Due to safety and security concerns arising in the Middle East, the Bahrain Grand Prix was moved later in the season to the deeply loved, and unexpected, Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which hasn’t been on the F1 calendar since 2017. As a long-time F1 fan, this is the race I’ve been waiting for all season; it’s one of my all-time favourite tracks. It’s a track that has put on a spectacle of races throughout the years: the return of Michael Schumacher after a broken leg, assisting his then-teammate, Eddie Irvine, to victory in 1999; the first career pole position for Fernando Alonso in qualifying; and the first of many victories that same weekend for Kimi Räikkönen in 2003, along with the infamous “Multi 21” incident between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel in 2013.
Sepang is known for wild weather, exciting and masterclass racing, and a challenge unique in comparison to any other track in motorsport due to its elevation changes mid-corner, up or downhill, and its variety of slow to fast flowing corners; it’s a track that brings many challenges, making it a favourite among many. Enough chatter, let’s get into the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia from the stunning Sepang International Circuit.
Qualifying
Right out of the gate, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen was showing lightning pace, placing himself P1 at the end of the first qualifying session. Another welcome surprise was the sudden pace from both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in their Ferraris, putting themselves in P2 and P3. After a poor performance in Azerbaijan, Oscar Piastri and his McLaren found some pace early, placing his McLaren in P4, with Isack Hadjar and his Red Bull following closely in P5. Off to a bit of a rocky start was Kimi Antonelli in P6, and many fans were questioning if this was a result of some discomfort after his qualifying accident from the previous race, but it was still early times to make a complete analysis. The other McLaren of Lando Norris was also struggling to find pace early, also coming off a rough Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with hopes of redemption this weekend. Pierre Gasly had another phenomenal result at the end of Q1 with P8, while George Russell had a slightly off-kilter performance, ending the session in P9, and Liam Lawson would round out the first session in P10.
In the second session, things started to heat up. Verstappen kept his quick pace and placed his Red Bull back at the top in P1, with Antonelli finding his rhythm, bringing himself back into front row contention in P2. Leclerc stayed consistent, maintaining his P3 from the previous session, and the same went for Piastri in P4. Lewis Hamilton dropped off the pace a bit, falling from P2 to P5, with the McLaren of Norris breathing down his neck in P6. Hadjar also dropped off the pace to P7, with George Russell only eight-hundredths behind in P8. Pierre Gasly exited the second session in P9, with Gabriel Bortoletto rounding out the top 10 with an impressive last lap attempt.
The final session of qualifying was underway, and Max Verstappen had his eyes on pole position. George Russell started the session strong, putting himself at the front of the grid, but would quickly lose that position to Isack Hadjar, who maintained P1 for quite some time, until teammate Verstappen stepped in, clearing his teammate by over four tenths of a second by the end of the session. On an absolutely flying lap, Lewis Hamilton found some extra oomph in his Ferrari, finding the pace to score a P2 result with Isack Hadjar and his Red Bull in P3. Antonelli was half a second off the pace in P4, followed closely by Leclerc in P5, Norris in P6, Piastri falling off the pace and dropping three positions to P7, George Russell struggling to find pace and ending the session in P8, Gasly in P9, and another impressive qualifying from Gabriel Bortoletto and his Audi to round out the session in P10.
Race
There are three things the Sepang International Circuit is known for: wet weather, humidity, and very unpredictable races, and the drivers definitely got a taste of that this weekend. We witnessed quite an interesting start to the race, with Lewis Hamilton suffering what Ferrari described as a software malfunction during the formation lap, causing a suspended race start, allowing Hamilton to do a literal Ctrl+Alt+Delete from inside the cockpit to clear whatever issue was happening, or that’s what the team was hoping for. Hamilton powered down on the main straight, began the process, fired the car back up, and that seemed to work; now we can focus on getting this race started. It’s crazy to me that F1 cars now need a task manager installed to operate them correctly, but that’s a different conversation.
Finally lined up and ready to go, you know the drill: five lights on, five lights out and away they go, at least for Antonelli and Russell, who had phenomenal starts; especially Russell, who went from P8 to P2 before even entering Turn 1. Verstappen had a brutal amount of wheel spin and couldn’t gain any traction off the line, dropping from P1 to P3 with Liam Lawson challenging him early in P4. Verstappen managed to defend from a hungry Lawson, and the race to the front was on.
What I found very interesting was the number of teams that decided to go on slick tyres with the hopes things would dry up quickly; was it worth the gamble? For reference, Lewis Hamilton dropped from P2 down to P15 and 23 seconds behind the leader before the end of the first lap (lap three, after the extra formation laps). The top 14 were running on intermediate tires, with 15th back to 22nd running on either soft or medium compound slicks.
