Brilliant victory for Verstappen as Vettel fights back to fourth

There was action from start to finish in Sunday's Malaysian Grand Prix that saw Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen emerge as the victor/ claiming what was only his second victory in the pinnacle of Motorsports.

Before the race even got underway, the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, who was set to start from the front row of the grid, had power issues and was pushed off the grid and back into the Ferrari garage. He was meant to start from pitlane after Ferrari repaired whatever issue was plaguing him. However it didn't take long to realize the issue was terminal and Kimi climbed from the car and relaxed in air cditioned comfort as the race unfolded without him.

“We don't know what happened, it's too early to say,” Kimi said. “The car had been working perfectly all weekend and suddenly, out of nothing, we had an issue. It's one of those things that unfortunately can happen. Car and speed wise we have been very good, but then unfortunately Seb had problems yesterday and we had ours today.”

“ I'm pretty sure that I would have had a very good car today, but obviously you never know and it's pointless to start guessing. We have a good package, but we have to take the most out of it. What happened today is very disappointing and hurts all of us, but there's nothing we can change right now. The next race is a new challenge again, we'll go there as in any race weekend, and then we'll see where we are.”

Without the Ferrari on the grid in front of him, Max had a clear run at pole sitter Lewis Hamilton and it didn't take long and the young Dutchman was past and into the lead where he stayed for the next 5 laps, apart from his one and only pitstop.

Lewis Hamilton managed to keep pace with the young Dutchman and finished second ten seconds behind him, while the second Red Bull Bull of Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the podium.

However, it wasn't an easy run for the Aussie racer as he was forced to fend off a late charge from the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, who had fought his way through the field from the back of the grid and fancied that third place for himself. However, Daniel kept his ground and hung on to the position just long enough before the Scuderia told Vettel to back off.

“A great performance by the whole team today and fantastic to see Max get a well-deserved victory, after enduring so much bad luck throughout the season. I said when Max's luck would change it would change in a dramatic way and it's difficult to believe the last time he was on the podium was at the beginning of April in China,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “Today he drove a truly dominant race, making a sensational pass on Lewis and then really controlling the race from there.”

“Daniel, after starting on the wet side of the grid, initially dropped a place to Valtteri but worked hard to get the pass done - which is incredibly hard at this circuit - and then managed to save enough in hand to fend off a fast-recovering Sebastian at the end of the race. It's tremendous for us to sign off the last grand prix in Malaysia with a double podium and a victory, the fifth that we've achieved here. Our thanks to the Malaysian Grand Prix and to the many fans in Malaysia who support Red Bull; we celebrate with you today."

Vettel managed to cross the line in fourth place overall after a spectacular drive from the rear of the grid. He was determined to limit the amount of damage done to his championship hopes after faiing to score last time out in Singapore and after failing to qualify due to a power unit failure, he I just that by finishing just two laces behind Hamilton.

“All weekend, it was clear we had a very competitive car,” sad Ferrari's Maurizio Arrivabene. “That could be seen from our pace in free practice, Kimi's front row in qualifying and Seb's amazing fight back in the race, when he went from last to fourth. However, it all added up to our hardest race of the year, as we had to confront problems that we will now analyse in depth.”

“They prevented Sebastian from qualifying and Kimi from even taking the start. The team remained focused on its job throughout, putting in a great deal of effort working in the garage and then implementing an impeccable strategy. It's further cause to continue to believe in ourselves: we have the car, the men, the drivers, the means and the spirit to fight all the way to the finish.”

For all the good Sebastian did in the race however, one of the most bizarre incidents happened on the cool down lap. As he was attempting to pick up some of the rubber on the side of the circuit, Lance Stroll's Williams wandered across the track and slammed into him, leaving him with only three wheels on his Ferrari. The Sauber of Pascal Wehrlein came past and gave the German a lift back to the pits, but it is still to be seen if the damage was severe enough for Seb to need a new gearbox in this weekend's Japanese GP.

Valtteri Bottas finished a distant fifth in what turned out to be a very lacklustre day for Mercedes.

Sergio Perez finished sixth for Force India and a very noteworthy performance from Stoffel Vandoorne saw him claim seventh,

This was the final running of the Malaysian GP after 19 years and definitely a memorable one.