Verstappen wins at Sepang, Ford's first F1 victory since 2003
Red Bull read the first wet race of Formula 1's new rules better than anyone
Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit on Sunday, his first Formula 1 victory of 2026. He started from pole and beat Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, with Lewis Hamilton third for Ferrari. The race had been relocated from Bahrain because of the conflict in the Middle East, and it began with a thunderstorm and more than an hour and a half of delays.
Software glitches on wet formation laps cost the race another 53 minutes
A software fault on wet formation laps stopped several cars responding to the throttle and forced a red flag that lasted 53 minutes. The start had already been held back 40 minutes by a tropical downpour. Verstappen and Hamilton, the front row, both lost drive behind the safety car, as did Liam Lawson, Gabriel Bortoleto and Valtteri Bottas. It was the first wet race under the 2026 rules, which split power roughly evenly between combustion and electric drive. Race control reset the grid to its original order, and only nine drivers then chose intermediates.
Max Verstappen won the race at two safety car restarts
Verstappen made the right tyre call but not the best getaway: both Mercedes passed him at the standing start, which he blamed on waiting for electrical power to arrive. He took second from George Russell on lap six. When Bottas beached his Cadillac on lap nine, the safety car let the leaders switch to slicks, and Verstappen went round the outside of Antonelli at Turn 1 on the restart. He led by 11 seconds before the stops, briefly gave the lead away with a cheap stop under the virtual safety car, and controlled the four laps left after the final restart.
Red Bull's own Ford-backed power unit wins in its first season
Sepang is Red Bull's first win with an engine it built itself, and the first for a Ford-badged Formula 1 engine since Giancarlo Fisichella won the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix for Jordan. Ford returned in 2026 as the partner of Red Bull Powertrains, its first season in the sport since 2004. Verstappen's previous win came at Abu Dhabi last December, with Honda power. Less than a month ago at Monza he called the car "made of paper", a complaint about parts wearing out in races. Since his crash at Zandvoort he has now finished on the podium four races running, and Red Bull avoids its first winless season since 2015.
George Russell's engine failure leaves Antonelli 84 points clear
George Russell's title hopes all but ended when his Mercedes stopped on the approach to Turn 1 as the field formed up for the final restart. He had been running third. Antonelli's 18 points for second take him to 320, with Russell stuck on 236. Seven rounds remain, from the Singapore sprint weekend on 11 October to Abu Dhabi on 6 December, which leaves 183 points on the table. Russell had cut into the lead by winning in Baku only a week earlier, and Sepang handed all of that back and more.
Lewis Hamilton returns to the podium as Alonso scores for Aston Martin
Lewis Hamilton took third for Ferrari, his first podium since Silverstone, after gambling on slicks at the start and falling to 15th before the first safety car. He passed Isack Hadjar for the place at Turn 1 on lap 53. Fernando Alonso finished eighth, the best result of the year for the Honda-powered Aston Martin and only its third points finish. Hadjar's fifth gave Red Bull 35 points for the weekend, its biggest haul of 2026, while Verstappen moves level with Lando Norris on 188 points.
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This is the best win of Verstappen's season, and the engine shares the credit. In March the RB22 was fighting Alpine and Haas in China and Japan; at Sepang it was quickest on Friday's long runs, in qualifying and in the race, with a power unit Red Bull designed from scratch in Milton Keynes. Mercedes still has the stronger car over a season, and its 556 points say so, but a team that had never built an engine before this year has now beaten it on merit.
Red Bull sits 18 points behind McLaren in the fight for third after outscoring it 35 to 10 in Malaysia. Expect Red Bull to be ahead when the season ends in Abu Dhabi on 6 December, with at least one more Verstappen win along the way.
