Vettel fastest in practice

Hamilton heads to Sepang 28 points clear of closest challenger Vettel after a hat-trick of wins moved him into pole position for a fourth world title.

Ricciardo won the 2016 Sepang race and shared the podium with his teammate Verstappen and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, who retired after winning last year’s championship.

“Today we arrived and the auto was much better, still it looked like the Ferraris were a bit ahead”.

Race director Charlie Whiting revealed he and his team faced a long day to get the circuit into a safe state ahead of free practice three this afternoon.

” “So, it’s a surprise to be up here, but I am very grateful.”

I tend to enjoy what I do but obviously there wasn’t much to enjoy today. “You have to look at what’s coming and the vehicle is strong”.

The only one silver lining to the back-row start is the opportunity to fit a new turbocharger without penalty (Vettel will start from the back regardless) but that’s unlikely to lift the four-time champion’s mood.

Earlier, in first practice, Max Verstappen posted the fastest time, followed by Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

“They are taking away the toughest, if not the toughest race of the season”, Hamilton said this week at an event by Mercedes backer Petronas in Kuala Lumpur. I’m not too fussed about the amount of points.

“As I said, it’s a surprise to be up here. So if nothing goes wrong with the vehicle then he’s in a really strong position”. The German racer’s crash at the Malaysia GP was a huge setback for Ferarri but Vettel still believes that he can bounce back.

What could come into play are the Red Bulls.

“It feels unbelievable, honestly”. The 21-year-old Frenchman told Formula1.com that he is looking forward to the race in Sepang and does not feel any pressure.

“There is no real target”.

The pair were so much quicker than the rest of the field that they recovered to take a one-two, with Schumacher leading his team-mate home en route to the championship. “I have been working so hard, being so focused and probably forsaking many things that kids do, but wow, I am here now”.

Another strong performance could see Hamilton clinch a fourth straight win, eighth of the season and 61st overall, and take a giant stride toward a fourth F1 title with five races left after this. But organisers, who originally had a contract to host the race until 2018, have made a decision to call time on it a year early due to declining ticket sales, viewership and tourism.

Malaysia has hosted some epic tussles down the years.

There has also been controversy.

There were comforting words from Vettel to his mechanics, and he chose to look on the bright side of a complex situation such as saving tires for race day.