Max Verstappen of Red Bull produced a dominant display to win the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday for his second career victory to mark his 20th birthday.

Verstappen finished well ahead of Championship leader Lewis Hamilton but the British driver was able to extend his championship lead despite a second-placed finish.

Hamilton’s title rival Sebastian Vettel recovered from the back of the grid to finish fourth and he now trails with 34 points with five races to go and a maximum of 125 points still available.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was third while Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas took fifth position after a poor race.

Speaking after his win, Max Verstappen said: “I think in the beginning, the car felt good and I saw Lewis was struggling a bit more with traction, so I used my battery a bit more. He has more to lose than me in terms of the championship. From then on, I could race my own race. It’s a very tough race and it was incredible to win.”

Lewis Hamilton, who finished second also had his say. He said: “Big congratulations to Max. Happy birthday, he did a fantastic job today. The race was a tough one. They had the upper hand on us today. I feel good, but we have some work to do with the car. We didn’t have the pace this weekend. We have to keep pushing.”