Nico today took his 52nd career podium - his 50th top three finish with the Silver Arrows, his second at the Sepang International Circuit and 11th of the 2016 season so far, setting the 20th fastest race lap of his career in the process.
Lewis was forced to retire on lap 41 after a sudden failure of his ICE (Internal Combustion Engine), which occurred with no prior warning. Nico (288) leads the Drivers' Championship by 23 points from Lewis (265) in P2.
Mercedes AMG Petronas (553) lead Red Bull (359) by 194 points in the Constructors' Championship with 215 points still to be won.
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: It's hard to know how to sum up a day like today. I just have no words for what happened to Lewis. We feel his pain. This is a mechanical sport, with so much technology, but sometimes you get blindsided by situations with no rational explanation. It's a freaky coincidence as to why he has suffered the majority of the engine problems this year - like the odds of throwing red six times in a row in the casino. But we take a forensic approach to our work in how we build the engines and how we analyse the failures. We always have done and we will do so again. Our guys will get to the bottom of what happened and learn from it. But I don't want to talk about forensics on a day like this - I want to focus on how Lewis responded in the aftermath. We let him down today and we are beating up ourselves about it. And you know, if you're leading the race, about to get back in the Championship lead and then your engine blows up... then every answer is allowed in front of a TV camera. It's completely understandable. But instead of venting frustration, he came back to the garage and shook the hand of every team member; we talked in a small group and we were all really down. Then he stood in front of the team and found the words to lift everybody and help us recover quickly for Japan. This is what the great drivers do, the true Champions, and I must express my respect for how he conducted himself today. For Nico, it was a great recovery drive after what happened in Turn One. You can look at the first corner two ways: he was unlucky to be hit by Sebastian but at the same time lucky the car did not sustain more damage. Then, he did a brilliant recovery drive back to third place with no mistakes. As for the penalty, I don't want it to be our focus and it didn't ultimately cost him any places. But it was a complete nonsense. We all decided that we wanted to see racing and that, if no driver was clearly at fault, then we should let them race. Then you get this. But it's for others to comment and not my main priority right now. The task is to pick ourselves back up for Suzuka. One of the greatest qualities of our group is how we come back from defeat even stronger than before. We will do that again now, in time for Japan next weekend.
Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical): The word is "b*llocks", really. This is one of the more difficult races of the year and we approached the weekend knowing it would be tough to get a top result. And so it transpired. First, there was Nico's incident with Sebastian (Vettel) at the first corner, from which he was fortunate to escape without damage. The challenge then became one of helping him progress back to the front as quickly as possible. The knock-on effect on the pit wall was that losing one car from the battle for the win weakened our ability to defend against two Red Bulls, who would inevitably take a gamble on strategy with one car or the other. Although that turned out to be the case, the pace of our car was incredibly strong, with both Lewis and Nico showing impressive speed and tyre management. Lewis was well on track to secure the win when he had a terminal failure of his engine. We're all absolutely devastated for him. As a team we've worked incredibly hard to improve reliability over the past few years and have succeeded in doing so. Indeed, this was our first race failure of the year. However, one thing we had made a priority was to ensure an equal competition between the drivers in the final phase of the season, with no distortion of the battle through technical problems. Unfortunately, we have failed in that objective today in brutal fashion. Lewis came into the race on top form after his strongest weekend of the year so far. Not just in terms of his qualifying and race performance, but also in terms of the homework he'd put in with the team throughout Friday and during Saturday morning. It feels incredibly unjust that he should suffer this failure at such a moment. While we're deeply disappointed for Lewis, we take our hats off to Nico after a fantastic comeback drive, showing not only strong pace and tyre management but also great race craft. This was no more evident than in the final stint when, after a controversial incident with Kimi, he pulled out enough of a gap to maintain his podium place - despite the 10 second penalty resulting from that incident. Overall, a disappointing result from a weekend which promised so much. We will go away and analyse what happened today, aiming to arrive in Japan prepared to bounce back in the best way we can.
