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Verstappen victorious as Vettel storms to fourth
M
MAX VERSTAPPEN celebrated his 20th birthday last weekend by winning the Malaysian Grand Prix from the front. A dominating drive saw Verstappen soundly beat Lewis Hamilton, with team mate Daniel Ricciardo holding off Sebastian Vettel for third having started from the back of the grid.
After winning the opening-lap tussle with Valtteri Bottas to seize second place, Verstappen confidently took the lead from polesitter Hamilton on lap four. And as Hamilton struggled, the Verstappen never looked back.
Ricciardo fought and beat Bottas before himself coming under pressure late in the race from back-row starter Vettel, who drove a superb race. The latter started on Pirelli’s soft tyres and was thus on light fuel and supersofts when he began to slash into Ricciardo’s advantage late in the race, just as the Australian himself was closing on Hamilton.
On lap 49 Vettel got close for a long look down the inside in Turn 1, but Ricciardo was having nothing of it. That proved to be the tipping point, as Vettel’s challenge faded as his tyres began to go off.
And after that there was further drama for Ferrari, when Vettel collided with Lance Stroll’s Williams on the slow-down lap and came to a stop with its left-rear wheel atop his engine cover.
The result means that Hamilton is now 34 points ahead of Vettel with five races remaining but we don’t have to wait long for the next instalment with Japanese Grand Prix, Suzuka this weekend.