Verstappen: Hamilton had "more to lose" in Turn 1 move

Verstappen overtook pole-sitter Hamilton by diving down the inside of Turn 1 on the fourth lap, going on to claim the second win of his Formula 1 career.

With Hamilton having entered the Malaysian GP 28 points ahead of nearest title rival Sebastian Vettel, Verstappen's teammate Daniel Ricciardo had suggested after qualifying that other drivers could take advantage from the championship leader playing it safe.

The Dutchman himself said the fact Hamilton couldn't afford to take big risks was on his mind when he was going for the overtake.

“I had a good run out of last corner and opted to go for inside,” Verstappen recalled. “I knew Lewis had more to lose as he was fighting for the championship.

“I took an extra risk because of it, it was my only chance. I could see he was clipping more than I was, so I was happy to get past.”

Verstappen's victory never looked under threat after the overtake – a Turn 1 run-in with the battling lapped cars of Jolyon Palmer and Kevin Magnussen aside - as he finally arrived at the chequered flag 12.8s ahead of Hamilton.

“Once I was past Lewis, I could focus on pace and look after my tyres," Verstappen added. "It was pleasing – it was the first time I have had that in my [F1] career.

“I just had to stay very focused, because [with] the backmarkers you could lose a lot of time, I almost got taken out at Turn 1, but afterwards I could control everything.”

Ricciardo surprised Vettel attacks didn't last

Fellow Red Bull driver Ricciardo completed the podium behind Verstappen and Hamilton, his victory bid compromised by him allowing the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas ahead at the start.

He lost time behind Bottas, but looked to be mounting a challenge for second after passing the Finn – only to have to switch focus to defending from the Ferrari of Vettel, charging from the back of the grid.

“My engineer kept telling me he was catching me, it did get to a point where I told him to zip up!” Ricciardo said.

“I saw I defended a bit and saw Seb still coming, I closed the door a bit late towards the apex, I don’t know if he was unhappy about it but [it] didn’t seem over-aggressive from my side, didn’t feel like a really late move or anything.

“I expected him to attack until the end, I expected him to keep coming and I guess maybe he killed the tyres trying to get close to me.”

Ricciardo added: “Congrats to Max, it was a strong weekend. Our first double podium of the year, I believe, so a good result.”

Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble