A horror pit stop cost Daniel Ricciardo dearly as Lewis Hamilton scored an emphatic win in the Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Hamilton led from pole position to cruise to the chequered flag by 17.3 seconds at the Sepang International Circuit ahead of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg.

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was third, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished fourth and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg fifth.

Vettel’s Australian teammate, Ricciardo, was lying fourth when he pitted with 15 laps to go.

But mechanics failed to secure his left front tyre properly and Ricciardo had to stop in the pit lane and be pushed back for the tyre to be fixed.

He then almost immediately had to return to the pits with a broken front wing and was then punished with a 10-second stop-go penalty for an unsafe release in the first pit stop.

He was retired with four laps remaining.

Hamilton made up for his retirement in the season-opening race in Australia and claimed victory in Malaysia for the first time at his eighth attempt.

Rounding out the top 10 were McLaren’s Jenson Button, Felipe Massa ahead of Williams teammate Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen was ninth and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat tenth.