Kvyat loses seat, Verstappen wins…again

Mark Scott

Max Verstappen could be a little worse for wear on Monday morning as the birthday boy put a pretty dismal season behind him with a dominant race win.

It looked like we were in for another very wet start as a heavy shower arrived at the Sepang circuit not too long before the race.

The drivers gathered on the podium to say thank you to Malaysia as it drops off the calendar from next year.

Things then went from bad to worse for Ferrari following Sebastian Vettel’s qualifying woes as Kimi Raikkonen’s car was removed from the grid after a turbo issue was discovered…

https://twitter.com/F1/status/914383623498891264

The Finn was unable to start, leaving Lewis Hamilton to take the lead into the first corners unchallenged…

But rather than Hamilton storming away into the distance, it was the Red Bulls who came to life at Sepang with Max Verstappen flying into the lead.

Daniel Ricciardo got the better of Valtteri Bottas after an early ding-dong battle for P3, as Vettel made quiet progress through the field. He was up to P6 by lap 17.

There was also time for Franz Tost to have another dig at Romain Grosjean…

Back on track, Vettel continued to make his way up the field…

But the heat was still getting to some…

Yet Verstappen proved to be unstoppable in Sepang, claiming his first victory since last year’s Spanish Grand Prix. So, his birthday weekend and a race win? We know how this evening ends…

And how about this for a freaky stat?