2017 Malaysian GP

Formula 1 makes its return for the last time in Malaysia. Singapore brought us a rather surprising winner, a new record holder, and career best finishes. I could write a novel for some of the headlines I can do but I will try to get to as many as I feel motivated to. Lets get to a few.

The New Dutch-Ferrari Sandwich

Singapore seemed to be the weekend for either Vettel to reclaim his points lead or for Red Bull to take another victory on a street course. The start of the race in Singapore saw the newest creation to be added to all Subway's and sandwich shops all over the world. Red Bull's Max Verstappen got caught between the Ferrari's of Sebastian Vettel and a 2007 looking Kimi Raikkonen. Ferrari pointed their fingers at Max while a steamed Max Verstappen pointed his finger at Sebastian Vettel. We will see if this will go any further in Malaysia.

HULK CRUSH!!!

Formula 1 has its share of dubious records that no one wants to have their name next to. Singapore gave a current driver a new skeleton to keep in his closet. Renault's Nico Hulkenburg failed to finish on the podium breaking a tie with Adrian Sutil for the most career F1 starts without a podium finish. Renault's car in Singapore was very strong and Nico seemed to be a threat to grab a podium. However, Nico's car had a mechanical issue that relegated towards the back giving him a record that he probably never wanted.

Save the Best for Last

It has been rumored for several weeks that Renault's Jolyon Palmer will be gone from his ride after this season but possibly as early as 2 Sunday's from now. If Palmer is out before the race, he did save his best performance for last as he took a career best finish of 6th exceeding many expectations. While it was great to see Jolyon finally show what he could do, it is most likely too little too late for the 2nd generation Brit to save his spot in F1.

Perez Stays Put

Announced a little earlier today, Force India's Sergio Perez has announced that he will stay with Force India in 2018. Sergio is currently tied with Max Verstappen for 6th in the drivers championship and has run very well for the small for F1 standards team. There was some speculation that his season squabbles with teammate Esteban Ocon would force one or the other out but the one won't be Sergio. We will wait to see if Esteban stays but the sour relationship between the two will have a lot of fixing to do.

2018 Sauber = Ferrari B?

Everyone knows about the relationship between Red Bull and Toro Rosso. For 2018, Ferrari is going to try and get this same relationship with Sauber. Rumor is that Ferrari officials are trying to work out a deal with Sauber which would make Sauber the Toro Rosso for Ferrari. The deal would give Sauber even more support for 2018 and the future. In exchange for this, the 2018 Sauber lineup would become Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc. We will wait and see if their is any fire to this smoke but it would be nice to see Sauber become a credible midfield team again.

New Factory Team Soon?

At the current moment, Formula 1 has 4 different engine suppliers but has several different car manufacturers sponsoring these teams. One of those sponsors is Aston Martin. Aston Martin has said that they are "extremely close" to joining F1 as a factory team. During the engine meetings earlier in the year, representatives from Aston Martin were on hand to discuss the future engines in the F1 machines. While several new teams are rumored to come to F1 with varying degrees of readiness, Aston Martin appears to be one of the more prepared teams to join soon.

Everyone has heard of the recent 7.1 magnitude earthquake that has hit Mexico. The track F1 goes too is fine and the scheduled race is set to go on as planned.

Pierre Gasly will make his debut this weekend in Malaysia. However, instead of moving in to Sainz' seat, Gasly will takeover Daniil Kvyat's ride and Sainz looks to be staying for the near future.