Max Verstappen claims first win of 2026 in chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen has taken the win at a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia pipping both Mercedes Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton to victory.

Feature image credit: Getty Images // Red Bull Content Pool

Verstappen, and Red Bull Racing, have finally taken their first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 world championship season, and his 72nd career win with Red Bull, and his second consecutive win at Sepang. 

It was the first race back at Sepang since 2017, following the cancellation of the Bahrain GP, earlier on in the year. 

Antonelli and Hamilton rounded out the podium position with the latter benefitting from Mercedes’ George Russell’s untimely retirement at the end of the race, under safety car conditions. 

So, how did the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia unfold?

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A wet start

It was a delayed start to the race after a heavy, thundery shower rolled in across the circuit, leaving some of it in a deluge. It marked the first wet race of the season, and of this current regulation cycle. The medical car had ventured out to test the conditions, but even that vehicle was struggling to tackle to track. 

After 40 minutes past the original start time, the race finally started with a formation lap of which took place behind the safety car. However, there was a moment for Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar, who aquaplaned at turn three, veering off the track and out onto the gravel. 

Verstappen claimed he was having trouble accelerating, with his car unable to do the same. Hamilton also suffered a problem with his acceleration. The seven-time world champion stopped to the side of the track and reset his car before going again. 

Due to the problem on the formation lap, with the safety car and Verstappen almost lapping cars out on the circuit, the start procedure was suspended and red-flagged. After a lengthy delay, and chaotic formation lap, the race finally resumed over an hour and a half after the original start time. 

Despite the safety car being stuck in the middle of the pack, inside the pit lane, race control had opted to reset the restart order to the original grid. However, not everyone opted to return to the track on intermediates with a large mix of wet and dry tyres. Verstappen remained out on the green-walled intermediates. However, including the two Ferrari’s, a number of drivers opted to go out with dry compound tyres. 

It was confirmed the race would get underway with a standing start.

Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia: Qualifying Result

The race start

When the lights went out, both Verstappen and Hamilton on the front row struggled to get off the line, allowing the two Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to snatch the top two positions, followed by Verstappen who recovered to third. The dry-tyre runners had fallen down to 15th overall, led by McLaren’s Lando Norris, over 30 seconds adrift. 

Despite being a minute adrift of Antonelli, who remains the race leader, Hamilton claimed the team needed to gamble as the soft tyres started to work for him. 

Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas beached his car at the end of the ninth lap, on the exit of turn six, just as the dry-tyre runners were beginning to match the intermediate runners. As a result, the safety car was deployed to clear away the stricken Cadillac. 

Hamilton was the only driver not to pit under the safety car, climbing up to 15th. 

On the restart, Antonelli managed to go into the opening corner without losing his lead. The championship leader was under immense pressure by Verstappen going around the outside, snatching the inside line at turn two – and the lead with it. Antonelli soon lost another position to Russell, who snatched second place only a handful of corners later. 

At the halfway mark of the race, Verstappen established a seven-second lead over Antonelli, with Russell further two-seconds behind. Additionally, Hamilton managed to recover to fifth place, yet to pit, behind Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar. However, there was a risk of rain incoming.

Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia: Race Result

Late drama

Hamilton finally pitted on lap 32, right behind Hadjar, with Russell covering the two drivers off a lap later. Both Verstappen and Antonelli covered off Russell with their own pit stops, on lap 34, with the top three remaining unchanged. 

On lap 43, the Virtual Safety Car came out as Williams’ Alexander Albon stopped out on track on the exit of turn two. Verstappen, the race leader, was the first to dive into the pits, followed by a handful of other drivers, such as the two Ferraris. Both Mercedes filtered into the pits a lap later, joined by the likes of Hadjar. However, two laps later, it was upgraded to a full safety car, as a recovery vehicle was brought out to help extract the stranded Williams. 

The safety car intervention was a lengthy one, but Mercedes’ Russell pulled out onto the pit exit with a suspected power unit issue, relating to engine braking, according to team radio. At the same time, Norris went off the road at turn one after going into the first corner too hot. Norris dropped down to 11th overall, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll. 

The race finally resumed at the end of lap 51, allowing four racing laps to close out the Bahrain GP. Verstappen managed to bolt down the back straight and resume the race in the lead, ahead of Antonelli. Hamilton, on the other hand, put Hadjar under immense pressure on the restart lap. 

By the end of the 52nd lap, the seven-time world champion was able to snatch the final podium position from the Frenchman down the pit straight. At the end of the following lap, Leclerc copied Hamilton’s lead and moved up to fourth having overtaken Hadjar. 

From there, no one was able to change the top three result with Verstappen claiming his first race win of the year ahead of Antonelli and Hamilton, who completed the podium in second and third, respectively. 

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Race result: 

22 – Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac – DNF

21 – Alexander Albon, Williams – DNF

20 – George Russell, Mercedes – DNF 

19 – Sergio Perez, Cadillac +29.310s

18 – Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi +28.233s

17 – Carlos Sainz, Williams +25.431s

16 – Pierre Gasly, Alpine +23.315s

15 – Esteban Ocon, Haas +22.532s

14 – Oliver Bearman, Haas +22.305s

13 – Franco Colapinto, Alpine +18.997s

12 – Lance Stroll, Aston Martin +18.052s

11 – Nico Hulkenberg, Audi +17.404s

10- Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls +15.928s

9 – Lando Norris, McLaren +13.993s

8 – Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin +13.372s

7 – Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls +12.753s

6 – Oscar Piastri, McLaren +9.454s

5 – Isack Hadjar, Red Bull Racing +8.571s

4 – Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +7.258s

3 – Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari +4.919s

2 – Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes +2.307s

1 – Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 

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