Lewis Hamilton claimed his 23rd Formula One career victory and his second for MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS at Sepang. “I'm incredibly happy”, said Lewis. “This is my first win in Malaysia after eight attempts and to do it for our PETRONAS family in their home country makes it even more special. It's all down to the team. They have done a fantastic job and I have to say a huge thank you to everyone here at the track and back at our factories who have been pushing non-stop to get the car where it is. The race was tougher than it perhaps looked and the conditions here always make it a great challenge. But I was able to look after the car, the tyres and the fuel and still keep a bit of pace in hand which made my job that little bit easier.
Finishing in second place, Nico Rosberg achieved his 13th Formula One career podium. “This is an incredible day for our team and for Mercedes-Benz", said Nico. “Everyone back at our factories in Brackley and Brixworth, and all employees of Mercedes-Benz, can feel very proud. For the first time in the modern Silver Arrows era, we have achieved a one-two finish which is an incredible result. The team did a phenomenal job over the winter. I also want to thank our partners PETRONAS. They have given our team so much support, along with the best products for our power unit, so we are proud to be associated with them and I hope they enjoy the celebrations. I had a great start again, even though it was tight with Sebastian. It was close at the wall and I just closed the eyes, went for the gap and did it. Later I was able to control the pace and to defend my position against Seb but Lewis was out of my reach, so congratulations to him for his win.”
Toto Wolff concluded the second race of the season: “It doesn't get any better than a one-two finish - congratulations to everybody in the team, at Mercedes-Benz and at PETRONAS who worked so hard to make this happen. It was a controlled race from the first lap and Lewis and Nico did a fantastic job in very demanding conditions. But we cannot afford to be complacent:
“We knew from our practice running that we had the pace, so today was about managing the team and the car through 56 laps without encountering any problems or making any mistakes”, said Paddy Lowe. “Formula One is a very complex sport and, as we have seen ourselves in recent weeks, the littlest things can destroy a race. But we delivered a faultless day for both cars and both drivers; we are simply over the moon to have scored the first one-two finish for Mercedes-Benz since 1955 and to have earned our own small place in that fantastic tradition. That's the right point at which to thank the whole team that contributed to this success, in Brackley, Brixworth, Stuttgart and Kuala Lumpur, the home city of our partners PETRONAS. It is hard to overstate the crucial role
