Tag Archives: Sepang Circuit

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain in Malaysia β€” Results & aftermath

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen earns team’s first win of year after recovering from poor wet weather start ; Antonelli shores up championship lead in P2 as heartbroken Russell retires late in chaotic GP; Hamilton rallies from disastrous starting tire decision to salvage podium

Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia wound up being just as bizarre as its kludgy race name and the geopolitical circumstances that relocated it to the Sepang International Circuit for the first time since 2017. Tropical downpours delayed the race start by more than 90 minutes and then widespread software issues during the formation lap created trouble for numerous front runners and general chaos prior to the actual start of the race. Once the lights finally did go out, pole-sitter Max Verstappen lost out to the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in the treacherous, wet track conditions. But the Dutch Master, clearly having the fastest car of the weekend, slowly recovered, utilizing a Lap 9 Safety Car triggered by Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas spinning into the gravel, which prompting the frontrunners to pit oof of Intermediates for slick Pirelli tires.

Verstappen then executed a brilliant restart at the beginning of Lap 13, overtaking Antonelli around the outside of Turn 1 and 2, and slowly stretched his advantage overr the ensuing laps to what would become a steady if not massive lead over Antonelli lead. When the checkers flew at the end of this fairly crazy 55-lap affair, Verstappen claimed his and Red Bull’s first victory of the 2026 season by 2.307 seconds ahead of the P2 Antonelli. While it was an important win for Red Bull and a fitting reward for their steady progress as the year has gone on, it also turned into a nearly championship crowning day for the young Italian Silver Arrows ace, as Antonelli watched his teammate Russell DNF with some sort of mechanical issue after a Safety Car pit stop on Lap 50. That unfortunate break for the Briton somewhat mooted his victory in Azerbaijan, as Russell saw his deficit to Antonelli grow again to a daunting 84 points with just seven rounds remaining on the calendar.

While Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton completed the podium in third place, one has to wonder what might have happened if the team had not gambled on starting both he and Leclerc on Soft Pirellis rather than the Inters that seemed pretty clearly to be demanded of the post-deluge conditions at Sepang. Needless to say, that gamble backfired rather spectacularly, dropping both Prancing Horses dramatically down the pylon and leaving Hamilton to order the team to keep him out on those opening set of Softs rather than pitting for Inters as teammate Leclerc opted to do on Lap 3, the seven-time champ counting on the track to dry out enough to be able to make up positions during the crossover from wet to dry conditions. Hamilton succeeded in both his strategic surmise and his execution of it, running all the way to Lap 31 before his first pit stop and then making the most of fresh rubber during a Virtual Safety Car to hunt down the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar for the final podium place. When Leclerc made the same Trun 1 move on Hadjar on the penultimate lap Β to secure P4, their drivers had salvaged what could have been a disastrous day for the Scuderia in Sepang. Β Nonetheless, there were still questions left hanging in the humid air about Ferrari’s often iffy strategy decisions.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP in Malaysia:

POS DRIVER TEAM RACE TIME LAPS PITS FASTEST LAPS
1

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:47:14.808 55 3 1:38.220 (55)
2

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes +2.307 55 3 —
3

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari +4.919 55 2 —
4

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari +7.258 55 4 —
5

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull +8.571 55 3 —
6

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren +9.454 55 4 —
7

Liam Lawson

 Racing Bulls +12.753 55 3 —
8

Fernando Alonso

 Aston Martin +13.372 55 3 —
9

Lando Norris

 McLaren +13.993 55 3 —
10

Arvid Lindblad

 Racing Bulls +15.928 55 3 —

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The races are coming thick and fast as we hurtle towards the end of the season — the equally tropical though not at all similar Singapore Grand Prix will be next in a week’s time with all the challenges the tight confines of the Marina Bay Circuit entails. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!

