Max Verstappen ended his almost ten-month winless period during the chaotic Formula 1 return to Malaysia with cloudbursts, thunderstorms and an hour and a half start delay. Not even a technical glitch with the sophisticated racing cars slowed down the four-time world champion in a turbulent Grand Prix. “What a fantastic weekend,” Verstappen radioed to the pits: “We can be proud.”
In 2017, Verstappen also won the last race in Malaysia until Sunday; it was his second career success at the time. This time it was number 72.
Four days after his 29th birthday, Verstappen in the Red Bull relegated World Championship leader Kimi Antonelli in the Mercedes to second place, which can slowly turn the title champagne cold. Title rival and Mercedes teammate George Russell stopped in a safety car phase a few laps before the end due to an engine failure - zero points for the Brit. He is now 84 points behind the 20-year-old Italian. “That was the most we could get out of it,” said Antonelli about his second place.
Lewis Hamilton came third. The record world champion made a splendid comeback to the cheers of the fans after a strange Ferrari tactic pushed him far back from second place on the grid on the initially wet track. “What a hard race,” said the seven-time champion: “I saw on the screen that we were a minute behind. But I stayed cool.” Nico Hülkenberg narrowly missed out on the points in the Audi in eleventh place.
Just in time for the showdown, Sepang lived up to its reputation. There had been no rain during training or qualifying. That also meant: No data, no information if it got wet. In addition, with the new generation of vehicles this year there was no classic rain race at all.
So it was time – and Malaysia was ready. Umbrellas, heavy crowds on the grid, the mechanics worked on the cars to adapt them to the extremely challenging conditions. It was raining from above, lightning and thunder added to the worries.
Not surprising for Malaysia. In 2009 the Grand Prix was even canceled there after 31 laps. There were repeated rain battles there during its time as a permanent stop on the racing calendar from 1999 to 2017. This time the race was a catch-up Grand Prix for Bahrain after its cancellation in April due to the Iran war.
Patience was required. Verstappen sat with his dad Jos on a folding chair in the garage, and the fans lingered under large umbrellas on the lawns. The helpers tried to sweep the water off the track with brooms.
With a delay of more than 40 minutes, we went on two formation laps behind Bernd Mayländer's safety car. But then Verstappen radioed to the pits: “I can’t accelerate.” Hamilton also just rolled along. A few cars simply did not react to the rain according to the software settings made. No advertising for Formula 1. The fact that the Formula 1 rain radar was down fit into the picture.
"I had to stop on the track, turn off the car and the engine and then restart it. I've never done that before," Hamilton later emphasized. There was “big panic” when they all had no power.
The international press also later pounced on the software problems. “An unworthy spectacle for the premier class of motorsport,” wrote the “Salzburger Nachrichten”. “Formula 1 turned (...) into a 'formula farce' in Malaysia when the supposedly most modern cars in the world couldn't make progress on wet roads,” mocked the “Daily Mail” from England. The FIA announced detailed investigations.
The start procedure was aborted again due to the problems. At least: The rain was largely over and the track dried “incredibly quickly” (Antonelli quote). Russell treated himself to a banana, others huddled in a corner somewhere. Then the announcement: Start at 4:33 p.m. local time, 1:33 hours later than planned. At that time the drivers would have almost reached the finish line. The sun would also set around 7 p.m. local time.
Verstappen, Antonelli and Russell opted for intermediates, Hamilton had the soft slicks. “It’s still so slippery,” he radioed to the pits and said after the race: “That was the wrong decision.”
Antonelli got off to a rocket start and shot forward from third place on the grid past Verstappen and Hamilton. Russell rode in the slipstream. Hamilton was passed on and after a few laps with his slippery tires he was one minute behind, as he had mentioned after the race. Verstappen, on the other hand, quickly recovered from his poor start and grabbed Russell.
It was clear that the drivers with the intermediates soon had to go into the pits as the track was drying out more and more. The few with slicks like Hamilton were able to stay outside. So Verstappen really accelerated, but couldn't get past Antonelli. Then Valtteri Bottas slid the Cadillac into the gravel trap - the safety car had to come out again. Things couldn't have gone better for everyone with the intermediates: now they were able to have the slicks fitted without wasting any time.
When Mayländer drove back in, Antonelli, Verstappen and Russell were engaged in a thrilling three-way battle. The Dutchman used the even faster soft tires and passed Antonelli, who, like Russell, was on the medium tire compound. The Brit, last winner in Baku, also attacked Antonelli - and also got past. But Antonelli settled the duel for the World Championship in his own way and overtook Russell after less than half the race distance.
When Alexander Albon stopped with the Williams and triggered another safety car phase, Verstappen got fresh tires again. He came out behind Antonelli before he also had the tires changed and the old order was restored. Until Russell stopped. Probably the end of the little World Cup dream.
