Verstappen is back to winning ways, whilst Russell has lost faith

Ten years ago, on 2 October 2016, Lewis Hamilton was leading the race in Malaysia on lap 41. The Briton was battling Rosberg for the drivers’ title, at a time when the gap between the two Mercedes and the rest of the field was staggering. With fifteen laps to go, victory seemed firmly within his grasp. To everyone’s utter surprise – and his own in particular – on the 41st lap his engine caught fire and the race was over for him. So too were his hopes of retaining the world championship. There aren’t many parallels with the new reliability issue suffered by Russell. But perhaps, once again, Sepang represents a decisive watershed between the two Mercedes drivers.

Before the world championship battle begins, honesty demands that we pay tribute to Max Verstappen. Three hundred and one days without a win must have seemed like an eternity to a voracious predator like him. But when racing on a proper circuit rather than a city kart track, and his car is in good working order, no one is better than Max.

On that podium at the end of the race were 11 world titles, point 99. Hamilton’s seven – he did brilliantly to get the Rossa back on the podium on a day that couldn’t have started any worse – Max’s four, and Kimi Antonelli’s 0.99. Second and delighted, his face hidden amongst his sweat-drenched curls, he was also adept over the radio at feigning regret for Russell’s misfortune. With an 84-point lead, for him not to become world champion, he would have to suffer such a string of misfortunes that it would earn him a place in the Guinness Book of Records. The lad born in the shadow of the Twin Towers has grown wiser. The upgrades on his Mercedes worked far less well than expected; Max was unbeatable. All he had to do was stay behind his team-mate and keep out of trouble. He managed both quite well. Then luck – which seems to be rather kind to him these days – left Giorgino stranded. Giorgino now believes in the World Championship as much as the peloton does when Pogacar goes on the breakaway.

Ferrari chapter. A terrible strategic decision: fitting dry-weather tyres whilst the track was wet. A bit of luck, thanks to the usual dreadful Bottas, led to a providential safety car period that bunched the field up again, giving the Maranello duo – who were in danger of being lapped – a one-minute recovery. All in all, it was a good performance – perhaps not enough for victory, but given how things had unfolded, P3 and P4 are an unassailable result. Two other teams finished ahead in the order of arrival, yet the result also provided a solid cushion for second place in the Constructors’ Championship, where McLaren have faltered once more and Red Bull—congratulations on winning the first race with a power unit different from those of ‘traditional’ manufacturers like Mercedes and Ferrari—remain too far behind.

Before heading to Singapore to wrap up the triple-header ahead of the long transatlantic trip, there are a couple more things that need to be said. The International Federation continues to be inadequate in its management of the race. Too many things aren’t working. The chaos caused by the software bug was handled in a haphazard manner. And it’s simply unacceptable that 20 minutes and 30 seconds should elapse between Albon coming to a halt and the race resuming. With a car parked just 5 metres from a run-off area. It is unacceptable to go from lap 43 to lap 51 behind the safety car just to move the Williams out of the way and wait for Perez to overtake (in between, there was also Russell’s retirement, but that didn’t affect the safety car period). This is embarrassing. If Cadillac cannot build a competitive car, the FIA must find a way to ensure that it at least does not disrupt the race. Bottas ended up in the gravel as though he were taking a driving lesson (he had also crashed in Baku), Perez was traveling slower than the safety car, and it took two laps to wait for him. Two laps were wasted on a driver who consistently finishes last. It is time for a change. A final note on Fernando Alonso: on a proper circuit, for proper drivers, the Asturian tiger seems to have stepped out of a novel by Emilio Salgari. His eighth place ahead of Norris is worthy of Yanez de Gomera, admirably portrayed by Philippe Leroy. Sandokan’s brother is the image Fernando presents to this Formula 1 – a series in crisis with its software when it rains, incapable of understanding virtual and safety car management, yet also tremendously sexy when it tells stories of daring drivers like himself, Verstappen and Hamilton. We’re waiting – though he’s sorely missed – for the ‘cinno’ from Bologna to join this gang too.