Maurizio Arrivabene: Clearly, this was not the result we had wanted. In a very tactical race like the one we had today, having both cars on track would have been of fundamental importance. So, seeing what had happened to Seb, we planned a very aggressive strategy for Kimi, but then everybody else did the same. It's a pity that some damage affected Kimi's performance today: first, a piece of rubber got stuck in the rear wing profiles, causing the wing to stall and then there was the collision with Rosberg which caused further damage to the bodywork. As for Seb's incident at the start, I talked to him and I'd rather not comment on the stewards' decision.
Valtteri Bottas finished fifth and Felipe Massa 13th in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Felipe's problems began with a throttle issue leaving him stranded on the grid as the formation lap started. The team were able to get the car going to enable him to start from the pitlane, before he made an early stop under the first virtual safety car. However, just a couple of laps later he picked up a slow puncture and had to pit again. Felipe was then down in P19 but drove a strong race to fight back to P13 at the finish.
Avoiding the collision of Rosberg's Mercedes and Vettel's Ferrari at the start, Valtteri had a clean getaway and ran as high as P5 as other teams pitted under the VSC, until Rosberg fought back through the field and demoted him to P6.
Valtteri made his only pitstop on lap 28 after a strong opening run on new medium tyres, before switching to new primes and rejoining the race in P8, eventually returning to P5 ahead of Force India's Perez.
Valtteri remains seventh in the Drivers' Championship, while Felipe falls one position to 11th. The team stays fifth in the Constructors' Championship, just three points adrift of Force India.
{b}Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering:{/b} Overall, at least with Valtteri, we were able to show what we can do as a team, which I don't think we maximised yesterday knowing the potential of the car. That's something we can all feel really proud of today. The teamwork and the resolve of everyone since the end of qualifying yesterday has been really good in working out the best strategy for today. It may have looked quite risky on paper, but our strategy with Valtteri was the right thing to do and it worked out well for us. The start was great, the strategic decisions during the safety cars all worked out well, and Valtteri drove a brilliant race. It's just a shame about what happened with Felipe. We've got to look into why the car effectively turned off on the grid and he couldn't get going. He then had a pitlane start. All the bad luck he could have had, he had. Three laps later he picked up a puncture and had to pit again, and that put him out of contention. I think he's driven a great race and showed a lot of mental resolve to get as near to the points as he did towards the end. Overall, as a team, we've worked really well together. Notwithstanding the disappointment of Felipe, it's been a really good Sunday and we collected as many of the points on offer to us as we could. Despite having just one car in the points, we only lost two points to Force India today, leaving us just three adrift of them overall. The next race is a higher efficiency race in just seven days' time in Japan. Our aim there is going to be to maximise what will be a very good car around that track, of that there is no doubt. We need to claw that points deficit back.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "An unbelievable day today. To achieve a first and second in the Malaysian Grand Prix is beyond our wildest expectations. The race had an interesting start with a bit of action at the first corner which Sebastian triggered, costing Max particularly quite a bit of time. Thereafter both drivers settled into a rhythm and after the first Virtual Safety Car we decided to take a little bit of a risk with an early stop for Max which put him out of sequence with the other cars. Daniel was going well and by the time they got through the first stop on to the hard tyre it looked like a one-stop might be feasible. The drivers were racing each other firmly but fairly, the only instruction from the team was to keep it clean. We saw some great racing; at one point side by side at turns 5 and 6. Then unfortunately for Lewis his engine let go causing the next virtual safety car, and we took the opportunity to ensure that both drivers could get to the end of the race on a new set of soft tyres. Then it was a straight fight between the two of them to get to the chequered flag, and Daniel had just enough in hand to maintain a margin and complete a Red Bull Racing one-two finish, our first since Brazil 2013. It's a culmination of a great amount of teamwork both trackside and from everyone else back in the factory. It's fantastic for Red Bull and for all of our partners. Our thanks also to all of the hard work that's been put in by the people at Viry in delivering a great package for our TAG Heuer branded engine."
