Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/881840
58 maltatoday SUNDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2017 Sport FORMULA 1 Hamilton grabs Sepang pole, Vettel to start last AFTER struggling in practice, championship leader Lewis Hamilton delivered when it mat- tered yesterday evening to take his fourth consecutive Malay- sian pole position, the Mercedes driver fending off the challenge of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen – by just 0.045s – and Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. However, there was bitter luck for Hamilton's title rival Sebas- tian Vettel, who failed to set a time after early power unit prob- lems on his Ferrari. Fifth in the final order went to Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes, the Finn followed by the Force India of Esteban Ocon, McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne and Renault's Nico Hulkenberg. Force India's Sergio Perez and McLar- en's Fernando Alonso completed the top ten. As Hamilton set the early pace with 1m 31.605s on the soft Pire- lli tyres, ahead of Verstappen, Bottas, Raikkonen and Ricciardo, there was a major shock in Q1 when Vettel, having had an en- gine change after his problems at the end of final practice, report- ed that he was limping home. It seemed that his turbocharger had gone awol, and though his crew had him apparently readied for a desperate last-moment run, it came to nothing. The title con- tender will thus start Sunday's race from the back of the grid. Other notable Q1 moments were rookie Pierre Gasly impres- sively in eighth place ahead of Re- nault's Jolyon Palmer, and quick- er too than his Toro Rosso team mate Carlos Sainz… As Fernando Alonso just scraped into Q2 with 1m 33.049s, out of luck were the Haases of Ro- main Grosjean and Kevin Mag- nussen on 1m 33.308s and 1m 33.434s, and the Saubers of Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson on 1m 33.483s and 1m 33.970s. Bottas jumped up to the top on his second run in a close Q2 session, with 1m 30.803s to for- mer pacesetter Raikkonen's 1m 30.926s. The Finn didn't do a second run, while Verstappen didn't improve on his 1m 30.931s from his first outing. Hamilton did, cutting down to 1m 30.977s ahead of Ricciardo. Once again, Alonso scraped through, 24 hundredths ahead of Felipe Massa, who lapped his Wil- liams in 1m 32.034s. Palmer also failed to make it, with 1m 32.180s, as did Williams' Lance Stroll on 1m 32.307s, and the Toro Rossos. This time Sainz led Gasly, but only marginally, with 1m 32.402s to 1m 32.558s. A great effort from the young Frenchman. Could Raikkonen take his first pole since Monaco? Would Ver- stappen celebrate his 20th birth- day in style, or could Hamilton find that extra time? Q3 was pregnant with possibilities, as they went into battle with Bot- tas, Ricciardo, Perez and Ocon, Hulkenberg and Vandoorne and Alonso. Hamilton wasn't messing about, and slammed in a 1m 30.076s to displace Bottas from the top slot after the Finn had just got there with 1m 30.945s. Then Raikkonen moved up too, but not enough, with 1m 30.308s. Then Ricciardo and Verstappen jumped up to third and fourth with 1m 30.595s and 1m 30.634s apiece. Hamilton didn't improve on his second run, but though Rai- kkonen did, 1m 30.121s wasn't quite enough, though he stayed second. Verstappen improved to 1m 30.541s to displace Ricciar- do, who didn't, and Bottas' 1m 30.758s left him fifth. Behind them, Ocon moved to sixth with 1m 31.478s ahead of Vandoorne on 1m 31.582s, Hulk- enberg on 1m 31.607s, Perez on 1m 31.658s and Alonso on 1m 31.704s. With currently no penalties to take into account, the provisional grid lines up thus: Hamilton, Rai- kkonen; Verstappen, Ricciardo; Bottas, Ocon; Vandoorne, Hulk- enberg; Perez, Alonso; Massa, Palmer; Stroll, Sainz; Gasly, Grosjean; Magnussen and Wehr- lein; Ericsson and Vettel. (L to R): Max Verstappen (NED) Red Bull Racing, pole sitter Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 and Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) Ferrari Qualifying results - 2017 Malaysian Formula 1 Grand Prix Pos. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps 1. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:31.605 01:30.977 01:30.076 18 2. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:32.259 01:30.926 01:30.121 14 3. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:31.920 01:30.931 01:30.541 12 4. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:32.416 01:31.061 01:30.595 16 5. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:32.254 01:30.803 01:30.758 17 6. E. Ocon Force India 01:32.527 01:31.651 01:31.478 17 7. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:32.838 01:31.848 01:31.582 18 8. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:32.586 01:31.778 01:31.607 17 9. S. Pérez Force India 01:32.768 01:31.484 01:31.658 18 10. F. Alonso McLaren 01:33.049 01:32.010 01:31.704 17 11. F. Massa Williams 01:32.267 01:32.034 12 12. J. Palmer Renault 01:32.576 01:32.100 14 13. L. Stroll Williams 01:33.000 01:32.307 14 14. C. Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 01:32.650 01:32.402 14 15. P. Gasly Toro Rosso 01:32.547 01:32.558 14 16. R. Grosjean Haas 01:33.308 8 17. K. Magnussen Haas 01:33.434 6 18. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:33.483 9 19. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:33.970 9 20. S. Vettel Ferrari 2