explain what that’s likely to mean. Lots of noise and speed to follow at 3pm at the track, which is at a dreadfully early time of 8am where I’m stationed.
*I meant race, of course. Promise.
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Preamble
Alan will be here shortly but in the meantime, have of read of how tempers between Mercedes’ pair Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg flared again on Saturday …
Lewis Hamilton’s sometimes tense relationship with his Mercedes team-mate,Nico Rosberg, took a bizarre and slightly farcical turn on Saturday when the German driver posed as a journalist during the post-qualifying press conference at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Hamilton had landed a 40th pole position of his career in Kuala Lumpur despite suggestions that Rosberg had deliberately blocked him on his final run of the rain-affected session. Rosberg had already abandoned his lap, but did not move aside as Hamilton came past, forcing him off the racing line. It turned out not to matter as Hamilton had already done enough for pole on a previous lap.