Sahara Force India scored 12 points in today's Malaysian Grand Prix with Sergio Perez racing to sixth place ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in eighth place.
Robert Fernley, Deputy Team Principal: "To come away from Malaysia with another 12 points added to our tally represents an excellent effort by the entire team. It was quite an eventful race, with various incidents going on around us, but we managed to stay out of trouble and bring home a solid result. We were a little unfortunate with the timing of the first virtual safety car, but we reacted well and made the correct decisions from the pit wall. The car showed good race pace and both drivers have performed well all weekend. The points scored have given us some more breathing space in the battle for fourth place in the championship, but as today proved it's going to remain a very close fight over the remaining five events."
Renault Sport Formula One Team's Jolyon Palmer scored his first FIA Formula One World Championship point in today's hot and fast-paced Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix. Jolyon put his disappointment from yesterday's qualifying behind him to deliver in emphatic fashion his tenth-placed finish from P19 on the grid, thanks to a one-stop tyre strategy. Kevin Magnussen was unable to translate Saturday's qualifying form into a race result as contact back and front on the first lap damaged a brake cooling drum fence. Kevin's brakes subsequently became unsustainably hot, which meant retirement from the race was the only option.
Kevin started the race from P14 with new set of Pirelli's medium compound tyres. He stopped at the end of the first lap to replace a damaged front wing and change to a new set of Pirelli's hard compound tyres. He retired on lap 17 due to overheating brakes. Jolyon started the race in P19 on new hard tyres. He stopped on lap 31 for a new set of soft tyres.
Fred Vasseur, Team Principal: "Congratulations to Jo for scoring his first point in Formula One. After a disappointing qualifying yesterday he got his head down and delivered a very good race. We ran to an aggressive strategy and Jo did everything required to make this work so a great effort from him and the team today. Kevin was unfortunate to be caught out as the result of an incident ahead on the first lap. Thanks to his strong qualifying, he was well placed for a decent points-scoring position, but there was nothing he could do. Today we saw once more that everyone in the team is pushing in the same direction and we will continue to fight for every point possible for the remaining five races this season."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "First of all, I'd like to congratulate Red Bull Racing for their 1-2 finish here in Sepang, they did a fantastic job! Regarding our race, we simply didn't have the pace during the whole of the weekend, therefore we started from only P15 and P16 on the grid. Unfortunately, Daniil touched Magnussen's Renault at the start, between the first and the second corner. As a result, he had to come in to change his nose and from then onwards his race was more or less lost. Carlos showed a competitive performance. He had a good start and gained many positions during the first lap, climbing from P16 to P11. Later on in the race and before his first pit-stop, he was able to race in P6 and keep this position for quite some time. In the final stages of the race we were simply too slow to stay in this position and ended up only eleventh. Of course, the long straights here didn't help us, but this is how it is. Now we have to be focused on doing a reasonable job in Japan next week."
The Sauber F1 Team finished the Malaysian Grand Prix, the hottest race of the season, with one remarkable athletic performance and one retirement because of a technical issue.
Marcus Ericsson's drinking system stopped working after the first of 56 laps with cockpit temperatures up to 60 degrees. Nevertheless, he managed to finish in P12. Felipe Nasr was running in P13 when he had issues with the brake-by-wire system, which forced him to retire on lap 47. The Japanese Grand Prix will take place next weekend in Suzuka.
Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal: "We knew that it was going to be a difficult race. However, the team did a good job. We choose the right strategies and both drivers did their best to get the maximum they could. However, Felipe was unfortunate. That was a solid performance today, which makes us confident about scoring points in the next races."
McLaren-Honda picked up eight points after getting both cars home inside the top 10 of today's Malaysian Grand Prix.
Fernando drove a sensational race from 22nd to seventh at the flag. While the Virtual Safety Car dropped a free pitstop into his lap, he drove with verve and flair both before and after to carve through the field. By the end of lap one, he was running in 14th, and was barely out of the top 10 for the remainder of the afternoon.