2026 F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain in Malaysia β€” Qualifying results

Verstappen nabs his & Red Bull’s first pole of season at Bahrain substitute Sepang; Hamilton puts Ferrari to the front in P2; Hadjar P3 but faces five-spot engine drop, as Antonelli struggles to P4

Formula 1 is finally running the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend after its was postponed from its originally scheduled April 12 date due to the Middle East conflict, with the unusual proviso that it will be held as a one-off at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Sepang has not held an F1 race since 2017 but the drivers showed nothing but enthusiasm for the long and flowing track during three practices sessions, which set them up for Saturday qualifying at the now rubbered-in circuit. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen enjoyed the return to Malaysia the most, grabbing his and the team’s first pole position of the season all the way in Round 16. Interestingly, Verstappen also won the last race here at Sepang back in 2027, also for Red Bull, of course. So, he and the team have got to be feeling the positive vibes from this quirky, unexpected return to Malaysia. Despite never having completed here, teammate Isack Hadjar was also very solid with a time good enough for P3, although the young Frenchman will take a five-spot drop for Sunday’s race due to engine penalties. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton split the Red Bulls with a strong P2 effort, while points leader Kimi Antonelli struggled to get up to speed in his Sepang debut and could do no better than the fourth fastest time. That was still miles ahead of teammate and last week’s race winner in Azerbaijan, George Russell, who struggled en route to P8. All that said, Sepang is not a track where qualifying position is destiny so expect plenty of changes up and down the order over the course of tomorrow’s scheduled 56 Grand Prix laps.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP (in Malaysia):

POS DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1

Max Verstappen

 Red Bull 1:36.477 1:35.696 1:35.130 12
2

Lewis Hamilton

 Ferrari 1:36.595 1:36.032 1:35.428 15
3

Isack Hadjar

 Red Bull 1:36.898 1:36.192 1:35.558 12
4

Kimi Antonelli

 Mercedes 1:37.041 1:35.959 1:35.631 12
5

Charles Leclerc

 Ferrari 1:36.730 1:35.970 1:35.666 12
6

Lando Norris

 McLaren 1:37.092 1:36.173 1:35.757 12
7

Oscar Piastri

 McLaren 1:36.852 1:36.020 1:35.762 12
8

George Russell

 Mercedes 1:37.264 1:36.245 1:35.871 12
9

Pierre Gasly

 Alpine 1:37.174 1:36.410 1:37.210 18
10

Gabriel Bortoleto

 Audi 1:37.106 1:36.814 1:37.673 18

Complete qualifying results available via Formula.com.

The penalty-adjusted starting grid is here.

Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 3AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States, so brew that coffee or catch a replay with your Sunday brunch to find out how it all shakes out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Malaysia β€” Results & aftermath

Verstappen victorious for Red Bull in Malyasia,Β Ricciardo P3; Hamilton extends lead with P2 but Vettel pulls miracle drive to come from last to fourth

Max Verstappen took full advantage of Ferrari’s startling misfortune and mediocrity by Mercedes to take a dominant victory at the Sepang Circuit on Sunday. The young Red Bull driver, who only turned 20 on Saturday and whose 2017 season has been blighted by bad luck, finally had something to cheer about when he overtook the pole-sitting Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton early in the race and never looked back, besting the points leader by a whopping 12.77 seconds at a track that rightly should have suited the Silver Arrows. Verstappen and Red Bull were also aided by more unreliability at Ferrari when their best placed driver, Kimi Raikkonen, was unable to start the race with what appeared to be the same turbo problem that bedeviled Vettel in qualifying, sending him to the back of the grid without setting a time. So instead of the Iceman fighting with Hamilton for victory the stunned Ferrari garage was left praying for their lone surviving Prancing Horse to make a miracle run through the field just two weeks after their catastrophic double-DNF in Singapore .

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

But Maranello’s prayers were nearly answered, as Vettel methodically carved his way through back-markers with a masterful effort to put himself in striking distance of the podium. With the laps winding down the 4-time world champion amazingly found himself duking it out with Verstappen’s veteran teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, for the last step on the podium. But the gritty Aussie managed to hold Vettel off long enough for the latter’s tires to lose their punch and it was Ricciardo who took that valuable P3. That sealed a very good day for Red Bull at a track where they always seem to run well — the current line-up went 1-2 last year after a Hamilton engine failure and Vettel won three out of the four contests during his championship run at Red Bull between 2010 – 2013. The team must be sad to see Malaysia being dropped from the schedule for next year. Still, despite Ferrari’s disappointment it was a good day of damage limitation for Vettel with Hamilton only adding 6 points to his now-34 point lead in the Championship on a day where it looked like the Englishman might outscore the German 25 to nil. And as if the weekend was not bizarre enough for the Scuderia, Vettel and Williams’ Lance Stroll came tohgther on the cool down lap, totaling Vettel’s SF70H. It was the perfect ending to a perfectly ghastly weekend and it’s certain they can’t wait to turn the page at Suzuka and hopefully exploit their new found race pace without anymore technical glitches in the final five Grand Prix.

