Formula One returned to the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia for the FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX IN MALAYSIA 2026, filling in for the race in Bahrain that was cancelled earlier in the year. The sport last raced here nearly a decade ago, way back in 2017. That time, Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to the top step of the podium. They picked up where they left off, with Verstappen edging out Hamilton for pole position. Torrential rain delayed the start of the first wet race of the modern regulations.
Forty minutes after the scheduled start time, the rain subsided and the track dried enough for the cars to venture out behind the safety car for multiple formation laps to judge the conditions on the intermediate tyres. Isack Hadjar showed how slippery the circuit still was, almost immediately skidding into the gravel on the outside of turn three, bouncing through the gravel. He was able to keep going and retake his starting position.
Near the end of the first formation lap, Max Verstappen slowed to a crawl with a technical issue on his Red Bull, being unable to accelerate. The pit wall was eventually able to fix the issue, and he got going again, only to reveal that Lewis Hamilton was suffering from an identical issue. Much of the field overtook the stricken Ferrari, but a handful of cars remained behind as Hamilton trundled around to the main straight. He brought his car to a full stop and was able to get back to full speed after a few seconds. This revealed that multiple other drivers at the back of the field also had the same issue.
The decision was made to cancel the race start, forcing the cars to return to the pit lane while the FIA investigated the cause of the most bizarre formation lap in recent memory. During the red flag period, the teams were allowed to return to their original starting positions. The longer time ticked on, the drier the circuit became, opening the possibility for teams to consider starting the race on the slick tyres.
At just over an hour and a half past the originally scheduled start time, the cars returned to the circuit for another formation lap. As the tyre blankets came off in the pit lane, it revealed a split in tyre compound throughout the field. Ferrari took the soft tyres and McLaren took the medium, while Red Bull and Mercedes opted for the intermediates. Alpine, Aston Martin, Audi, and Cadillac took the slick tyres and Haas split their strategy with Oliver Bearman on the slicks.
During the formation lap, it appeared that the circuit was wetter than anticipated. Sergio Perez bailed on the slick tyres on the first formation lap. Oscar Piastri, Lance Stroll, and both Audi drivers also bailed on the intermediate tyres, diving into the pit lane as the field pulled up to the starting grid for a standing start.
Max Verstappen had an absolutely abysmal start from pole position, having a slower start than even Lewis Hamilton on the slick tyres. On the contrary, Mercedes had an amazing start to turn the race into a Mercedes 1-2, with Kimi Antonelli taking the lead from P3 and George Russell coming from P7 on the grid to take P2. Verstappen faced some early pressure from Liam Lawson behind, but was able to charge back in the opening laps. By lap six, he had overtaken Russell to get P2 and was challenging Antonelli a few laps later.
It was quickly clear that the slick tyre gamble may not have been the right call, as the slick runners tumbled down the field. By halfway through the first lap, all of the drivers on the slicks had fallen out of the points-scoring positions, and they were all last by the end of the opening lap. But with the track drying quickly, the intermediate tyres were destined to drop off rapidly.
That happened on lap nine, when the slick runners finally managed to match the pace of the intermediate tyres. At the same time, Valtteri Bottas hit a slick spot in turn 14 and spun into the gravel, becoming beached. This triggered the full safety car, allowing the drivers on the intermediate tyres to dive into the pit lane for slicks. This also bunched up the rest of the field, minimizing the losses of those who had started the race on the slick compound tyres.
The race restarted on lap 12, and Verstappen immediately challenged for the lead into the first corner. He took the outside line around the long first corner, which eventually becomes the inside line for turn two. This put him ahead of Antonelli, who fought back but couldn’t get back by. Russell also found his way past his teammate, dropping Antonelli down to P3.
The circuit was officially declared dry on lap 15 by race control, enabling overtake mode.
Just under ten laps after being overtaken by his teammate, Antonelli appeared to be the faster Mercedes. After not getting team orders from the pit wall, the two teammates were free to race each other. Antonelli took that as his opportunity to overtake Russell for P2. Shortly after he got by, there was a brief scare as the championship leader ran wide in the final corner, taking out the bollard at the start of pit entry, but he was able to continue.
In the dry conditions and on the correct tyre, Hamilton began to charge through the field. He made quick work of much of the field, but his progress halted when he got to P5 behind Hadjar. Both made a second pit stop on lap 32, with Hadjar taking the softs and Hamilton fitting the mediums. The Ferrari seemed to be faster on the soft tyres than the mediums, so Hamilton remained stuck behind Hadjar.
The other cars in the field made their second pit stops during the following laps. Russell, who changed from the mediums to the softs, felt his team pitted too early to get to the end. Antonelli and Verstappen pitted a lap later for the same tyres.
On lap 44, things were spiced up slightly. The virtual safety car was deployed when Alex Albon’s Williams suffered a gearbox failure in the opening sector. This prompted Verstappen to pit for a new set of soft tyres, but he did not have the gap to maintain the lead, rejoining the circuit behind Antonelli. This didn’t matter a huge amount, as both Mercedes pitted for tyres the following lap while still under the VSC. Hadjar also pitted, with Hamilton having pitted with Verstappen to change back to the soft tyres.
As the marshals struggled to remove the stranded Williams, the VSC was upgraded to the full safety car, bunching up the field and nullifying Verstappen’s gap out front. That would not help Russell, who suffered a shocking exit behind the safety car, pulling to the side of the road with a power unit issue. This extended the safety car as the marshals pushed the Mercedes back into the pit lane.
The race resumed on lap 52, leaving a four-lap sprint to the end. Verstappen went very early, pulling away from Antonelli and managing to keep the youngster outside of the one-second range for overtake mode. The top two would stay in that order until the end, giving Red Bull their first victory of the season.
At the restart, Hadjar found himself in P3, but Hamilton was now on the soft tyres and was eager to get a podium. He got by into the first corner on the following lap, and Charles Leclerc also overtook Hadjar a lap later. It looked as though Hadjar was also going to lose a place to Piastri in the closing laps, but he managed to hold on to P5.
The racing action will resume shortly, as the teams now turn their attention to the Singapore Grand Prix in less than a week’s time. It’s a sprint weekend under the lights at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with the sprint set for October 10 and the grand prix on October 11.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 55 | 1:47:14.808 | 25 |  | |
| 2 | 55 | +2.307 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 55 | +4.919 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 55 | +7.258 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 55 | +8.571 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 55 | +9.454 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 55 | +12.753 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 55 | +13.372 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 55 | +13.993 | 2 | ||
| 10 | 55 | +15.928 | 1 | ||
| 11 | 55 | +17.404 | |||
| 12 | 55 | +18.052 | |||
| 13 | 55 | +18.997 | |||
| 14 | 55 | +22.305 | |||
| 15 | 55 | +22.532 | |||
| 16 | 55 | +23.315 | |||
| 17 | 55 | +25.431 | |||
| 18 | 55 | +28.233 | |||
| 19 | 55 | +29.310 | |||
| DNF | 49 | ||||
| DNF | 41 | ||||
| DNF | 7 |
| 1 | K. Antonelli | 320 |  | |
| 2 | G. Russell | 236 | -84 | |
| 3 | L. Hamilton | 214 | -106 | |
| 4 | C. Leclerc | 191 | -129 |  |
| 5 | M. Verstappen | 188 | -132 | |
| 1 | Mercedes | 556 | | |
| 2 | Ferrari | 405 | -151 | |
| 3 | McLaren | 316 | -240 | |
| 4 | Red Bull | 298 | -258 | |
| 5 | Racing Bulls | 90 | -466 | |
