Five talking points from Malaysian GP 2016

'Shoey' fits for Ricciardo

Daniel Ricciardo has been knocking on the door for his fourth Formula One win, and Lewis Hamilton's engine blow-up 15 laps from the end finally gave him the opportunity he needed. It's been a long time between drinks for the ever-smiling Australian, who last topped the podium two years ago in Belgium. However, his method of celebration — quaffing champagne from his sweaty boot, and inviting second and third-placed Nico Rosberg and Max Verstappen, to do the same -- wasn't the most popular. "I hope he does not win any more races this year!" said championship leader Nico Rosberg, after grimacing his way through his 'champagne shoey'. Teenager Verstappen was more forgiving. "Nah, it's all right. It was good sweat," he shrugged. As for Ricciardo, he seemed delighted with the unusual tipple. "I love the taste, personally. Yeah, I thought today it was quite fruity," he said. "There was... sure you’ve got your salts but I was hydrating quite well today with a lot of sugars and stuff like that. It had a... I don’t know, it was sort of like a dessert, rather than a main course." He added: "Nico told me he didn't like it very much... I haven't made many friends actually from this."

F1 gods smile on Rosberg

Rosberg will be thanking his lucky stars after he survived a first-bend spin and a 10-second time penalty to wind up third and extend his championship lead to 23 points. While Hamilton, on the other side of the Mercedes garage, was cursing his bad fortune, Rosberg can seemingly do nothing wrong as he edges closer to a first Formula One world title. Rosberg won three races in a row prior to Malaysia, while Hamilton has suffered a string of mechanical problems culminating in his fiery exit 15 laps from victory in Sepang. Rosberg's podium finish in Malaysia looked unlikely when he collided with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel on the very first bend, and he was later given a 10-second penalty for making contact with Kimi Raikkonen. "Today was a tough day, because after turn one I thought it was finished," Rosberg said. "Of course I'm happy with the comeback; to get all the way back on the podium, I definitely didn't think that was going to be possible. For Lewis, I've been in his position, I know how terrible it is in that moment, so I'm sure he’s totally gutted."

Birthday boy comes of age

At last year's Malaysian Grand Prix, Verstappen announced himself as a coming force when, at the age of 17, he finished seventh for Toro Rosso to become the youngest points-scorer in Formula One history. This time around, after celebrating his 19th birthday at the rescheduled race, now held in October rather than March, it was a more mature Verstappen who completed a Red Bull one-two behind Ricciardo for his fifth podium finish of the season. Verstappen came under fire for some reckless driving earlier this year but he retained a cool head in the heat of Sepang, including during some thrilling wheel-to-wheel racing with his team-mate. "Into turn seven, we tried to brake as late as we could," he said. "But at one point I decided to give up because I was a bit in the tighter line so, in case you clip the kerb, you bounce to the left, we both have nothing. It's better to be one and two."

Signs of life for McLaren

The much-decorated British marque have struggled in recent seasons but they will be confident of a strong performance this week in Japan, home of their engine-manufacturer Honda, after both drivers finished in the top 10 in Malaysia. Fernando Alonso's seventh place was his second in a row and left him in the points for the fourth time in six races. Jenson Button placed ninth after a stroke of bad luck when a virtual safety car gave his rivals a free pit stop just after he had pitted. For Alonso, seventh was a great result after he was penalised 45 grid places for fitting an upgraded engine for practice, and started the race at the back of the pack. Alonso said he was lucky to avoid the first-lap crash involving Vettel and Rosberg, while the virtual safety car also played into his hands, if not Button's. "After this weekend’s penalties, we needed some luck — and we got that today!" beamed the Spaniard.

Bad to worse for Vettel

If Ferrari's season has gone off the rails, it's been even worse for lead driver Vettel, who has slipped behind team-mate Raikkonen in the overall standings after a difficult couple of races. The four-time world champion had a nightmare qualifying session in Singapore which relegated him to the back of the grid, before he fought back to finish the race fifth. The German then qualified fifth at Sepang before he was at fault for a first-bend shunt on Rosberg which ended his race and sent his fellow German spinning. Verstappen branded Vettel "crazy" and an "idiot" over team radio, and Rosberg later described him as "out of control". Worse, Vettel has also been penalised three grid places for Japan, which doesn't help his chances of improving from his current fifth place in the drivers' standings.

Hamilton wins Chinees GP

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Vettle won First time for Ferarri in Malaysian GP

Sebastian Vettel stunned Mercedes' world champion Lewis Hamilton on Sunday with an audacious Malaysian Grand Prix victory which set the Formula One season alight

The Ferrari man took advantage of an early safety car as he hit the front and held off Hamilton and Nico Rosberg after pitting only twice, compared to three for the Mercedes pair.

The four-time world champion now has 40 career wins but it is his first with Ferrari, and breaks a dry spell stretching back to his last victory with Red Bull in 2013.

Few of his wins can have been as satisfying. He shattered assumptions of Mercedes' unassailable superiority in 2015, after they dominated the season-opener in Australia.

"Fantastico, fantastico!" he screamed down the radio in Italian. "Yes boys, can you hear me? Thank you, thank you. Forza Ferrari!"

Further back, there were also celebrations for Max Verstappen as the 17-year-old finished seventh, becoming the youngest points-scorer in Formula One history.

Hamilton got away smoothly from pole and Vettel aggressively defended second from a charging Rosberg, helped by a nudge against the Mercedes as they battled round the first corner.

Kimi Raikkonen and Pastor Maldonado were quickly hit by punctures, and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson lasted just three laps before he spun off on Turn 1, prompting the safety car.

Vettel chose not to follow Hamilton into the pits during the intervention and had built up a healthy lead by the time the Briton weaved from sixth to second by lap 11.

