The Last Time F1 Raced in Malaysia: Verstappen at 20, Despacito on Repeat
When Formula 1 last pulled into Sepang back in 2017, the sport looked like a different universe. Max Verstappen, fresh off his 20th birthday the day before the race, bulldozed the field for his second career win, with Lewis Hamilton settling for second and Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the podium. Sebastian Vettel, starting from the back after a grid penalty, salvaged fourth from a weekend gone wrong.
Hamilton arrived in Malaysia holding a 28-point lead over Vettel in the title fight and left with 34 – a cushion that carried him to his fourth championship that same year. The grid told a different story back then too: Carlos Sainz and Pierre Gasly were sharing a Toro Rosso debut, while a young Charles Leclerc was quietly doing free practice duty for Sauber, with no idea he’d be a race-winning regular within a few years.
Outside the paddock, the world was busy wearing out “Despacito,” bingeing the first season of “Stranger Things,” and waiting on the iPhone X. Nine years on, Formula 1 is finally heading back to Sepang – and the Malaysian heat, unlike everything else, hasn’t changed a bit.
Source: Formula1.com (https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/what-was-happening-in-the-world-the-last-time-f1-raced-in-malaysia.6FhCdurEMcfv9tQrcB37d3)