Further behind the frontrunners, Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas had a bit of a mystifying weekend and found himself well off the truly competitive pace. Bottas finished where he qualified in P5, some 44 seconds behind Hamilton, and struggled to get temperature and balance into the front tires with some new aero tweaks that Hamilton chose not to run. So perhaps the split strategy hurt Mercedes in terms of maximizing points. But it could also be that Bottas has hit a bit of personal slump with his recent run of underwhelming performances. Sergio Perez did rather better in maximizing the perfomance of his Force India coming home a solid P6 despite once again getting together briefly with his junior teammate Esteban Ocon. Ocon, who also had a few other skirmishes throughout the race, could do no better than P10, although it was still a good points haul for overachieving Force India. Stoffel Vandoorne had another strong drive for McLaren for his second consecutive P7 finish (his teammate Fernando Alonso finished outside the points in P11). The two Willaims of Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa also had eventful races but both managed to make it to the end in P8 and P9 respectively with the Stroll-Vettel contretemps mercifully coming after the checkered flag had flown.

Top 10 finishers of the Malaysian GP:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 56 1:30:01.290 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 56 +12.770s 18
3 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 56 +22.519s 15
4 5 Sebastian Vettel FERRARI 56 +37.362s 12
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 56 +56.021s 10
6 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 56 +78.630s 8
7 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 55 +1 lap 6
8 18 Lance Stroll WILLIAMS MERCEDES 55 +1 lap 4
9 19 Felipe Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 55 +1 lap 2
10 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 55 +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

With the races dwindling to a handful the next key contest is in but a week’s time from the always challenging Suzuka International Racing Course in Japan. Will Red Bull continue to make life difficult for the frontrunners and perhaps play spoiler? Can Ferrari get back on the beam and get both cars through a full race? And will Hamilton and Mercedes return to their dominating ways before heading to the Americas for the stretch run? Hope to see you then to find out!

2017 F1 Grand Prix of Malaysia β€” Qualifying results

Hamilton speeds to pole in Malaysia, Raikkonen P2 for Ferrari; Verstappen P3 as Vettel suffers engine failure in Q1, will start last

After a disastrous Singapore Grand Prix two weeks ago that saw both Ferarris crash out on the opening lap, Maranello showed tremendous speed in practice at the Sepang circuit and were surely hoping to be rewarded in qualifying on Saturday. Instead, the Scuderia’s bad luck continued when their lead driver Sebastian Vettel suffered engine problems in Q1 to his newly installed power plant. Despite frantic efforts by the team it proved unrepairable to be able to get the car out and set a timed lap and Vettel will face the monumental challenge of starting from last on the grid come Sunday. That opened the door to Mercedes and their championship-leading driver Lewis Hamilton. Despite looking like lacking the pace up against Ferrari and even Red Bull in all three practice sessions, Hamilton laid down a flyer good enough for a new all-time track record as well as a dominant pole. After lucking into the win at rainy Singapore despite starting back in P5 Hamilton now finds himself in his more accustomed front row perch where he will be very hard to beat. Vettel and Ferrari have got be hopimg for a typical torrential Malaysian downpour to shake up the contest and give them some extra strategy options to pick up positions.

On the other side of their garage, however, Kimi Raikkonen did well to fly the flag and give Ferrari some hope, lifting his Prancing Horse up to P2 with a very representative lap a mere .05 behind Hamilton’s streaking Silver Arrow. It looks like the Iceman will be Lewis’ key competition when the lights go out so look for Kimi to try and ambush the lead Mercedes early in Lap 1. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who turned 20 on Saturday, was also very quick and pipped his teammate for P3, with Daniel Ricciardo having to settle for P4. If something goes down between the first two competing cars look for the Red Bulls to try and take advantage at a track where they were 1-2 last year. Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was once again off the pace in quali and could do no better than P5. Esteban Ocon was the lead Force India, besting his stablemate and arch-rival Sergio Perez P6 to P9 respectively. And both McLarens were once agin in the top 10 with young Stoffel Vandoorne P7 and veteran Fernando Alonso P10. Nico Hulkenberg was a solid P8 for the improving factory Renault team.

