Mixed fortunes in Malaysia for Mercedes drivers: Rosberg spins out as Hamilton speeds away in 2016
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Sepang has only hosted 19 grands prix, but it has already written its fair share of history.
When it opened in 1999, Hermann Tilke’s first all-new F1 circuit looked considerably more futuristic than anything we’d seen before.
Featuring huge grandstands covered by architectural palm leaves, seemingly endless run-off areas and back-to-back straights split by a single hairpin, it was an instant classic. Throw in weather that’s even crazier than at Spa, and it’s no wonder Sepang has given us some blockbusters.
F1 left after 2017, when Malaysia’s government pulled the required funding. Fast-forward to 2026 and it’s back with a one-off race, hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix, which had to be moved from the Middle East.
As a new generation of drivers get to pit their skills against Sepang’s challenges, here is a reminder of the best Malaysian F1 thrillers.
Schumacher helped Irvine keep title hopes alive at Sepang’s first grand prix
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Malaysia’s maiden grand prix came towards the end of the 1999 season, and it also marked Michael Schumacher‘s first race since breaking his leg at Silverstone. The Ferrari driver found himself in an unusual position. Rather than leading Maranello’s title charge, he was there to support Eddie Irvine, who had become Ferrari‘s championship contender in Schumacher’s absence.
But when did Schumacher play second fiddle? He left the team and spectators in no doubt about who was the No1 driver by putting his car on pole by almost a second and surging into the lead at the start, before fulfilling his team duties and waving Irvine through,
His primary goal was then to slow the chasing McLarens. Irvine won and Schumacher finished second, with Mika Häkkinen third.
There was a twist to the story, though: both Ferraris were disqualified hours later because their bargeboards were found to be illegal, handing Häkkinen the title. A week later the FIA Court of Appeal reinstated the Ferraris, and the fight went to Suzuka. Where Häkkinen won anyway.
Ferraris hit trouble, as both go off on slippery track
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Sepang has always been known for its crazy weather, but it took until 2001 for Formula 1 to experience it. As was the case for much of that season, Michael Schumacher took pole and led from the start for Ferrari, but this time he came unstuck after Olivier Panis‘s BAR blew its engine and coated the track in oil – just as it began to rain. Both Schumacher and team-mate Rubens Barrichello hit water and oil at the same corner and slid off.
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Both made it back on track, but the worst wasn’t over: Ferrari called both cars into the pits, didn’t realise Barrichello was ahead of Schumacher and so had the wring tyres ready. Schumacher sat waiting behind his team-mate for over a minute and returned to the race 11th.
All hope of victory looked to have been lost, but amid the chaos, Ferrari had pulled off a tactical masterstroke by fitting – at Schumacher’s request – intermediate tyres rather than full wets.
As the rain eased, Schumacher ended up seconds a lap quicker than the cars around him and won by more than 20 seconds. Barrichello completing a sensational Ferrari one-two recovery drive. David Coulthard came in a distant third.
Button leads Timo Glock, who would finish third, as the rain pours down
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In 2009 F1 moved the race to a late 5pm local start time to suit European TV audiences. It was a move that backfired spectacularly. A storm rolled in as usual, but this time it was paired with fading light.
Jenson Button had put his Brawn on pole and was leading comfortably when the rain caused a flood. Cars began to aquaplane and the race was red-flagged. It soon became clear there was no chance of the race restarting. There was no let-up in the rain, and the sun had started to go down.
With less than 75% of the distance run, half points were awarded for the first time since Adelaide in 1991. Button got his second victory in a row, with Nick Heidfeld an unlikely second and Timo Glock third.
Vettel took the lead from Webber at the start, with Rosberg in third – and that was how it finished
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In 2010 the rain came again during qualifying, so Ferrari and McLaren remained in the garage in the hope that it would pass. It didn’t, and Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button all started way down the grid.
Other teams had made the right call, so Mark Webber took pole for Red Bull, with team-mate Sebastian Vettel starting third, sandwiching Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.
At the start Sebastian Vettel squeezed past both of them into Turn 1 and controlled the rest of the race, leading home a Red Bull one-two, with Rosberg holding on for third. That made it the first podium for the new works Mercedes team since its return to F1: a sign of things to come for Brackley.
Behind, Hamilton scythed his way from 20th up to sixth, while Massa raced from 21st to seventh.
Perez sits behind the McLarens and the safety car, with the race about to be red-flagged
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Sergio Perez put himself in the spotlight for a top drive with three podium finishes for Sauber in his second F1 season – the first in the 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Starting from tenth, he made rapid progress by stopping early to change his intermediate tyres for full wets as rain poured down. As the rest of the grid followed suit, he leapt to third place by the time the race was red flagged due to the conditions.