Jenson's two-stop strategy was stymied almost immediately by the appearance of the Virtual Safety Car, which gave his rivals - including Fernando - a free stop, and dropped him back to ninth. It was the only dose of bad luck in an otherwise faultless race.
{b}Eric Boullier, Racing Director:{/b} "To be looking at two points' finishes after starting one car from last position on the grid is an extremely satisfying result - and a real testament to the progress we're continuing to make at McLaren-Honda. The split-strategy reaped dividends for both Fernando and Jenson, and the pit-crew executed five faultless pit-stops, including a double-shuffle, which is always a stressful moment in any race.
"Fernando's charge through the field may have been fortuitously assisted by an opportune Virtual Safety Car period, but he was already inside the top 10 before making his final stop. He benefited from our aggressive three-stop strategy, and drove with all his fire and bravado to make up 10 positions on the opening lap alone.
"Jenson, driving in his 300th grand prix, was no less impressive - but he was desperately unlucky to make his second, and final, pit-stop just a few laps before the Virtual Safety Car handed his rivals a free, and unexpected, stop. To be clear, the two-stop was the fastest option to the chequer, and he was nicely lined up for the rest of the race - until the Virtual Safety Car. That's motor racing, but we all know that Jenson's driving is worthy of greater reward than ninth, and I'm sure that will come his way in these final five races.
"Now, we look forward to the next grand prix, at Suzuka, Japan, in seven days' time. For Honda, it's the most important and prestigious race of the season, and, buoyed by our result this weekend, we'll be aiming for another good showing next week."
{b}Yusuke Hasegawa, Honda R&D Co Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer:{/b} "I am very happy about the great drives from both drivers today, with many on-track battles. The team also did a great job with a solid strategy that helped us bring both cars home in the points.
"We battled strongly with Williams and Force India throughout the race, and it was a shame that we couldn't get fully in front, but I think we had very strong race pace, so it's an encouraging result looking ahead to our home grand prix in Suzuka.
"It was unlucky for Jenson with the Virtual Safety Car and his pit-stop timing, but he drove well and had consistent race pace throughout. Fernando, as usual, had a very good start and a strong charge through the field to finish seventh, another amazing result similar to Spa-Francorchamps.
"Today's brilliant drives and double points finish are a great motivation for McLaren-Honda."
Dave Ryan, Racing Director: "Thanks to the whole team for a really big push since Singapore. The hard work really paid off this weekend and from the inside we can see that we've made a good step forward. Our trackside operation also needed some work to counter the issues we had in recent races and, again, we've made good progress there. I'd like to give particular mention to the pit crew today. It was an area we needed to improve on and we've done just that. Our five stops today were all really controlled, so top job. Last, but far from least, our drivers did a fantastic job today in what is a notoriously challenging race for man and machine. So let's hang onto this momentum and use it to our advantage in Japan."
The Malaysian Grand Prix Sunday at Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur proved to be a frustrating endeavor for Haas F1 Team as drivers Esteban Gutiérrez and Romain Grosjean suffered double DNFs (Did Not Finish).
Gutiérrez started 13th in the 22-car field but sustained a punctured right-rear tire in the aftermath of the opening-lap skirmish between the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel and championship leader Nico Rosberg. The contact spun Rosberg's Mercedes around and sent bits of carbon fiber flying.
The tire on Gutiérrez's Haas VF-16 was nothing but a carcass as he limped back to the garage area for service while the track was under a VSC (Virtual Safety Car) period. A used set of Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires went on and Gutiérrez returned to the 56-lap race around the 5.543-kilometer (3.444-mile), 15-turn circuit mired way back in 20th.
Grosjean, meanwhile, took advantage of the dustup between Vettel and Rosberg to pick up three positions, advancing from his 12th-place starting spot to run ninth. And when the VSC period ended, Grosjean engaged in a spirited battle with the McLaren of Fernando Alonso. Grosjean held off the two-time Formula One champion for a number of laps before Alonso passed Grosjean for ninth on lap six.
