Formula 1®
DHL Fastest Lap Award: 2017 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX
Key Takeaways
- Sebastian Vettel claims the DHL Fastest Lap for the third time this season
- The Ferrari driver sets a new lap record in the provisionally final Malaysian GP
- Lewis Hamilton continues to top the table in the DHL Fastest Lap Award
DHL Fastest Lap Predictor Game
Fastest Driver Group 1: Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) - 01:34.080
Fastest Driver Group 2: Nico Hülkenberg (Renault) - 01:34.266
Fastest Driver Group 3: Romain Grosjean (McLaren) - 01:35.796
Enter the DHL Fastest Lap Game
Sebastian Vettel clocks DHL Fastest Lap in Sepang
Sebastian Vettel experienced a Malaysian Grand Prix weekend of ups and downs. Following a change of engine, the Ferrari driver was obliged start from the rear of the grid. However, he then mounted a spectacular charge through the field to finish the race in fourth place, a result that considerably mitigates the damage to his title challenge. The deficit on race runner-up Lewis Hamilton is now 34 points, which means that Vettel can still be world champion by his own endeavors.
Vettel was one of only three drivers to start on Softs. This enabled the Ferrari man to put in a longer first stint and thereby progress from the rear of the pack. Furthermore, Vettel had the faster Supersoft tires available for the final stage of the race, which, combined with a now much lighter car, allowed him to put pressure on third-placed Daniel Ricciardo.
Vettel managed to close the gap on Ricciardo, but it was not enough for a passing move on the Red Bull driver, and he thus missed out on the podium. Vettel clocked the DHL Fastest Lap on Lap 41 with a time of 1:34.080 minutes, thereby breaking the existing record set by Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004. The new record will probably last longer, because this was the last Formula 1 race in Malaysia for the foreseeable future – the fixture does not appear on the 2018 F1 calendar.
“We tried to fight for the podium and pushed very hard,” said Vettel, “but towards the end, the tires were starting to give up and we really couldn’t be there. However, it is promising to see the car is good, even if both Kimi and I hit trouble this weekend. I don’t know yet if the issue is the same on both cars; we’ll need to have a look. For sure, it’s not ideal having one car out yesterday and another one today. So, there’s something we need to understand. It’s been a difficult weekend, but nevertheless the speed is there.”
In fact, another contestant came within a hair’s breadth of depriving Vettel of the DHL Fastest Lap trophy. Nico Hülkenberg made an additional pit stop six laps before the end of the race and switched to fresh Supersofts. These enabled the Renault driver to post a time of 1:34.266 minutes, which was narrowly shy of the time set by Vettel. The third-fastest lap of the race went to Lewis Hamilton with a time of 1:34.452 minutes.
Fastest laps: 2017 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX
01 Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 01:34.080 - on lap 41
02 Nico Hülkenberg (Renault) 01:34.266 - on lap 52
03 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 01:34.452 - on lap 48
04 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 01:34.467 - on lap 50
05 Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 01:34.770 - on lap 55
06 Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 01:35.284 - on lap44
07 Sergio Pérez (Force India) 01:35.591 - on lap 32
08 Romain Grosjean (Haas) 01:35.796 - on lap 49
09 Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) 01:35.931 - on lap 49
10 Pascal Wehrlein (Sauber) 01:36.395 - on lap 53
History: DHL Fastest Laps in the FORMULA 1 MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX
With his DHL Fastest Lap time of 1:34.080 minutes, Sebastian Vettel set a new fastest race lap record in what has been billed as the last Malaysian GP, beating the previous best time of 1:34.223 minutes set by Williams driver Juan Pablo Montoya in 2004. It was the 31st fastest race lap of Vettel’s career, which takes him into fifth place above Nigel Mansell on the all-time leaderboard.
One day earlier, Lewis Hamilton had set a new absolute track record in qualifying. The Mercedes driver claimed pole position with a time of 1:30.076 minutes, the fastest ever clocked on the Sepang International Circuit, again in the provisionally final Grand Prix at this venue.
Lewis Hamilton continues to top the table in the DHL Fastest Lap Award
In the 2017 DHL Fastest Lap Award, Lewis Hamilton still leads the way. The Mercedes driver has gone fastest in seven races this season, followed by Sebastian Vettel in three and Kimi Räikkönen in two. Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez each have one DHL Fastest Lap booked to their account.
The Formula 1 season continues at Suzuka next weekend. Make your forecast for the 2017 FORMULA 1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX in the DHL Fastest Lap Game and you could win one of the great prizes on offer.
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