Sebastian Vettel’s 16-place climb from the back of the grid to fourth is the biggest position gain we’ve seen from grid place to finishing position all year long.
He continued his progress by taking another place off Nico Hulkenberg. After spending a few laps stuck behind Fernando Alonso he took the McLaren driver he then got stuck in, passing Kevin Magnussen, the Williams pair and Stoffel Vandoorne for sixth. He took a little longer to catch Sergio Perez before taking the Force India for fifth.
He gained his final position from Valtteri Bottas via his pit stop. But after reeling in Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull he was unable to make a move stick.
After a couple of goes Vettel dropped back at a rapid rate. Nonetheless, salvaging fourth position from his lowly starting place was useful damage limitation.
2017 Malaysian Grand Prix lap chart
The positions of each driver on every lap. Click name to highlight, right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
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| Driver | Start position | Lap one position change | Race position change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 0 | -1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Max Verstappen | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 20 | 7 | 16 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 2 | ||
| Sergio Perez | 9 | 3 | 3 |
| Esteban Ocon | 6 | -1 | -4 |
| Felipe Massa | 11 | 2 | 2 |
| Lance Stroll | 13 | 5 | 5 |
| Fernando Alonso | 10 | -1 | -1 |
| Stoffel Vandoorne | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Carlos Sainz Jnr | 14 | -1 | |
| Pierre Gasly | 15 | -1 | 1 |
| Romain Grosjean | 16 | -3 | 3 |
| Kevin Magnussen | 17 | 7 | 5 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 8 | -4 | -8 |
| Jolyon Palmer | 12 | -2 | -3 |
| Marcus Ericsson | 19 | 1 | 1 |
| Pascal Wehrlein | 18 | 1 | 1 |
2017 Malaysian Grand Prix race chart
The gaps between each driver on every lap compared to the leader’s average lap time. Very large gaps omitted. Scroll to zoom, drag to pan and right-click to reset. Toggle drivers using controls below:
2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
- 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix Predictions Championship results
- Hamilton queried the FIA over Vettel’s steering wheel in Malaysia
- 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix team radio transcript
- Top ten pictures from the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
- 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix Star Performers
