Live text
2014 Malaysian Grand Prix Sunday - Malaysian Grand Prix
Live Standings
presented by
Stopped
Summary
Live Text
Sort by
Hulkenberg takes another second off Alonso, whose pace has dropped as the stint goes on again.
Hamilton wasn't far off his fastest lap pace that time, pulling another 0.4s on Rosberg and bringing the lead to 9.9s.
Hulkenberg is closing on Alonso for sixth. The gap was 9s after the stops, now it's 6s.
Vettel now 3.9s clear of Ricciardo, who has the same gap to Alonso.
Though Rosberg isn't making any inroads on Hamilton, he's inching away from Vettel. That gap's now 3.2s.
Quote
A nervous-sounding Hamilton asks: "Anything more I can do to look after this engine?" He's told to "keep doing what you're doing".
Kvyat pits and takes on a set of the harder tyres.
JONATHAN NOBLE: With the fuel flow sensor having failed on Ricciardo's car, Red Bull will be basing its fuel data off its own calculations - just as it did in Australia.
The difference this time though is that the FIA is allowing them to do so - whereas in Australia the governing body was adamant the fuel sensor was accurate
The difference this time though is that the FIA is allowing them to do so - whereas in Australia the governing body was adamant the fuel sensor was accurate
Quote
Hamilton is told they're going to manage his engine: "We're just going to turn it down a little bit, it's on both cars."
Finally Rosberg does a personal best that isn't slower than Hamilton. But he only takes a tenth back. Gap: 9.6s.
Rosberg isn't able to shake off Vettel, who is a tenth faster than him and just a tenth slower than Hamilton.
So, after the first round of stops, here is the running order:
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Vettel
4 Ricciardo
5 Alonso
6 Hulkenberg
7 Button
8 Massa
9 Kvyat
10 Bottas
11 Magnussen
12 Grosjean
13 Sutil
14 Gutierrez
15 Kobayashi
16 Chilton
17 Ericsson
18 Raikkonen
Ret Vergne
Ret Bianchi
Ret Maldonado
Ret Perez
1 Hamilton
2 Rosberg
3 Vettel
4 Ricciardo
5 Alonso
6 Hulkenberg
7 Button
8 Massa
9 Kvyat
10 Bottas
11 Magnussen
12 Grosjean
13 Sutil
14 Gutierrez
15 Kobayashi
16 Chilton
17 Ericsson
18 Raikkonen
Ret Vergne
Ret Bianchi
Ret Maldonado
Ret Perez
Again Rosberg does a personal best for the race, and again Hamilton is slightly faster still.
BEN ANDERSON: Vergne out of the race after 20 laps, so I guess that lack of power he reported became terminal.
BEN ANDERSON: I bet Caterham was delighted to see rookie Marcus Ericsson hold off 2007 world champion Raikkonen in a Ferrari, before the Finn headed for the pits. Normally you would expect a Ferrari to make mincemeat of a Caterham!
The gap between the Mercedes is 9.1s after 19 of 56 laps.
Rosberg sets another personal best of 1m46.621s, but it's still half a tenth slower than Hamilton on that lap.
Raikkonen pits and takes on the hard tyre.
EDD STRAW: "Vettel told to keep a couple of seconds gap to Rosberg. That's not a refusal to fight, it's the recognition that the best chance to get ahead of the Mercedes might be around the end of this stint/the start of the next one."
JONATHAN NOBLE: Looking at that great FOM graphic showing fuel use so far, it is interesting to see that Williams stands out as having used a lot less than anyone else. Could it be saving things up for a charge at the end of the race?
That lap from Rosberg also gets his gap over Vettel back up to 2.1s.
Rosberg does his best lap of the afternoon, a 1m46.683s, to pull 0.4s back on Hamilton.
Hulkenberg's long stint didn't help him catch Alonso, there's 9.4s between them - though the Force India just set the best first sector of anyone so far today.
Quote
Ricciardo points out: "If something goes on I want to be a part of it."
In fourth place, Ricciardo is 2.2s behind Vettel and 2.5s ahead of Alonso.
Vettel has gained on Rosberg through that pit sequence and is now just 1.9s behind second place.
Raikkonen in the thick of things at the tail end. He splits the squabbling pair of Ericsson and Vergne, who almost shunt at Turn 1.
EDD STRAW: "Hulkenberg went longer than anyone else on medium-compound Pirellis there. Two-stop is certainly on the cards there. He's not the only one in that kind of position and it will be interesting to see what Mercedes does as Hamilton's 15-lap first stint is bang on the kind of schedule you might want for a two-stopper."
Quote
Ricciardo is told: "Suggest you drop back a bit more to look after the tyres, aim for 2secs."
Hamilton's lap is a second faster than Rosberg that time and brings his lead up to 9.4s.
Stopwatch
Hamilton does a new fastest lap of 1m46.190s on his first proper flying lap on those new tyres.
Hulkenberg now heads for the pits. He's made it to lap 16.
EDD STRAW: "Remember the complaints last year that Daniil Kvyat wasn't ready for F1? Well, the 19-year-old became F1's youngest points-scorer in the Australian GP and is now performing very well and again in a position to go for a top 10 finish.
"Shame that Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne, who started ahead of him after qualifying ninth, had that terrible start that has ruined his race. Looked like it might not have been a poor start of his own making, so perhaps JEV's 2013 bad luck has returned."
"Shame that Toro Rosso team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne, who started ahead of him after qualifying ninth, had that terrible start that has ruined his race. Looked like it might not have been a poor start of his own making, so perhaps JEV's 2013 bad luck has returned."
Hamilton overtakes Hulkenberg and reclaims the lead.
Hulkenberg is immediately under huge pressure from Hamilton.
Quote
Hamilton is told this will be a "similar length stint" and there was no front-flap adjustment.
Vettel sets the fastest lap, a 1m46.334s. He's just ahead of Ricciardo and they're dropping alonso.
Hulkenberg hasn't stopped yet and now leads.
Bottas has now made his first stop, and is now 12th.
The Mercedes went to laps 14 and 15 of 56 before coming in.
By: Scott Mitchell, Andrew van Leeuwen, Ben Anderson, Edd Straw, Jonathan Noble, Charles Bradley, Pablo Elizalde
Published:
Lap:
