How Malaysia showed the best, and worst, of Vettel

Perhaps because this was the last time around, the race-day crowd at Sepang - put at 56,000 - was respectable enough, and many lamented that it hadn't turned out a few years earlier, and perhaps safeguarded the future of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

In international terms, it's MotoGP only for Sepang from now on, and that's a shame for by common consent this, his first grand prix circuit design, is one of Hermann Tilke's best, a place the drivers always loved, even if not too many were interested in going to watch them. Nor, what's more, was this final race light on drama, and after a lamentable Monza and a humdrum Singapore, that was not unwelcome.

Given that we are into autumn, the focus was naturally on the championship battle, on Lewis Hamilton and - even more - Sebastian Vettel.

Although in Singapore the FIA stewards unfathomably declined to apportion blame in the multi-car accident away from the start, most felt that Vettel was to blame, veering his Ferrari towards Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen, both of whom had got away better than he.

Sepang offered both extremes of Vettel's personality, beginning with a press conference on Thursday at which the Singapore controversy was inevitably revisited - and brushed aside: after all these years we know better than to expect contrition from Vettel.

"I don't think it's necessary to discuss it," he said, dismissively. "With things like this happening, what can you do?"

Well, for a start you can try not chopping across the bows of other cars.

Once his disingenuous remarks were out of the way we got the other side of Vettel, and that - in light of what he encountered in Sepang - was remarkable

"Everyone was trying to do his start, and it ended up pretty bad for all three of us."

All four, actually, for as well as Verstappen, Raikkonen and himself, Vettel's move also accounted for Fernando Alonso at the first corner.

"It's part of racing," he went on. "These things happen, not much you can do, so therefore not much point in trying to look at them again and again. It's better if your time and energy are spent looking forward."

So there it was, done and dusted - and in one respect, at least, what Vettel said was irrefutable: unpalatable as some may find it, it is part of racing in the modern era. There was a time when Giuseppe Farina, the first world champion, pulled stunts like that, and was condemned for it, as Stirling Moss will tell you.

"Farina was a great driver, but he was completely ruthless, and did some terrible things - at a time when racing was bloody dangerous, anyway. I only ever came across two or three drivers like that, but now it's the norm - partly, I suppose, because it's so safe these days.

"For all I admired Senna, I never put him with people like Fangio or Clark because he did things on the track that would never even cross their minds. Ethics still have a value, I think."

Sad to say, these are views that would be laughed out of a Grand Prix Drivers' Association meeting in 2017. Curious perhaps, for a body obsessed with safety, but there you are.

Once the disingenuous remarks at the press conference were out of the way, for the balance of the weekend we got the other side of Vettel, and that - in light of what the fates had in store for him - was remarkable. In Malaysia, as in Singapore, the Ferrari was clearly superior to the Mercedes through practice, and Vettel looked a shoo-in for pole position.

In the event, though, a problem on Saturday morning meant that the mechanics had to set to an engine change, which in the old days would have taken 45 minutes, but now, in the hybrid era, requires more than four hours. In the sapping humidity they toiled away, but although they somehow had the job done in time for qualifying, it was all for nought, as Vettel discovered on his out-lap: he would start from the back of the grid, with his championship rival on pole.

Given the volcanic rages of which Vettel is capable, one might perhaps have expected an eruption now, but there was not a hint of it. As he radioed the team to say he had no power, his voice was calm and measured, and in subsequent interviews he was resolutely genial. Before leaving he went to shake the hand of every mechanic - some of them from Raikkonen's side of the garage - who had pitched in on the engine change. It might surprise you, but not everyone does this.

Come race morning Vettel's mood hadn't changed. Still there was the smile, the lightness of manner we took for granted in Vettel's earlier days, and clearly he was relishing the prospect of a no-holds-barred charge in what was the fastest car in the race. It would, though, be helpful to have a safety car or two, and to have Raikkonen, second on the grid, take some points from Hamilton.

In the event, Vettel got no help from anywhere, for remarkably there was never the need for a safety car, and his team-mate's Ferrari was pushed off the grid, also with an engine problem.

Vettel drove a beautiful race, up to 13th by the end of the first lap, to fourth by the chequered flag, and he was cheered to learn that Hamilton hadn't won, that he had lost only six further points to him.

You could say that Hamilton was driving with one eye on the championship, not about to take any risks, but you could also say that in race conditions the Red Bull was plain quicker, and Verstappen, with a frustrating season to put behind him, was not to be denied.

The credentials of Verstappen, 20 last weekend, were established long ago, but if unquestionably he leads the next generation, down the road he won't have it easy, with such as Carlos Sainz Jr, Stoffel Vandoorne, Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly, Antonio Giovinazzi, and Charles Leclerc snapping at him. Too bad they won't be doing it at Sepang.