Malaysian Grand Prix driver ratings

44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 W08

Start: 1st

Finish: 2nd

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Ordinarily, Hamilton should win when he starts on pole and makes no major mistakes, but he sensibly recognised the bigger picture amid Red Bull's prodigious pace and Verstappen's determination to win, on a weekend when Mercedes was not on form.

Vettel's misfortune made Hamilton's life easier, but to take pole in such a "capricious" car was something a bit special.

77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes F1 W08

Start: 5th

Finish: 5th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 4

Bottas has hit a serious rough patch of form. He hasn't qualified within half a second of Hamilton for four consecutive races, and although he was further compromised by the troublesome Mercedes aero update in Malaysia, Bottas knows he is also not making the most of the tools at his disposal.

He desperately needs a strong race to restore his confidence.

3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault RB13

Start: 4th

Finish: 3rd

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 8

Ricciardo qualified within 0.06s of Verstappen but was flattered slightly by his team-mate losing time trying to go flat through Turn 6.

He took a bit too long to clear Bottas in the race, so lost touch with the leaders, but also didn't quite have their pace either. Ricciardo's formidable tyre management helped repel Vettel's late charge, as did a Verstappen-esque chop into Turn 1.

33 Max Verstappen Red Bull-Renault RB13

Start: 3rd

Finish: 1st

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 10

Verstappen was blisteringly fast in the wet on Friday and got between Raikkonen and Hamilton in Q2. He tried some heroics in Q3, but could do no better with a Renault engine really.

He then executed his race perfectly, particularly the vital defence of position from Bottas on lap one, and a decisive pass of Hamilton for the lead. A thoroughly well-deserved victory.

5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari SF70H

Start: 20th

Finish: 4th

Strategy: 1 stop (soft/super-soft)

Rating: 8

Vettel can't be faulted for Ferrari's engine problems destroying his weekend, and to salvage fourth from the back of the grid was a strong effort.

He was a bit tentative racing Bottas (where was that conservatism in Singapore?) and ran out of tyres and willpower after Ricciardo blocked aggressively at Turn 1. A needless crash with Stroll after the flag might also prove very costly.

7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari SF70H

Start: N/S (qualified 2nd)

Finish: N/S

Strategy: (N/A)

Rating: 7

It's become tiresome to see Raikkonen balls up so often at the crucial moment in Q3. Ferrari had the fastest car in Malaysia, so Raikkonen would surely have beaten Hamilton to pole with a clean lap. He is rated seven out of 10 purely on that effort.

Engine problems on the way to the grid prevented him making amends in the race.

11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes VJM10

Start: 9th

Finish: 6th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 9

Perez was struck by a virus throughout the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, so in the circumstances he did a stellar job to finish best of the rest behind the big three teams - the only other driver on the lead lap.

He qualified further down the grid than he should have, thanks to a small error in Q3, but recovered superbly in the race.

31 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes VJM10

Start: 6th

Finish: 10th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Ocon looked in good shape after qualifying best of the midfield runners, but always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time in the race.

He tangled with Massa - which forced him to the pits and completely off-strategy on lap one - and Sainz, then got squeezed off racing Massa again near the end. It was just a day to forget.

18 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes FW40

Start: 13th

Finish: 8th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

There was no phase of the weekend leading up to the race where Stroll looked faster than Massa, and even without traffic in Q3 he was not quick enough to make Q2.

The race was stronger, thanks to a good start and careful judgement through the opening corners, and Stroll might have beaten Vandoorne but for an ill-timed place swap with Massa.

19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes FW40

Start: 11th

Finish: 9th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Massa was the stronger Williams driver here, and probably would have beaten Alonso into Q3 without a "bounce" through Turn 2 that cost his Williams some vital traction. That seems fair considering the final gap was just 0.024s.

He picked up damage after tangling with Ocon on lap one, which also cost him a place to Stroll. Massa was consigned to playing rear gunner after that.

2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Honda MCL32

Start: 7th

Finish: 7th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 10

This was a truly excellent weekend from Vandoorne, who was faster than Alonso through final practice and qualifying, despite running an older aero specification on his McLaren.

