Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, with F1 drivers’ championship leader Lewis Hamilton finishing second for Mercedes.
It was just the second career victory for Verstappen, who turned 20 on Saturday.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who had started in last place after engine problems stopped him setting a time in Saturday’s qualifying, fought back to finish fourth.
Vettel is now 34 points behind Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, with five races remaining.
‘I think in the beginning the car felt good and I saw Lewis was struggling a bit more with traction, so I used my battery a bit more,’ said Verstappen. ‘He has more to lose than me in terms of the championship. From then on, I could race my own race. It’s a very tough race and it was incredible to win.’
Hamilton congratulated Verstappen on a ‘fantastic job’.
‘The race was a tough one,’ he added. ‘[Red Bull] had the upper hand on us today. I feel good, but we have some work to do with the car. We didn’t have the pace this weekend.’
We have to keep pushing.’