Back to the action at the front, Verstappen’s tires were coming to life; the Dutchman was able to find grip all over the circuit behind the struggling Mercedes of George Russell. Verstappen would get an impressive run on the exit of Turn 3, setting him up for a beautifully textbook pass on the entry to Turn 4, bringing him back up to P2; the chase to Antonelli was on. The other Red Bull of Isack Hadjar made a pass on Liam Lawson for P4 that same lap at the final hairpin, bringing Red Bull even more points for the weekend.
Verstappen was getting closer and closer, now only five tenths behind Antonelli, when suddenly the Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas found the gravel, causing a safety car and giving Antonelli the opportunity to pit for fresh tires, but that also gave the opportunity to Verstappen. Mercedes equipped Antonelli with the medium compound, hoping to get a longer stint out of the tires and increase their opportunity for victory, but Red Bull decided to go with the soft tires, giving Verstappen the upper hand in regards to overall grip. However, the soft tire has a shorter lifespan compared to the mediums, but Verstappen is known for his impeccable tire maintenance during a grand prix, so this could be the best call in the long run for Red Bull to secure victory.
Green flag, we’re back racing, and Verstappen quickly showed the difference between the soft and medium compound tires. Verstappen caught the Mercedes of Antonelli heading into Turn 1, positioning himself on the outside of the corner, braking late and placing himself right beside the Mercedes, setting him up for the inside line of Turn 2, giving him the lead on the entrance of Turn 3 thanks to the extra grip from the soft tires. Antonelli now faced a charging George Russell and defended beautifully to maintain P2, but Russell pulled a Verstappen, placing his Mercedes on the outside of Turn 5, successfully making the pass and sliding into P2.
Antonelli was pushing hard to get the position back from Russell, and it would be the passing hotspot of Turn 4 that would get the job done and get Antonelli back into P2, moving Russell back to P3 after a hard-fought battle. Speaking of hard-fought, Lewis Hamilton was climbing up the field after dropping back to 15th at the start of the race. Effortlessly working his way through, Hamilton found himself up to P5, charging and closing the gap to Isack Hadjar ever so slightly lap after lap.
Showing more pace over the last couple of races, Fernando Alonso seems to feel more comfortable in his Aston Martin, making the pass of the weekend on Arvid Lindblad for P11. Entering Turn 1, Alonso had the momentum on the inside, but Lindblad was able to defend and take the position back into Turn 2. Alonso, seeing Lindblad overdrive the corner, took the opportunity to do a quick switchback on the exit of Turn 2, setting his Aston Martin up perfectly to overtake on the outside of Turn 3, displaying fantastic racecraft and 25 years’ experience in F1.
There was a sudden camera pan to the Williams of Alex Albon, who pulled off the track close to the barriers after a suspected power unit failure; you know what that means: safety car! After an extensive four laps under the safety car, fans would see another sudden and upsetting power unit failure on the Mercedes of George Russell, who quickly pulled off to the side, ending his race after a phenomenal drive and what looked like another podium for him and Mercedes. In that same moment, Lando Norris was suddenly off track through the gravel after misjudging the distance between himself and teammate Oscar Piastri, almost driving through Piastri, who had slowed entering Turn 1; an almost costly mistake for both McLaren drivers.
The closing laps, Antonelli was on the gearbox of Verstappen, looking for any little mistake to open the door to victory, but Verstappen stayed poised, driving away tenth by tenth, increasing his lead to over two seconds and bringing home his 72nd victory in F1. Antonelli drove hard to bring a podium to Mercedes in P2, and out of nowhere, after being over a minute behind the race leader, Lewis Hamilton finished P3 and clinched another podium in 2026. Teammate Charles Leclerc passed Isack Hadjar on the last lap for P4, dropping Hadjar to P5, followed by Oscar Piastri in P6, Liam Lawson in P7, Fernando Alonso in an impressive P8, Lando Norris in a disappointing P9, and rounding out the Top 10 is Arvid Lindblad.
After plenty of podiums and coming ever so close, Max Verstappen has finally won in 2026; his last win was the 2025 season finale: the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. After an exciting race filled with plenty of on-track action, fans are hungry for the next one, and they won’t have to wait long, as this weekend, October 11th, we head to the beautiful Marina Bay Street Circuit under the lights of Singapore.
FEATURE PHOTO COURTESY OF MERCEDES-AMG PETRONAS FORMULA ONE TEAM.
