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Daniel Ricciardo wins F1 Malaysian GP as Lewis Hamilton retires

Daniel Ricciardo fended off Red Bull Formula 1 team-mate Max Verstappen to take a shock victory in a thrilling Malaysian Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton retired from the lead

Hamilton was on course to win and reclaim the championship lead as he built up a 22.7s lead over Ricciardo but his engine expired on the approach to Turn 1 with 15 laps to go.

The Briton cried "Ah, no, no, no" as he pulled to a stop at the side of the track, climbing out of the car, squatting down and placing his head in his hands.

The virtual safety car was called with Ricciardo, who was running nose-to-tail with Verstappen at the time, pitting along with his Red Bull team-mate for soft tyres as they had a 40-second gap back to Nico Rosberg.

They rejoined comfortably ahead of the German and though Verstappen ran close behind, Ricciardo absorbed the pressure to take his first victory of the season.

It was the Australian's first win for over two years and Red Bull's first one-two finish since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.

Prior to Hamilton's failure, Verstappen had caught Ricciardo with fresher tyres, asking to be let through to fight for the win.

But Ricciardo defended hard, and the pair went side-by-side through the high-speed Turns 5 and 6, with Ricciardo winning the battle on the brakes into Turn 7 to hold what would turn out to be crucial track position.

Rosberg completed an impressive recovery drive after being pitched into a spin by Sebastian Vettel at Turn 1 to finish third and extend his championship lead to 23 points with five races to go.

There was drama from the start as Vettel tried an ambitious pass down the inside of Verstappen, only to lock up and skate into Rosberg, breaking the Ferrari's front-left wheel and pitching him into retirement.

Rosberg got going again and began a fight back through the field, rising up to fourth and then barging past Raikkonen into Turn 2 for third place.

The stewards took a dim view of that and awarded Rosberg a 10-second penalty for causing a collision but the German had sufficient pace to build a gap to the Finn and hold onto third.

Hamilton had driven the perfect race up until his retirement, going long on the softs and then taking the hards before building a gap to the rest to allow the opportunity for a second stop.

But "an unexpected mechanical failure of the internal combustion engine with no prior warning" according to Mercedes ended his hopes of a first victory since before the summer break.

Verstappen had looked in contention for at least second and possibly the win when he pitted early for a second set of stops while Ricciardo stayed out in second, but that advantage was neutralised when both pitted following Hamilton's retirement.

Raikkonen finished fourth with Valtteri Bottas, who completed an impressive opening stint on the mediums to make a one-stop strategy work, fifth and Sergio Perez sixth.

Fernando Alonso battled his way up the field from last on the grid, having had a 45-place grid penalty for changing engine components, to take seventh ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Jenson Button.

Jolyon Palmer recovered from what he described as a "pretty depressing" qualifying to finish 10th and score his first point of the season.

However, Renault decided to retire Kevin Magnussen's car midway through the race because of damage sustained when he was hit from behind by Daniil Kvyat as the field bunched up at the first corner.

It was a miserable day for Haas with Romain Grosjean pitched into the gravel after suffering brake failure while Esteban Gutierrez retired when his front left wheel flew off the car when he was out on track.

MALAYSIAN GP RESULT

Pos Driver Car Laps Gap
1 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault 56 1h37m12.776s
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Renault 56 2.443s
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 56 25.516s
4 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 56 28.785s
5 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 56 1m01.582s
6 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 56 1m03.794s
7 Fernando Alonso McLaren/Honda 56 1m05.205s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 56 1m14.062s
9 Jenson Button McLaren/Honda 56 1m21.816s
10 Jolyon Palmer Renault 56 1m35.466s
11 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso/Ferrari 56 1m38.878s
12 Marcus Ericsson Sauber/Ferrari 55 1 Lap
13 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 55 1 Lap
14 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Ferrari 55 1 Lap
15 Pascal Wehrlein Manor/Mercedes 55 1 Lap
16 Esteban Ocon Manor/Mercedes 55 1 Lap
- Felipe Nasr Sauber/Ferrari 46 Brakes
- Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 40 Engine
- Esteban Gutierrez Haas/Ferrari 39 Wheel
- Kevin Magnussen Renault 17 Brakes
- Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 7 Brakes
- Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 0 Collision

DRIVERS' STANDINGS

Pos Driver Points
1 Nico Rosberg 288
2 Lewis Hamilton 265
3 Daniel Ricciardo 204
4 Kimi Raikkonen 160
5 Sebastian Vettel 153
6 Max Verstappen 147
7 Valtteri Bottas 80
8 Sergio Perez 74
9 Nico Hulkenberg 50
10 Fernando Alonso 42
11 Felipe Massa 41
12 Carlos Sainz Jr. 30
13 Romain Grosjean 28
14 Daniil Kvyat 25
15 Jenson Button 19
16 Kevin Magnussen 7
17 Jolyon Palmer 1
18 Pascal Wehrlein 1
19 Stoffel Vandoorne 1
20 Esteban Gutierrez 0
21 Marcus Ericsson 0
22 Felipe Nasr 0
23 Rio Haryanto 0
24 Esteban Ocon 0

CONSTRUCTORS' STANDINGS

Pos Constructor Points
1 Mercedes 553
2 Red Bull/Renault 359
3 Ferrari 313
4 Force India/Mercedes 124
5 Williams/Mercedes 121
6 McLaren/Honda 62
7 Toro Rosso/Ferrari 47
8 Haas/Ferrari 28
9 Renault 8
10 Manor/Mercedes 1
11 Sauber/Ferrari 0


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