Top 10 qualifiers for the Malysian Grand Prix:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton MERCEDES 1:31.605 1:30.977 1:30.076 18
2 7 Kimi RΓ€ikkΓΆnen FERRARI 1:32.259 1:30.926 1:30.121 14
3 33 Max Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:31.920 1:30.931 1:30.541 12
4 3 Daniel Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:32.416 1:31.061 1:30.595 16
5 77 Valtteri Bottas MERCEDES 1:32.254 1:30.803 1:30.758 17
6 31 Esteban Ocon FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:32.527 1:31.651 1:31.478 17
7 2 Stoffel Vandoorne MCLAREN HONDA 1:32.838 1:31.848 1:31.582 18
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg RENAULT 1:32.586 1:31.778 1:31.607 17
9 11 Sergio Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:32.768 1:31.484 1:31.658 18
10 14 Fernando Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 1:33.049 1:32.010 1:31.704 17

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com

In other news it seems this will be the Malaysian Grand Prix’s last time on the F1 calendar for the foreseeable future, ending a 19-year run. And reigning GP2 champion Pierre Gasly made his Formula 1 debut this weekend, stepping into the Toro Rosso for a few races and relegating the erratic Daniil Kvyat to reserve status. Gasly qualified just behind his teammate Carlos Sainz in P15 and may get a permanent seat with the team when Sainz jumps to Renault next year.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on NBC Sports at the ungodly hour of 3AM here in the States. So set the DVR or brew an extra pot of coffee to pull an all-nighter because watching Sebastian Vettel try to carve his way through the field in pursuit of Hamilton should be worth the price of admission. Hope to see you then!

2016 F1 Grand Prix of Malaysia β€” Results & aftermath

Red Bull 1-2 in Malaysia — Ricciardo wins & Verstappen places; Hamilton undone by late engine failure, Rosberg fights back forΒ P3

After a string of poor results things finally seemed to be going all Lewis Hamilton’s way this race weekend at the Sepang Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. The Mercedes’ driver was the fastest in two out of threeΒ practice sessions and then set a blistering lap for pole in Saturday qualifying. Hamilton even made a clean getaway with no hint of the clutch-bite problems that have plagued his starts recently. Better yet, his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg was tagged by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel early in the opening lap, spinning the German points leader and dropping him down through the field. After that Hamilton sped away and controlled the race from the front with only the two Red Bulls of Max Verstappen & Daniel Ricciardo giving even token pursuit. He appeared on his way to a sure victory.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

But on Lap 41 Hamilton’s luck ran out. Out of nowhere his nearly new Mercedes engine gave up the ghost, coughing out flame and fluid and bringing his usually impervious Silver Arrow to an abrupt stop. As the Englishman held his head in disbelief, his mechanical misfortune gifted the race lead to the twin Red Bulls, with Ricciardo having assumed the dominant position after a side-by-side dice with his precocious junior teammate, Verstappen. Meanwhile, Rosberg’s chassis had survived not only the opening lap belt by Vettel but also a rash challenge intoΒ the side of the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, earning Rosberg a 10-second time penalty for avoidable contact. Nonetheless, through dint of good fortune and persistence, Rosberg not only fought his way through the field lap after lap at this most sweltering of tracks but pushed clear enough of Raikkonen at the death to negate his penalty. In the end, it was Ricciardo’s victory, the affable Aussie’s first in two years, with Verstappen falling in lineΒ after the earlier challenges for an obedient P2. Rosberg came homeΒ a remarkable and oh-so-valuable P3 after what could only be described as a Hamilton-esque drive back from adversity. Meanwhile, the man himself could only rue his ill fortune and vent his spleen at such a flukey mechanical failure. Hamilton scored zero points with his DNF after looking like a sure winner and saw his deficit to Rosberg balloon to 23 points. With only 5 contests left in 2016, Hamilton’s task is daunting but not impossible. He can only be hoping that the reliability gods switch sides and bite Rosberg next time.