- 'Don't talk to me!' -

When Vettel finally pitted after lap 17, he re-emerged behind the two Mercedes but he set the day's fastest lap so far and scorched past his fellow German at the end of lap 21.

Vettel was on Hamilton's tailpipe when the Briton made his second stop at the end of lap 25, dropping back behind the Ferrari driver and Rosberg.

Rosberg pitted to promote Hamilton to second, and the Briton floored it with a pair of fastest laps as he set about whittling away Vettel's big lead of more than 20 seconds.

Behind them, Daniil Kvyat was lucky to resume unscathed when he spun under pressure, and Romain Grosjean also went off-piste when he clipped Jenson Button's front wheel.

Vettel and then Hamilton pitted on consecutive laps and the Briton complained "This is the wrong tyre!"as he resumed on the hard compound.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing!" he shouted, after hearing perplexing chatter on the radio which appeared to suggest a third stop.

With 14 laps and a gap of 14 seconds, the chase was tense and Hamilton snapped: "Hey man, don't talk to me through the corners!" as Mercedes tried to update him over the radio.

But Hamilton, who won the season-opener in Australia, was unable to catch Vettel as the German claimed Ferrari's first win since Spain 2013 by a gap of 8.5 seconds.

Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari, ahead of the Williams cars of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa. Young Verstappen finished a brilliant seventh in just his second drive.

But there was more woe for former superpower McLaren as ex-world champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button were both forced to retire.

Lewis Hamilton won Austrian GP 2015

Lewis Hamilton’s stroll in Albert Park was an imperious dismissal of his team-mate Nico Rosberg’s Formula One aspirations. Hamilton is attempting to become the first British driver to win back-to-back titles and his 34th GP victory – his first in the Australian Grand Prix since 2008 – suggested he will win a third championship with something to spare, which was hardly the case with his previous two.

He is driving the strongest car out there and when he looks at his only serious rival, Rosberg, he knows that he is a whole class better. And so does Rosberg. The Mercedes made it a comfortable one-two and however much Hamilton protested, it was one of his most straightforward victories. “It really, really wasn’t,” he said. “I was right on it the whole way and at any moment if I’d have slipped, he’d have had it. We looked so far ahead but we were having our own little battle. Nico was putting pressure on me and I was controlling the gap. By no means was it easy.”

But Hamilton drove well within himself. He revealed as much when he added: “I felt comfortable. I had the pace if I needed to respond.” Quite.

Hamilton was at his most energised when he met Arnold Schwarzenegger on the podium after the race. “I am a real fan of his. So it was really, really cool.”

There were only 11 finishers with most of the casualties falling before or at the very start of the race, like little green bottles falling off the wall.

In fact that was where most of the action was as a patient crowd tried to make the most of things. The last man, Jenson Button, Hamilton’s former team-mate at troubled McLaren, was the only driver to finish the race but out of the points.

Valtteri Bottas, who had qualified for sixth place on the grid, was ruled unfit by an FIA medical delegate because of a tear in his lower back and had to withdraw. With the Manor team not taking part that reduced the official starting grid to 17 cars. But there were only 15 there at the start because Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat failed to survive their reconnaissance laps.

Magnussen came to a halt with a plume of smoke coming out of his car and Kvyat spun into the gravel with suspected transmission trouble.

There was another accident on the first lap when Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus got squeezed into the barriers following a minor collision between the Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Then, on the second lap, Romain Grosjean retired with apparent mechanical failure. That meant there were only 13 cars left with the race barely started and later on Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso) and Raikkonen also dropped out.

It was a good day for the rookies, though they were betrayed by their cars. And it was a good race for Sauber after their most difficult of weeks fighting legal issues, with Felipe Nasr finishing fifth and Marcus Ericsson eighth.

For those who do not want the procession to last all year there was an impressive drive from Vettel who took the final podium place. But it was another sad day for McLaren. Button finished last and Magnussen did not even make it to the grid.

Button said afterwards: “Finishing a grand prix is not our aim and ambition in life, but this is a big step for us from what we expected but also from what we did in testing. So it’s been tough for everyone but this race has really brought everyone together and is focusing us a lot for the next race and where we hope we can bring some good improvements.”

Everyone will have to bring a lot of improvements to Barcelona when the circus comes to Europe in May. Even then it will not be enough.

2015 Force India F1 Car – VJM08

Force India have revealed a new team livery which will adorn their cars during the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship.

The revised colour scheme, which was unveiled by Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg at a special launch in Mexico City on Wednesday, was presented on an old car following the team’s decision to delay the introduction of the new VJM08 until the second pre-season test of the year.

Speaking about the new livery, which incorporates silver for the first time, team principal Dr Vijay Mallya said: “It’s another evolution of the contemporary look we introduced last year, which reflects the growth of the team and the global brands with which we are working. 

“I love the addition of silver, which makes the car appear more sleek and aggressive and I’m sure it’s something that will appeal to the fans as well. Our traditional team colours remain integrated in the livery, but we’ve given it a very modern twist.”

Although their new car wasn’t present at the livery launch, Force India say that the VJM08 is an evolution of the VJM07 which will be used at the opening test of the year in Jerez and carried the team to sixth in the 2014 constructors’ standings. 

However, according to technical director Andrew Green, changes will be noticeable at the front end of the Mercedes-powered machine: “The front of the car looks very different from what we had developed previously,” he said. “It is a redesign that involved a lot of work over the winter, as the new regulations caused a loss in terms of downforce and we’ve been working to claw back all that performance.”

The VJM08 will also feature other more subtle changes, including modified sculpting of the sidepods and new cooling intakes. Underneath the bodywork, meanwhile, there will be a completely new rear suspension layout with a new hydro-mechanical system replacing the original torsion springs.