When the leading McLarens pitted after the restart, Perez briefly became the race leader until Fernando Alonso passed him and disappeared into the distance in a trail of spray.
Race over? Not a chance. As the track began to dry, Perez unexpectedly began reeling in Alonso at the rate almost a second per lap, becoming the unlikely threat to Alonso’s triumph as he attacked the Ferrari.
As he streaked around Sepang, the Sauber pitwall warned Perez to be careful as rain began to fall again, and the very next lap he ran wide, but managed to rejoin in second where he finished. It wasn’t quite the fairytale it could have been but the result played a key part in his move to McLaren the following year.
Vettel disregards team orders and attacks Webber
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Mark Webber was leading Sebastian Vettel after the final stops when the team sent the coded instruction ‘Multi-map 21’ over the radio. In Red Bull code that meant that Car No2 (Webber) should remain ahead of Vettel’s car No1, turn down the engines and secure a 1-2 finish without taking any extra risks.
‘Multi 21’ immediately entered the F1 vernacular when said in sheer anger by Mark Webber towards Sebastian Vettel – it came after duelling in one of grand prix racing’s most dominant cars, the Red Bull RB9
Instead Vettel attacked, and went wheel-to-wheel with his team-mate down the straight – prompting a radio message from team boss Christian Horner that it was silly.
Vettel ignored him, attacked again, took the lead and won. What followed was one of the most awkward cooldown rooms the sport has ever seen, with Webber repeating the ‘Multi 21’ phrase to his team-mate and Vettel staring at the floor. The podium was just as tense.
Less well remembered is that Red Bull wasn’t the only team that issued orders that race. Mercedes told Nico Rosberg to hold station behind Lewis Hamilton, and he obeyed, though clearly unhappy.
Vettel tastes early success for the Scuderia
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Two years after the Multi 21 controversy, Vettel was winning again at Sepang, but this time in red. The four-time champion joined Ferrari for 2015 but, with Mercedes in dominant form having won 16 of 19 races in 2014, tended to be shooting for third at best.
Hamilton put the Mercedes on pole, as expected, with Vettel alongside, but this would be no Silver Arrows victory procession.
On lap four Marcus Ericsson beached his Sauber in the Turn 1 gravel bringing out the safety car, and Mercedes pitted both cars. Ferrari left Vettel out.
Now with track position, and with a car that was far kinder on its tyres in the Malaysian heat, Vettel could run a two-stop race while Hamilton and Rosberg were forced to pit three times. Vettel claimed his first victory for the Scuderia, winning from Hamilton by more than eight seconds, and celebrated over the radio in his best Italian.
It was Ferrari’s first win since Alonso in Barcelona in 2013, and it also made Vettel the most successful driver in Malaysian GP history, with four wins at Sepang, one more than Schumacher. It was a bit of a false dawn for the championship battle, though: Mercedes won the next few races and the title at a canter.
Hamilton’s victory hopes up in smoke
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The 2016 title fight was Mercedes against Mercedes, just as it had been in 2014 and 2015. Hamilton and Rosberg were closely matched but Sepang is where the title swung Rosberg’s way.
It didn’t look that way at first, as the championship leader was spun around at Turn 1 by Vettel, while Hamilton led comfortably, on course to take the lead in the title race, with five rounds remaining.
Then with around 15 laps to go, his engine went bang in a cloud of smoke.
Hamilton climbed out, crouched by the barrier and put his head in his hands. Afterwards he questioned why it was always his engines failing when there were eight Mercedes power units on the grid.
Rosberg recovered to third and went on to win the title by five points. Hamilton could point to plenty of places he lost the title that year, but Sepang was probably the biggest moment.
While Formula 1 has generated plenty of drama at Sepang, nothing can match what played out at in 2015 during the MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix.
Valentino Rossi arrived leading the championship over his Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, but used the pre-race press conference to accuse Marc Márquez of helping Lorenzo at the previous race at Phillip Island.
The tension carried over to the race track where Rossi and Márquez fought an intense duel over third place; two MotoGP titans passing and repassing with the narrowest of margins in a thrilling generational battle.
A frustrated Rossi could see title rival Lorenzo escaping ahead and, while ahead of Márquez, gestured at him to halt the fight and chase down the leaders. But Márquez wasn’t about to let Rossi lead the pursuit and attacked again.
As he made bold bid to ride around the outside of the Yamaha at Turn 14, Rossi ran wide, looked across at his rival and the two made contact; Márquez hitting the floor and sliding out.
Rossi finished third but was given penalty points that consigned him to the back of the grid for the Valencia finale. Lorenzo won the title by five points, and the animosity between Rossi and Márquez crystallised, remaining to this day.
