Verstappen Wins a Sepang Classic as Hamilton Fights Back from Near-Disaster
Sunday in Sepang took its time to even get going, and once it did, it barely let up. Heavy rain and standing water pushed the start back by well over an hour, with the FIA sending the medical car out repeatedly to assess conditions before finally settling on a Safety Car-led start on intermediates. Even that didn't go smoothly: Hamilton's Ferrari lost power entirely on the way to the grid, crawling around while the rest of the field held back rather than pass him, Hadjar slid off into the gravel, and Verstappen himself briefly struggled for power too. The procedure was suspended altogether while everything was sorted out, with Race Control eventually confirming the original grid order would stand once the standing start finally got away, nearly 93 minutes later than planned.
What followed was one of the most eventful afternoons of the season. Antonelli made the best of the early laps to lead from Russell, with Verstappen working his way past both in the opening stint as the track began to dry. A full Safety Car for Bottas beached in the gravel triggered a wave of tyre changes, and Verstappen's decisiveness on when to switch to slicks proved decisive. He rejoined in the lead and simply drove away from the field from there, eventually crossing the line comfortably clear for what amounted to a repeat Malaysia victory nine years after his first, this time with Safety Cars, rain, retirements and a title-fight swing thrown in for good measure.
Hamilton's race was a story in itself. Having nearly been eliminated from the start procedure entirely by that software gremlin, he fought back through the field once it cleared, staying out longer than most on a gamble that paid off as his tyres came good, and picked off cars one by one including a crowd-pleasing move on Hadjar down the main straight. He crossed the line third, a genuinely remarkable recovery from a car that had looked completely stricken barely an hour earlier.
There was late heartbreak for Mercedes, too. With the race deep into its closing laps, Russell's car coasted to a stop on the main straight behind a Safety Car with a power unit issue, ending his afternoon and, barring a dramatic turnaround, any realistic hope of reeling in Antonelli's championship lead. It capped a difficult weekend for Russell, who'd struggled to find the same comfort with Mercedes' new upgrades that his teammate had shown in qualifying.
Further back, Aston Martin finally had something to celebrate. Fernando Alonso picked his way through the chaos to finish eighth and bring home points, a rare bright spot in what had otherwise been a tough season for the team, while Lindblad snatched tenth from Hulkenberg on the very last lap to break Audi hearts after Bortoleto's own race was compromised by a first-lap collision with Sainz and the time penalty that followed. Between the delay, the false start, the weather gamble and the late drama at both ends of the points, this was Sepang living up to every bit of its reputation for producing classics.