rosberg-f1gpmalaysia-2016

All credit to Red Bull despite the somewhat gift-like nature of the win. Since about the first quarter of the season the team have made tremendous improvements to the car and bringing Verstappen over from the junior Toro Rosso team now looks like a stroke of genius. Verstappen’s unbridled ferocity and ambition have pushed Ricciardo to up his game and after coming up just short in Singapore two weeks ago, the talented Australian is showing once again why he is so highly regarded in the paddock. The 1-2 in Malaysia was Red Bull’s first in three years, the amazing Vettel-Mark Webber salad days, and the massive points haul put them 46 points up on Ferrari for second in the all-important Constructors’ standings. With a lot of hard work and clever in-season development, as well as wringing ever more power out ofΒ the much-maligned Renault engine, it is Red Bull that have put themselves firmly in position to capitalize on days when things go wrong for Mercedes.

hamilton-f1gpmalaysia-2016-2

And that has been at the expense of Ferrari. It was another disastrous day for the Scuderia and another early lap exit for their putative team leader Vettel, as the damage on the front suspension after his first lap clout into Rosberg was instantly terminal. That left it once again in the hands of Raikkonen to fly the colors for Ferrari and the veteran Finn did the best he could to come home P4. Ever since he re-signed with the team, Raikkonen has driven steadily and with poise, salvaging good points and keeping the car out of trouble while his much vaunted teammate has frankly had an erratic campaign. Perhaps the pressure from Maranello has gotten into Vettel’s head somewhat because he has not always been the icy cold killer that he was when he was winning four consecutive titles. On the contrary, the German has often been impetuous and sometimes unlucky, getting caught up in shunts on track that are sometimes his fault and sometimes not. It all points to overdriving a car that has not developed as Ferrari had hoped and has waned as Red Bull has waxed ascendent. While Raikkonen seems to drive within himself, fighting when necessary but bringing the car home safely and in the points, Vettel seems to be trying to manufacture performance from the SF16-H that simply isn’t there. At this late date in the season Ferrari just look like the third best team in F1 and sometimes one has to accept the results. Obviously the team will keep fighting until the end but there’s a fine line between valiant and desperate and Vettel appears to be on the wrong side of that line all too often this year.

Williams got a decent and much-needed result when Valtteri Bottas drove very well to take P5. But after being shutout in Singapore all was still not terrific for the team. Felipe Massa had a disastrous day when his car wouldn’t fire on the reconnaissance lap and then suffered further misfortune after starting from the pits with an early puncture. Needless to say Massa did not finish in the points so Williams’ disappointing season continues. On the flip side, Force India continued to impress with Sergio Perez coming home P6 and Nico Hulkenberg P8, a strong points haul that kept the little team just ahead of mighty Williams for fourth in the Constructors’. Adding further cause for optimism, Force India announced that it had re-signed Sergio Perez for next year, adding welcome stability to the team by holding on toΒ the talented Mexican driver alongside the very good German ace Hulkenberg for much-needed consistency in their driver line-up.

McLaren also had an encouraging day with Fernando Alonso good enough for P7 and Jenson Button finishing P9 in his 300th Fomrula 1 start. That puts Button third all-time amongst divers and sets the Honda-powered team up nicely for next weekend in Japan at the Honda-owned Suzuka circuit. You know McLaren will be wanting a strong showing there at their engine suppliers’ home court, as will Button at what looks to be his final Japanese GP. And after an up and down weekend Jolyon Palmer had a wonderful end to it all with a surprise P10 for beleaguered team Renault. Utilizing a bold one-stop strategy, Palmer drove beautifully, managing his tires until the end and taking the last points-paying position. After suffering a fuel fire on the sister car in Friday practice the team did yeoman’s work to get that Kevin Magnusson chassisΒ ready for quali. And while Magnusson did not finish on Sunday, Palmer’s point seems a just reward for the entirety of the Renault team’s hard efforts this weekend, so kudos to them.

