The Malaysian Grand Prix delivered in new and exciting – and fiery – ways despite the blistering pre-race pace Mercedes threatened to unleash on is rivals to turn Sunday into a procession.
A non-Mercedes victory was always going to be a popular one, but when it went the way of Daniel Ricciardo in a season he had already lost one, if not two, wins through no fault of his own, his Red Bull Racing car taking the chequered flag first became a boon for the sport.
“What a day!” the Australian said in the post-race press conference. “I realise what’s happened, but a lot went down in the last two hours, so it’s a lot to take in.”
The few fans that made it to the racetrack went home happy, TV viewers were satisfied, and the sport was pleased with itself for putting on a great show.
But could it have been better?
There are several ways to slice this race, and at different times the grand prix could have delivered different winners.
The race was about to enter its final chapter when Lewis Hamilton’s power unit caught fire on lap 41.
Max Verstappen had caught Daniel Ricciardo while the then race leader cruised out to an almost 23-second lead over the Red Bull Racing cars in second and third.
The scene was set for a fascinating stand-off. Hamilton intended to make a second stop – as distinct from Ricciardo, who was attempting a one-stop race – but the gap to the Bulls behind wasn’t yet big enough to change his tyres and emerge ahead of them.
Though overtaking isn’t particularly difficult around the Sepang International Circuit, track position is always valuable. Max Verstappen, who was running on something close to the optimal soft-soft-hard strategy and who had by this point already made what should have been his final stop, had made rapid progress to close down his teammate, who was now holding him up.
What would Red Bull Racing have done had Hamilton’s car not failed? It is de rigueur in Formula One for teams to ask their drivers to make way for each other when tasked with different strategies. This year’s German Grand Prix was a prime example, when Verstappen was asked to move aside for the faster Ricciardo.
Should Red Bull Racing have asked Ricciardo to let his teammate past to give the team its best shot at beating Hamilton?
Even on a set of (used) soft tyres, making his way past the one-stopping Ricciardo would have cost Hamilton precious time – time Verstappen could have used to build an insurmountable gap from the lead.
The race may have concluded similarly to the Singapore Grand Prix: a faster car on an aggressive strategy charging through the field towards a defensive car staunchly relying on a more conservative race plan. Certainly such an outcome would’ve been more exciting than the 15-lap stalemate that eventuated after Ricciardo and Verstappen switched to the same tyre, neutralising any pace advantages and setting in stone the result.
Ultimately this conclusion was lost in the smoke emanating from Lewis Hamilton’s power unit, perhaps alongside his title chances, but from ashes of his engine grew a second alternative race.
Max Verstappen, who had had his first unproblematic race start in months undone by an overzealous Sebastian Vettel. Max Verstappen, who had adopted an initially unfavourable contra-strategy to regain his place near the front of the grid. Max Verstappen, who had just begun an on-track assault on his teammate, was poised to seize what had now become the race lead.
Everything was coming up Maximillian – for about half a lap, until his team called him in to change his tyres.
It was a decision designed to eliminate new variables. Not stopping either driver would likely have led to a Max Verstappen victory – but if Ricciardo’s side of the garage decided to take a gamble, Daniel could have ended the race on new soft tyres lapping somewhere between 1.5 and 2.0 seconds faster than his teammate.
Again the outcome would have been a chase to the chequered flag but, with Ricciardo short on laps, just as he was in Singapore, the scales may have been tipped subtly in Verstappen’s favour nonetheless: another Verstappen victory.
The permutations are as enticing as they are endless, which is exactly what a good Formula One race ought to comprise.
Daniel Ricciardo absolutely deserved to win the Malaysian Grand Prix. Just as a race can be undone by bad luck – Daniel in Monaco, Lewis in Sepang – so too can it be made by good fortune, a bout of which has long been due to the Australian.
But even so, it’s hard not to wonder: what if?
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