Nico Rosberg thought his race was finished after his collision with Sebastian Vettel at Turn 1, threatening his championship lead, had he not fought back to finish third whilst Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton retired with an engine failure.
The German actually managed to extend his lead from eight to 23 points despite at one point sitting P17 as he recovered from the collision with an "out of control" Vettel, which he thought had ended his Malaysian Grand Prix involvement.
"It was a tough one," said Rosberg. "After Turn 1 I thought I was finished. I thought it was all over. I just got T-boned by a four-time world champion out of control.
"I'm happy to be able to fight back all the way to the podium. In general I wish for a better day but that is how it is sometimes."
Rosberg sympathised with his team-mate who looked to be in control of the race, having dominated all weekend, before reliability problems struck once again.
"For Lewis, I have been in his position and know how terrible it is in that moment so I know what he is going through."