He followed that stellar qualifying performance with what he called "my best drive in Formula 1" in the race. Vandoorne was fast, decisive, opportunistic, and achieved the best result available to the car he had.

14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda MCL32

Start: 10th

Finish: 11th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 6

Alonso was faster than Mercedes on Friday in the updated McLaren, but ran into set-up problems on Saturday, so terminal understeer spoiled his qualifying.

He struggled in the race too. His start was unusually average, he struggled to pass Magnussen, his strategy backfired, and although he was bold in later repassing the Haas, Alonso's result depended on the Renaults wilting.

10 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso-Renault STR12

Start: 15th

Finish: 14th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 7

Sainz felt Gasly finally "arrived" in the second run in Q1, and from there Gasly was right behind his team-mate in Q2.

Gasly's start was a bit circumspect, he lost out to two-stopper Grosjean, and wasted time being lapped, but otherwise this was an accomplished debut from the reigning GP2 champion. His pace compared well to Sainz and he impressed his bosses.

55 Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso-Renault STR12

Start: 14th

Finish: Retired

Strategy: (super-soft/retired)

Rating: 7

The Toro Rosso doesn't work well through the full range of aero challenges, so points were beyond reach on this track. Sainz was pushed uncomfortably hard by debutant Gasly this weekend, but remained just about ahead.

Sainz survived a clumsy collision with Ocon to hang onto a sub-par Alonso in the race, before engine gremlins eventually forced him out.

8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari VF-17

Start: 16th

Finish: 13th

Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 6

A messy weekend for Grosjean, derailed by a high-speed crash over a drain cover on Friday. It took until the final stint of the race to get the car working decently, so qualifying was below expectations.

He was last at the end of lap one, but switching to a two-stop strategy helped Grosjean recover to finish right behind team-mate Magnussen.

20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari VF-17

Start: 17th

Finish: 12th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 6

Magnussen was slightly slower than Grosjean in qualifying, and far too close to Wehrlein's Sauber for comfort. The race was much better, helped by an excellent start as Magnussen reached the top 10 on lap one.

He hung on as best he could, but had no real pace on the soft tyre and faded away amid some close shaves with Alonso and Palmer.

27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault RS17

Start: 8th

Finish: 16th

Strategy: 2 stops (super-soft/soft/super-soft)

Rating: 7

Hulkenberg did another solid job in qualifying to make Q3 again and beat a Force India and a McLaren - especially considering the Renault was lacking grip in final practice.

He undid that good work with a poor start to the race, but was hanging on to the top 10 until the tyres gave out and required a poorly timed second pitstop.

30 Jolyon Palmer Renault RS17

Start: 13th

Finish: 15th

Strategy: 1 stop (super-soft/soft)

Rating: 5

Palmer was quicker than Hulkenberg in Q1, despite a messy final practice session, but couldn't go with his team-mate again when it mattered in Q2, struggling with understeer.

His race pace was near-enough a match for Hulkenberg's, but Palmer cost himself a likely 11th place by spinning at Turn 14, then again while trying to repass Magnussen at Turn 1.

9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari C36

Start: 19th

Finish: 18th

Strategy: 1 stop (soft/super-soft)

Rating: 5

A troubling weekend for Ericsson, who usually goes well around the Sepang circuit. He recovered well after sitting out first practice to outpace Wehrlein on Friday, but ended up nearly half a second adrift come qualifying.

He was almost six tenths per lap slower than his team-mate throughout what he called a "poor" race, and admitted to being puzzled by it.

94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber-Ferrari C36

Start: 18th

Finish: 17th

Strategy: 1 stop (soft/super-soft)

Rating: 9

Wehrlein's Friday was difficult amid brake problems, but he pulled a stellar lap out of the bag in Q1 to fall just fractionally short of beating Magnussen's Haas.

He drove a strong race too. "Every lap was like a qualifying lap," he reckoned, after trouncing Ericsson and finishing within 10s of the Renaults, before offering Vettel a lift back to the pits.