Malaysia – Qualifying: Four in a Row for Lewis Hamilton in the Last at Sepang
At the end of an hour of suspense, it is once again Lewis Hamilton who secures pole position, bringing his tally to 70. Due to an unexpected engine change this morning, Sebastian Vettel was unable to complete a lap in qualifying and will start last tomorrow. Kimi Räikkönen threatens Hamilton with a very close second, while Verstappen completes the top 3.
Like Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso before him, another driver is celebrating his birthday on race weekend, in the person of Max Verstappen today in Sepang.
Happy 20th, Max! 🎂🎉🎁#MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 #Quali #F1 pic.twitter.com/A5T8XBb67G
— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 septembre 2017
Trouble continues for Sebastian Vettel
At the green light, the Saubers and Romain Grosjean’s Haas are the first cars to present themselves. Taking to the track in turn, the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have chosen the soft tires to record their lap times, while the rest of the field seems to prefer the super-softs.
Lewis Hamilton takes the best time after 5 minutes of the session, but Kimi Räikkönen quickly surpasses him with a 1:32.277, a tenth ahead of the Briton. Things seem to be getting worse for Sebastian Vettel, who, after his engine change before qualifying, is forced to return to his pit announcing a possible lack of turbo on the radio.
Problems for VET 📻: “It’s like I have no turbo”#MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 #Quali #F1 pic.twitter.com/8Sd5Gceb5h
— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 septembre 2017
Mid-session standings: Hamilton, Verstappen, Räikkönen, Bottas, Ricciardo, Ocon, Pérez, Vand, Mas, Hulk, Sainz, Magnussen, Gasly, Palmer, Grosjean, Wehrlein, Ericsson, Vettel, and Alonso. The German and the Spaniard have no recorded times.
Fernando Alonso ultimately jumped to 10th place after his first attempt while in the Ferrari garage, the team was busy working on Vettel’s SF70H, which was still immobilized. A confident Lewis Hamilton stepped out and took advantage of the last 4 minutes to temporarily leave the Mercedes garage.
The drivers at risk of elimination are: Gasly, Wehrlein, Grosjean, Ericsson, and Vettel.
Dramatic turn of events in the pits, Vettel’s Ferrari engine is cut off, the German will start last tomorrow! No time recorded for him.
In a final attempt, Pierre Gasly saves his place in Q2 in the most impressive way by moving from the elimination zone to 8th place. Romain Grosjean, despite an improvement, is eliminated by Lance Stroll, who saves his 14th place. Jolyon Palmer also improves and records a 9th time, ahead of his teammate.
The eliminated are: Grosjean, Magnussen, Wehrlein, Ericsson, and Vettel.
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION: END OF Q1
Vettel out 😲
Gasly in the top 10 👏
Don’t miss Q2 – it’s minutes away#MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 #Quali #F1 pic.twitter.com/n9oDgRZlQz
— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 septembre 2017
New track record for Valtteri Bottas
Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton waste no time in taking to the track, followed by the Force India drivers and Kimi Räikkönen. Bottas, being the first to start, completes a lap in 1:31.272, but his British teammate ups the ante with a 1:31.009, setting a new track record. Coming out strong, it’s Räikkönen who hits hard and drops below the 1:31 mark to reclaim the track record with a 1:30.926. The Finn is under pressure as Verstappen is just 0.005 seconds behind him.
Ranking point: Räikkönen, Verstappen, Hamilton, Bottas, Ricciardo, Ocon, Hülkenberg, Massa, Alonso, Palmer. The ones at risk are Vandoorne, Pérez, Sainz, Gasly, and Stroll.
Less than 3 minutes before the end of the session, everyone gets back on track except Räikkönen and Verstappen, confident in their times. It’s chaos on the track because all the drivers went out at the same time, preventing proper preparation before attacking the clock.
Bottas is the first to pass under the checkered flag, recording a new track record in 1:30.803. The McLarens make it through and both manage to reach Q3, which eliminates the Williams and Toro Rosso.
The eliminated are: Massa, Palmer, Stroll, Sainz, and Gasly.
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF Q2): 🚀 Blistering lap from BOT, 👏 Both @McLarenF1‘s in Q3 #MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 #Quali #F1 pic.twitter.com/zMa77BTyB8
— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 septembre 2017
The 70th pole position of Lewis Hamilton
Who among Räikkönen, the Mercedes, or the Red Bulls will take pole at the end of the 12 minutes? The first to start are Bottas and Hamilton, with Räikkönen waiting in the wings. In the first sector, Hamilton and Räikkönen are neck and neck, and the same in the second. At the line, Hamilton sets a 1:30.076 while Räikkönen loses out in the final sector and ends up 0.232 behind the Brit. Ricciardo and Verstappen are 39 thousandths apart ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
Behind the top 3, we find Pérez in 6th position ahead of Ocon, Vandoorne, Alonso, and Hülkenberg who did not take the track.
The last run begins for the drivers with 3 minutes remaining in the session, Nico Hülkenberg finally leaves his pit. Daniel Ricciardo is the first to crash into the gloves, he’s two-tenths behind in sector 1 but improves his own time, which doesn’t help his lap time but he’s the only one able to do another lap.
The red bullet improves everywhere but the Finn falls short by 45 thousandths of a second to Lewis Hamilton, who claims the 70th pole position of his career. Disappointingly, Bottas finishes behind the Red Bulls, while the “best of the rest” is none other than Esteban Ocon, who secured 6th place at the end of the final run.
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF QUALIFYING): Confirmation of an incredible turnaround by @LewisHamilton #MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 #Quali #F1 pic.twitter.com/ENum47cARD
— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 septembre 2017
