2016 Malaysian Grand Prix Results: Daniel Ricciardo Survives

High drama in Sepang! Lewis Hamilton dominated most of the Malaysian Grand Prix, only to see his win go up in smoke and Daniel Ricciardo cruise to victory.

Murphy’s Law simply states that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. That rule was the law of the land on Sunday in Formula One‘s Malaysian Grand Prix, as incidents and car failures created a dramatic race at the Sepang circuit.

At the end of the day, it was Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo escaping with victory.

Much of the race was dominated by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. He took the lead on the start, avoiding the carnage behind him when Sebastian Vettel had contact with Nico Rosberg, spinning the championship leader.

While Rosberg hoped to salvage his day, Hamilton had aspirations to check out on the field.

Giving away the lead only briefly to pit he looked to be on cruise control. That is, until technical gremlins bit the reigning world champion again. On Lap 43, fire and smoke erupted from the rear of Hamilton’s car, spelling an end to his day.

With the virtual safety car deployed the Red Bull cars were in prime position to take the win. Ricciardo held the advantage over his teammate Max Verstappen, both on track and in tire wear. This would translate into a comfortable win for the Australian, taking his fourth career F1 win and first in Malaysia.

Verstappen finished second to make it a Red Bull one-two, followed by the hard-charging Rosberg. He would bounce back from his Lap 1 spin, climbing from 21st to third. Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top five.

Here are the full results from the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit:

Rosberg now holds a 23-point lead in the championship heading into the final race of Formula One’s Asian swing. The top drivers on the planet will be back in action next weekend from the Suzuka circuit in Japan. Tune in on Sunday on NBCSN to see the Japanese Grand Prix live.