Sepang bows out in style

It may have been the last F1 race in Malaysia, but it was a memorable one, with heavy rains, performance surprises and reliability issues.

The utter destruction of Romain Grosjean’s Haas during free practice thanks to a loose drain grid was unusual on a purpose built circuit, but fortunately he walked away unharmed.

Qualifying produced an interesting grid with Hamilton on pole and Raikkonen alongside, two hungry Red Bulls on the second row and Vettel’s Ferrari at the back of the grid.

Race day was disastrous for the Scuderia when on his way to the grid Raikkonen suffered a crippling engine issue.

Verstappen and Ricciardo sandwiched Hamilton as Vettel climbed 16 positions to take fourth, while Verstappen’s win was the best possible end to his 20th birthday weekend.

After Vettel and Stroll’s bizarre crash on the cool down lap, it was interesting to hear the comments regarding Pascal Wehrlein’s gesture when Vettel climbed aboard the Sauber and rode back to the pits.

Commentators warned that the FIA would frown upon such behavior and could result in punishment for those involved.

Personally I thought it was the best thing I had seen in F1 for years and judging by the spectators’ tumultuous response I was not alone.

It brought back memories when such demonstrations of camaraderie were commonplace, the classic of course that legendary image of Ayrton Senna riding on the side pod of Nigel Mansell’s Williams at Silverstone in 1991 after the Brazilian’s break-down on the final lap.

There have been many others. Michael Schumacher has proved to be a regular taxi for fellow competitors.

In 1995 he carried Jean Alesi back after the Frenchman’s victory in Montreal and the subsequent break down on his celebratory lap.

Two years later Giancarlo Fisichella caught the Schumacher bus after the German Grand Prix. In 2001 David Coulthard brought home his team-mate Mika Hakkinen after the Finn’s McLaren engine failure on the final lap.

The FIA issued an advisory after a similar situation at the 2013 Singapore race when Fernando Alonso gave a lift to Mark Webber.

The powers that be then decided it was not allowable as they were “worried that even travelling at slow speed on the way to the pits, it is possible for a driver sitting on the side of a car to fall off.”

Logical I suppose, but Moto GP riders fall off regularly, and their Blazer Brigade do not suffer heart failures.

But at the 1986 Mexican Grand Prix, current FIA officials would have gone ballistic.

Phillippe Alliot supplied lifts for not one but two stranded drivers, Stefan Johansson and Rene Arnoux.

All was going well until the Ligier ran out of fuel, but help was at hand in the shape of Nelson Piquet’s Williams. which happily carried all three of them back to the pits.

While we are talking of rule contravention, an interesting point was raised post race in Malaysia.

Force India COO, Otmar Szafnauer, pointed out that many of the teams were drying out their respective grid boxes with hand driers – definitely against the regulations.

Article 22.3 of the Sporting Regulations states, “Other than by driving on the track, competitors are not permitted to attempt to alter grip of any part of the track surface.”

Force India mentioned this to FIA officials on the grid but no action was taken, so some teams gained a traction advantage off the line by contravening the regulation, while those who stayed within the regulations were effectively disadvantaged.

Once again the governing body demonstrating the double standards we have seen on numerous occasions.

Rules and regulations are there for a reason. Either enforce them correctly and consistently or amend the rule book.

This weekend it is off to Suzuka for the Japanese Grand Prix and the fight for the driver’s title is still alive. Just. Will Vettel need a new gearbox following the accident damage?

If so that would mean a fivegrid slot penalty, but Hamilton has said the speed of the Ferrari is a concern for Mercedes. Media hype? We will know on Sunday.