Hamilton dominates Malaysian GP

Lewis Hamilton cruised to his 23rd career Grand Prix victory in the 2014 Malaysian GP.

Nico Rosberg finished second, some 17 seconds behind Hamilton, securing Mercedes a 1-2 finish at the Sepang circuit.

The race appeared a relatively straightforward affair for both Mercedes, and the victory was the team's first F1 1-2 finish since 1955.

2013's world champion Sebastian Vettel crossed the line in 3rd, earning his first championship points of the year.

Daniel Ricciardo's trials and tribulations continued at the Malaysian GP, however. Despite a confident start and a decent pace, he suffered an issue with an improperly fitted wheel during a pit stop that necessitated a push back to the pits. 

A front wing failure failure followed, and he retired his Red Bull on lap 53, just three from the end.

Ricciardo was not the only driver to experience technical issues. Marussia's Jules Bianchi retired early in the race, followed by Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne and Lotus' Pastor Maldonado.

A total of six cars retired out of a competing field of 21, most seemingly as a result of technical issues with the dramatically different new powertrains.

Some teams showed noticable improvement though, including Lotus. Romain Grosjean drove his Lotus to an 11th-placed finish, beating Raikkonen and Kobayashi.

The next race, at Bahrain, takes place on 6 April.

Results

Malaysian GP, 30 March 2014, round 2/19

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

3. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

4. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

5. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)

6. Jenson Button (McLaren)

7. Felipe Massa (Williams)

8. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

9. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren)

10. Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso)