Max happy with third on Sepang grid

Published on 30 September 2017 by Stefan Meens

Max Verstappen will start the Malaysian Grand Prix from third on the grid. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) took pole position ahead of Kimi Raikkonen in the Ferrari. Joining Max on the second row is his team mate Daniel Ricciardo. Championship contender for Ferrari, Sebasitian Vettel, will start at the back of the grid after an engine problem prevented him from progressing past Q1.

“It was a good qualifying. I’m really happy to be third on my birthday”, said Max post-quali. “The start of the day was tough. The car did not feel great in FP3 but we were able to adapt the car for qualifying. It was really fun to drive turns five and six flat out on this fantastic track.”

Ahead of the race, Max is confident. “We know we lack a bit of power in qualifying but we should be closer in the race. Hopefully we’ll have good start and we’ll see what happens.”

The first of three qualifying parts throws up the biggest surprise. “Feels like I’ve got no turbo” signals the end of Sebastian Vettel’s Q1 with his team instructing him to come into the pits. It is the last time we see the German on track today, meaning he will start at the back of the grid.

The drivers joining Vettel at the tail end of the field are the Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Pascal Wehrlein, and the two Haas of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen. The quartet all fail to make it into Q2.

In the second part of qualifying, the front runners stay out of trouble and progress comfortably. Jolyon Palmer (Renault), Lance Stroll and Felipe Massa (both Williams) and the Scuderia Toro Rossos of Carlos Sainz and rookie Pierre Gasly are the drivers that do not make the cut into the final shoot-out.

In Q3, the main contenders for pole appear to be Raikkonen, Hamilton and the two Red Bulls. In the end, P1 is a straight fight between Raikkonen and Hamilton with the championship leader claiming top spot. The Red Bulls are half a second off the pace in third and fourth. The other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas has struggled all weekend and has to settle for P5.

Malaysian Grand Prix - Sepang International Circuit

QUALIFYING RESULTS

01 44 Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes                    1:31.605 1:30.977 1:30.076 18
02  7 Kimi Raikkonen      Ferrari                     1:32.259 1:30.926 1:30.121 14
03 33 Max Verstappen      Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:31.920 1:30.931 1:30.541 12
04  3 Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer   1:32.416 1:31.061 1:30.595 16
05 77 Valtteri Bottas     Mercedes                    1:32.254 1:30.803 1:30.758 17
06 31 Esteban Ocon        Force India Mercedes        1:32.527 1:31.651 1:31.478 17
07  2 Stoffel Vandoorne   McLaren Honda               1:32.838 1:31.848 1:31.582 18
08 27 Nico Hulkenberg     Renault                     1:32.586 1:31.778 1:31.607 17
09 11 Sergio Perez        Force India Mercedes        1:32.768 1:31.484 1:31.658 18
10 14 Fernando Alonso     McLaren Honda               1:33.049 1:32.010 1:31.704 17
11 19 Felipe Massa        Williams Mercedes           1:32.267 1:32.034          12
12 30 Jolyon Palmer       Renault                     1:32.576 1:32.100          14
13 18 Lance Stroll        Williams Mercedes           1:33.000 1:32.307          14
14 55 Carlos Sainz        Toro Rosso                  1:32.650 1:32.402          14
15 10 Pierre Gasly        Toro Rosso                  1:32.547 1:32.558          14
16  8 Romain Grosjean     Haas Ferrari                1:33.308                   8
17 20 Kevin Magnussen     Haas Ferrari                1:33.434                   6
18 94 Pascal Wehrlein     Sauber Ferrari              1:33.483                   9
19  9 Marcus Ericsson     Sauber Ferrari              1:33.970                   9
RT  5 Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari                                                2 

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