Malaysian practice starts after rain

The first practice session for the last-ever Malaysian Grand Prix got under way after a rain delay of half-an-hour on Friday.

Drivers were left sitting in their cars or kicking their heels in their garages as torrential rain soaked the Sepang International circuit, which has a history of downpours.

Five minutes before the scheduled start time of 11:00 am (0300 GMT), race control had deemed the flooded track undriveable and announced that the start of practice would be "delayed indefinitely".

But with the rain easing and the safety car able to lap the fast-draining circuit at an acceptable pace, the first cars were allowed onto the track at 11:30 am (0330 GMT). The session will be truncated to 60 minutes instead of the usual 90.

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