Max Verstappen converted pole position into his first victory of the 2026 Formula 1 season at a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix in Sepang, beating Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton after a race shaped by rain, repeated delays, Safety Cars and major strategic differences. The final classification may suggest a relatively straightforward result, but the Malaysian afternoon was anything but simple.
Rain fell in the minutes before the scheduled start and forced race control to delay proceedings by around 40 minutes. When the field was finally preparing to get underway, further technical problems during the formation lap created another interruption, with several cars almost coming to a halt because they were unable to accelerate properly.
Technical problems delay Bahrain GP start at Sepang
Initial indications pointed towards a calibration conflict involving FIA systems. Several drivers were able to resolve the anomaly by restarting their cars, but race control suspended the starting procedure again before the Grand Prix could finally begin.
Conditions were still damp when the race got underway. Several drivers chose to remain on Intermediate tyres because the circuit was still wet, including Max Verstappen and both Mercedes drivers.
Ferrari and McLaren instead took the risk of starting on slick tyres, expecting the surface to dry rapidly enough to save a pit stop.
Intermediate tyres prove the right choice
Despite the Safety Car remaining on track for an additional lap before the grid start, remaining on the Intermediate tyre proved to be the better decision.
The two Mercedes cars made excellent starts and moved to the front, while Max Verstappen remained in position to take advantage as the race developed and build the margin required to cover a potential stop.
Those who had chosen slick tyres faced a much more difficult opening phase. The track took around ten laps to dry, considerably longer than expected, leaving the Ferraris and Lando Norris’s McLaren fighting their way back from the rear of the field.
A Safety Car caused by Valtteri Bottas’s accident arrived after roughly ten laps, just as the circuit was approaching slick-tyre conditions. That neutralisation gave the field the opportunity to change onto dry-weather tyres and closed up the gaps.
Max Verstappen retakes lead after Kimi Antonelli power cut
Max Verstappen then took advantage of a power cut affecting Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes at the restart to recover first place. From that point onwards, the Red Bull driver never surrendered the lead.
The four-time world champion began extending his advantage over Mercedes with a pace the W17 simply could not match.
Max Verstappen was running on the Soft compound while the Mercedes drivers were using the Medium, which proved to be the weaker tyre, but the performance gap nevertheless became immediately clear.
His advantage grew to around 12 seconds before another neutralisation, this time triggered when Alex Albon stopped at the side of the circuit and race control once again brought the field back together.
Even after losing that margin, Max Verstappen remained in control until the chequered flag, giving Red Bull its first victory of the season after a weekend in which the Dutchman had been flawless.
Red Bull takes first 2026 win and first Red Bull Powertrains victory
The victory came at a distinctive circuit where Red Bull interpreted both the tyres and the behaviour of its car particularly well on the Sepang surface.
It also continued a positive trend that had already begun before the summer break. Max Verstappen has finished on the podium at every race since the Belgian Grand Prix apart from his retirement at Zandvoort following a first-lap accident.
The Sepang result was also the first Formula 1 victory for Red Bull Powertrains.
Kimi Antonelli finishes second despite difficult Mercedes weekend
Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished second after an excellent race during what had been Mercedes’ most difficult weekend.
The decision to remain on Intermediate tyres at the start paid off, allowing the Italian to stay near the front and build an advantage while several of the strongest rivals, particularly the two Ferraris, were forced to recover from the back.
There were still several concerns for Mercedes. The team never appeared to find a way of extracting the full performance of the W17 in the Sepang conditions, while George Russell retired only a few laps from the finish with another power unit reliability problem.
George Russell had been running third at the time. The Briton had chosen to postpone an engine change, preferring to wait for the ADUO-specification unit scheduled to arrive in Austin in a few races’ time.
Lewis Hamilton charges from the back to third
Lewis Hamilton completed the podium after an impressive recovery from the rear of the field in an extremely eventful race.
The seven-time world champion had been among the drivers affected by the formation-lap technical issue and was eventually able to get going again after resetting the car.
Like his Ferrari team-mate, Lewis Hamilton started on slick tyres in the hope that the circuit would dry quickly. Even while the track remained suitable for wet-weather tyres, he chose to stay out on the slicks rather than return to the pits for Intermediates because the practical benefit would have been limited.
After the Safety Car caused by Valtteri Bottas’s accident, Lewis Hamilton began working his way through the field, overtaking several rivals and eventually returning to podium contention against Isack Hadjar.
Lewis Hamilton passes Isack Hadjar late for podium
Lewis Hamilton switched to the Medium tyre for what initially appeared likely to be the final stint, but found it difficult to pass Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull, with a lack of straight-line speed also limiting his chances.
The final neutralisation changed the picture again. Once the drivers moved onto Soft tyres, Lewis Hamilton returned to the attack and passed Isack Hadjar with only a few laps remaining.
The move secured a podium that had appeared highly unlikely during the opening stages of the race, particularly as Lewis Hamilton had also suffered brake-balance problems during his recovery.
Charles Leclerc brought the other Ferrari home in fourth place. The Monegasque had greater difficulty recovering through the field but still secured a valuable result, particularly for Ferrari’s fight for second place in the Constructors’ Championship.
After the race, Charles Leclerc did not hide his frustration with the pace over team radio, complaining about an inconsistent car that was difficult to understand.
Isack Hadjar drops to fifth as Oscar Piastri limits damage
Isack Hadjar finished fifth after losing his podium opportunity in the closing laps following passes from both Ferraris, while Oscar Piastri managed to limit the damage after another complicated race.
Oscar Piastri had initially chosen slick tyres, but after seeing how much water remained on the circuit during the formation lap, he returned to the pits and fitted Intermediates before the race resumed.
Liam Lawson produced a very solid race for Racing Bulls to finish seventh. During the first part of the Grand Prix, Liam Lawson was even able to keep Isack Hadjar behind for several laps.
Fernando Alonso gives Aston Martin valuable top-eight result
Fernando Alonso delivered an excellent eighth place for Aston Martin on a circuit that partly disguised the AMR26’s engine weaknesses while allowing its chassis qualities to come through.
The Spaniard also contributed with his own performance, despite joining those who initially gambled on slick tyres at the start.
The result secured another valuable top-10 finish for Aston Martin.
Lando Norris completed the points-scoring positions after an off during the final Safety Car period had temporarily dropped him outside the top ten, while Arvid Lindblad took the final point in the second Racing Bulls.
For Max Verstappen, however, the afternoon belonged entirely to Red Bull. Pole position, victory and a controlled response to every interruption gave the team its first win of the year and confirmed the recent upward trend heading into the next part of the 2026 Formula 1 championship.
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