Top 10 finishers in Malaysia:

POS NO DRIVER CAR LAPS TIME/RETIRED PTS
1 3 DanielΒ Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 56 1:37:12.776 25
2 33 MaxΒ Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 56 +2.443s 18
3 6 NicoΒ Rosberg MERCEDES 56 +25.516s 15
4 7 KimiΒ RΓ€ikkΓΆnen FERRARI 56 +28.785s 12
5 77 ValtteriΒ Bottas WILLIAMS MERCEDES 56 +61.582s 10
6 11 SergioΒ Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 56 +63.794s 8
7 14 FernandoΒ Alonso MCLAREN HONDA 56 +65.205s 6
8 27 NicoΒ Hulkenberg FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 56 +74.062s 4
9 22 JensonΒ Button MCLAREN HONDA 56 +81.816s 2
10 30 JolyonΒ Palmer RENAULT 56 +95.466s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is but a week away from the storied Suzuka course in Japan. Can Hamilton get back on track and cut Rosberg’s lead back down to a manageable size? Will Red Bull continue to thrive on Mercedes’ misfortune? Hope to see you then to find out!

2016 F1 Grand Prix of Malaysia β€” Qualifying results

Hamilton lays down blistering lap in Malaysia for pole, Rosberg salvages P2 at last moment; Verstappen P3 for Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton responded to the loss of his championship points lead two weeks ago in Singapore with a blindingly fast lap for pole at the newly re-surfaced Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Hamilton was the only driver to break into the the 1:32s with a stunning 1:32.850, over half a second ahead of his teammate and closest pursuer, Nico Rosberg. That puts Hamilton in prime position to get back on the front foot in tomorrow’s race and try to overhaul Rosberg one again for the Driver’s Championship lead after a string of excellent post-summer break results from his German archival . To his credit, however, Rosberg was able to vault himself up to P2 from deep in the pack with a solid run after the checkered flag had fallen in Q3, ensuring the first-ever Mercedes’ team front row lockout in Malaysia. Victory could come down to the start of the race for both drivers and lately Hamilton has had crucial difficulties getting away cleanly when the lights go out, costing him valuable finishing spots and championship points.

The two Red Bulls proved once again that they are Mercedes’ nearest competitors this year, continuing to show marked improvement from the beginning of the season and rewarding the big team’s decision to promote wunderkind Max Verstappen from Toro Rosso, their B-squad. Verstappen showed outstanding pace yet again, with the now 19-year-old taking P3 and his more senior teammate Daniel Ricciardo slotting into P4. So once again Ferrari find their aspirationsΒ impeded by Red Bull, with Sebastian Vettel only good enough for P5 and Kimi Raikkonen P6. The fabled Sucderia has got to be praying for rain to shake up the field come Sunday but in truth that could helpΒ Red Bull’sΒ supremely balancedΒ RB12 chassis more than Ferrari’s faltering SF-16H.

Force India continued their strong showings of late and sawΒ Sergio Perez grab P7 and Nico Hulkenberg fastΒ enough for P8. Jenson Button was impressive for a man who is not going to race in F1 next year, putting up a P9 time in his McLaren. And Felipe Massa came home P10 in his Williams. His teammate Valtteri Bottas was only good enough for P11, however, and the team desperately need a strong result tomorrow after scoring zero points at the last race in Singapore.

Top 10 qualifiers in Malaysia:

POS NO DRIVER CAR Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 44 LewisΒ Hamilton MERCEDES 1:34.444 1:33.046 1:32.850 11
2 6 NicoΒ Rosberg MERCEDES 1:34.460 1:33.609 1:33.264 12
3 33 MaxΒ Verstappen RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:35.443 1:33.775 1:33.420 15
4 3 DanielΒ Ricciardo RED BULL RACING TAG HEUER 1:35.079 1:33.888 1:33.467 12
5 5 SebastianΒ Vettel FERRARI 1:34.557 1:33.972 1:33.584 17
6 7 KimiΒ RΓ€ikkΓΆnen FERRARI 1:34.556 1:33.903 1:33.632 16
7 11 SergioΒ Perez FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:35.068 1:34.538 1:34.319 17
8 27 NicoΒ Hulkenberg FORCE INDIA MERCEDES 1:34.827 1:34.441 1:34.489 15
9 22 JensonΒ Button MCLAREN HONDA 1:35.267 1:34.431 1:34.518 17
10 19 FelipeΒ Massa WILLIAMS MERCEDES 1:35.267 1:34.422 1:34.671 13

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live at the ungodly hour of 3AM Eastern here in the States on NBC Sports Network. Either brew a lot of coffee or set your DVR and hope to see you then!