The best race of the year so far this season. Lewis Hamilton on pole and Nico Rosberg on the front row for Sunday's race, you would have thought it will be another one-two Mercedes finish. Until the fourth corner of the first lap in the race when Nico Rosberg got spun out by Sebastian Vettel, resulting Rosberg to the back of the field, Vettel to retire with suspension damage and Hamilton leading the race ahead of both Red Bull drivers.
Then on lap 41, with Hamilton leading both Red Bull drivers by sixteen seconds, ready for his second pit-stop, when his Mercedes engine blown-up on the main straight resulting Lewis Hamilton's first Mechanical failure since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix.
With Hamilton's engine blow up, Daniel Ricciardo took the lead in his Red Bull and stayed there to the finish, with a few races this season Ricciardo had been close to winning a few races this season and missed out by luck. This time the race win goes to him, to give Daniel Ricciardo the race win in this seasons Malaysian Grand Prix and his first race win of the season for his first since the 2014 Belgium Grand Prix.
While, Ricciardo's team-mate Max Verstappen finished in second place in the other Red Bull to give the team its first one-two finish of the season, and their first since the 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix; Verstappen was two seconds behind Ricciardo at the end.
Meanwhile, Nico Rosberg finished in third place in the Mercedes to complete the podium despite the first lap spin which as caused by Sebastian Vettel; which he was last after the first lap and was overtaking everyone throughout the race, Rosberg was twenty-five seconds behind Ricciardo at the end of the fifty-six lap race.
With Lewis Hamilton's second DNF of the season and Nico Rosberg only managing a third place finish at Sepang, Nico Rosberg has now improve his lead of the F1 drivers' championship from eight points to twenty-three points ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton with five races to go.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 8
Lewis Hamilton - 8 (pole, DNF, Engine)
Nico Rosberg - 8 (finished third and fastest lap)
Ferrari - 7
Sebastian Vettel - 6 (DNF, Collision damage from Nico Rosberg)
Kimi Räikkönen - 8 (finished fourth)
Williams - 7
Valtteri Bottas - 9 (finished fifth)
Felipe Massa - 6 (finished thirteenth, lap down)
Red Bull Racing - 9
Daniel Ricciardo - 9 (race win)
Max Verstappen - 9 (finished second)
Force India - 7
Nico Hülkenberg - 7 (finished eighth)
Sergio Pérez - 8 (finished sixth)
Renault - 6
Kevin Magnussen - 5 (DNF, Power loss)
Jolyon Palmer - 8 (finished tenth)
Toro Rosso - 5
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 6 (finished eleventh)
Daniil Kvyat - 5 (finished fourteenth, lap down)
Sauber - 6
Marcus Ericsson - 7 (finished twelfth, lap down)
Felipe Nasr - 6 (DNF, Brakes)
McLaren - 8
Fernando Alonso - 9 (finished seventh)
Jenson Button - 8 (finished ninth)
Manor - 5
Esteban Ocon - 6 (finished sixteenth, lap down)
Pascal Wehrlein - 5 (finished fifteenth, lap down)
Haas - 5
Romain Grosjean - 5 (DNF, Brakes)
Esteban Gutiérrez - 5 (DNF, Wheel)
Next stop Suzuka Circuit in a weeks time for the Japanese Grand Prix.
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