Running 10th with the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr. less than a second behind, Grosjean set his sights on holding the position and earning another point-paying finish for Haas F1 Team. On lap nine, those aspirations quickly went away.
As Grosjean applied the brakes to slow his Haas VF-16 after shooting down the long straight into the hairpin turn 15, his pedal went to the floor. The car twitched side-to-side and the wheels eventually locked, sending Grosjean off track and deep into the gravel trap. He emerged from his car unhurt but deeply unsatisfied.
Things went from bad to worse on lap 41 when Gutiérrez lost his left-front wheel on the short straight leading into turn nine. Gutiérrez deftly steered his three-wheeled Haas VF-16 to a safe area well off the racing surface. After climbing from his car, he joined his teammate back in the paddock.
At the other end of the racing spectrum was Red Bull Racing, which scored a 1-2 finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo led the way, finishing 2.443 seconds ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen. It was Ricciardo's fourth career Formula One victory, his first of the season and his first at Sepang.
The championship fight between Mercedes teammates Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton took a drastic turn when Hamilton suffered an engine failure on lap 41. The DNF combined with Rosberg's third-place finish gives Rosberg a 23-point advantage with only five races remaining.
Sixteen rounds into the 21-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team remains eighth in the constructor standings with 28 points. The American squad maintained the 19-point gap to seventh-place Toro Rosso while ninth-place Renault cut Haas F1 Team's margin to 20 points as Jolyon Palmer finished 10th.
Guenther Steiner: "After we saw light at the end of the tunnel yesterday after qualifying, where I think we did a pretty good job, it got dark again today. We don't really know yet what happened with both of the cars. One had a brake failure and the other, obviously, lost a wheel. We'll have to see what exactly failed with the brakes on Romain's car. We lost a wheel on Esteban's car, but we're not sure yet why. The pit stop seemed to be ok and he got going. We need to see if a mechanical part failed or if it wasn't tight, but we don't know yet. Obviously, we're moving on to Japan. We'll try to put ourselves in a better position again there."
The Malaysian Grand Prix, won by Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, got underway with 59 degrees of track temperature: the hottest race conditions seen all year.
Two stops was the winning strategy as expected, but the tactics were influenced by three virtual safety car periods in the race - the second of which fell just within the pit window for a two-stop race.
Many drivers took advantage of this to switch to the hard tyre, which had to be used during the race because it was nominated twice as an obligatory available set. But Red Bull's Max Verstappen was the only driver in the top four to move onto the soft tyres again during that period. This helped him undercut his direct rivals before emerging from his second stop in what became second overall after Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton retired from the lead with a mechanical problem - in what seemed set to be a one-stop strategy.
Ricciardo too may have adopted a one-stop strategy, but took advantage of the third virtual safety car period to make a final stop, which was the case for a number of other drivers as well, including Verstappen who finished behind his team mate to make a Red Bull one-two.
An alternative strategy was used by Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, who started from 11th on the grid with the medium tyre and finished fifth after one-stopping. Renault's Jolyon Palmer tried something similar, starting from 19th on the grid with the hard tyre and then changing to the soft to finish 10th.
Paul Hembery: "It was very close as to whether or not a two-stopper would be quicker than the three-stop strategy we predicted as theoretically fastest, so we saw a fascinating tactical battle between Mercedes and Red Bull, with Red Bull splitting their strategies to try and beat Mercedes. In the end, it was the virtual safety cars that influenced the strategy. We also saw some different one-stop strategies all the way down the field, with some drivers starting on the hard and medium compound. This was all made possible by degradation being managed from start to finish despite the highest track temperatures we have seen all year".
Truthometer: We predicted a winning strategy of three stops. In the end Daniel Ricciardo stopped twice, although his second stop was influenced by the appearance of the virtual safety car. The Australian started on the soft (like all but four of the drivers) then changed to hard on lap 21 and soft on lap 41.
