Max Verstappen dominates the Bahrain Grand Prix: “This victory is particularly sweet”

Max Verstappen triumphs at the rescheduled Bahrain Grand Prix, held at the tricky Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The Red Bull Racing driver wins the eventful race ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton.

For Max, this is his 72nd victory in the premier class, his first this season (and his first since the 2025 World Championship finale in Abu Dhabi), his third at the Bahrain Grand Prix (following 2023 and 204) and his second at the Sepang International Circuit since 2017. This also marks his 135th podium finish.

Verstappen’s team, Red Bull Racing, is celebrating its 131st Grand Prix victory in the team’s history in Malaysia – the fifth at the Bahrain Grand Prix and the sixth in Malaysia.

Max on the radio during the cool-down lap: “72, lads, 72! Brilliant work, lads, what a weekend! Many thanks to everyone in the team, I’m very proud of your work.”

Winner Verstappen said after the thrilling Grand Prix: “This is a particularly sweet victory after the difficult first part of the season. I can’t even put into words how proud I am of my team, who have worked tirelessly and so hard to turn things around and make the car faster.”

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“It was quite a hectic race, especially with that start, when it was raining so heavily that we couldn’t get going at the scheduled time. At first, nothing was working because I had no engine power. But as the Grand Prix progressed, we got everything right, including our tyre strategy.”

“After the disappointing start, I was able to work my way up the field calmly; I knew I had the pace to do it. After that, I drove at my own pace and was able to control the race, but then the safety car came out at the end, and of course that put my victory back in doubt because the chasing pack were closing in.”

“Fortunately, I managed the restarts well, and in the end everything turned out fine.”

How the Bahrain GP unfolded in Malaysia

The weather conditions ahead of the 16th round of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship: an air temperature of 30 degrees, track temperature at 41 degrees; after dry track conditions on Friday and Saturday, it began to rain an hour before the race.

Thirty minutes before the Grand Prix, the rain intensified and the sky looked gloomy and threatening. Most drivers reported over the radio during their reconnaissance laps: “The track offers plenty of grip despite the rain, but the intermediate tyres are wearing out after just a short time.”

Then, 20 minutes before the Grand Prix, proper Sepang rain set in – pouring down in buckets, just as we’ve often experienced in Malaysia. There was also thunder and lightning.

At 14.42 (08.42 in Europe), race control decided to postpone the start. No wonder – from the start of the start-finish straight, you could no longer see the end of it.

The tricky thing about Sepang in such conditions is that not only was this the first rainfall of the weekend, but for many drivers it was their very first time racing the 2026 car on a wet track! Only a few drivers had been able – during winter testing or Pirelli test sessions – to gauge how the race car would handle in the rain. So there’s a great deal of uncertainty ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Update at 9.30 am (European time): Formation lap at 9.40 am, 40 minutes after it was originally due to start. Air temperature now a moderate 25 degrees, track temperature 34 degrees, humidity a hefty 89 per cent.

All 22 cars set off on the (green-marked) intermediate tyres: Isack Hadjar immediately ended up in the gravel! During the formation lap, the Parisian was able to regain P8.

But then leader Verstappen suddenly slowed down: “I can’t accelerate – something’s not right.”

Lewis Hamilton was also driving slowly: “I’m pressing the accelerator, and nothing’s happening.”

Verstappen dropped to the back of the field, whilst Hamilton was overtaken by other cars.

Both appeared to have a problem with the car’s electronics, with frantic radio traffic at Red Bull Racing and Ferrari. Hamilton pulled his car over at the start-finish line for a moment, but was then able to drive off again under his own power; Verstappen also picked up speed again, whilst Ocon and Pérez (also with Ferrari engines!) came to a halt at the start-finish line as well – it was utter chaos. We’ve never seen anything like this in Formula 1 before.

Race control did the only right thing and led the field back into the pit lane, aborting the start procedure. This gave the specialists the chance to sort out the electronics. Quite embarrassing.

In the meantime, championship leader Kimi Antonelli reported: “It’s drying out incredibly quickly.” The sun peeped through the clouds, but many rain showers remained in the region. More rain was on the way…

At 16.xx (local time), the cars lined up again in their original formation, with the new race distance set at 55 laps.

The drivers’ tyre choices for this new attempt: Verstappen on intermediates, Hamilton and Leclerc on soft tyres, Norris and Piastri on medium Pirellis, Hamilton on softs, Russell and Antonelli on intermediates. The warm-up lap showed that it was still quite wet in places, with Gasly on soft Pirellis already spinning out. The track was probably not yet ready for slick tyres.

Hamilton on the radio: “It’s incredibly slippery, it’s dangerous.” Race engineer Carlo Santi urged him to be patient: “That’ll change soon.”

The drivers on slick tyres were hoping for more laps behind safety car driver Bernd Mayländer, whilst those on intermediates naturally wanted the race to get underway soon. Pérez pitted and switched from soft Pirelli tyres to intermediates.

Would Ferrari and McLaren spread the chances and let one driver switch to intermediates? Yes, McLaren left Norris out and brought Piastri in. Ferrari, however, left both cars out, whilst Audi brought both race cars in.

The FIA confirmed: a standing start.

Max Verstappen didn’t get off to a good start from pole position; both Mercedes were at the front, with Antonelli ahead of Russell, then Verstappen ahead of Lawson.

Ferrari were in 10th (Hamilton) and 12th (Leclerc). Nico Hülkenberg in the Audi was already up to P13. Ferrari caught up with Leclerc; putting him on slicks so early was a mistake. Then there was also a 12-second stop for the Monegasque driver – mamma mia! There must have been contact with an opponent, as Charles was fitted with a new nose cone for his car. The replay showed that Leclerc had bumped into Hülkenberg.

Lap 4 (of 55). Hamilton had dropped to P16; Norris ahead of him in P15 wasn’t faring any better either, already 30 seconds behind leader Antonelli – more than the time taken for a pit stop.

Ferrari wanted to bring Hamilton in. The Brit on the radio: “Do you think that’s a good idea? It’s getting drier and drier.” So the seven-time champion stayed out, but was already a minute behind leader Antonelli.

Verstappen closed in on the leading Mercedes duo and began to put pressure on Russell on lap 6. Max didn’t hesitate and overtook him.

The order on lap 7: Antonelli, Verstappen, Russell, Hadjar, Lawson, Ocon, Sainz, Lindblad, Albon and Piastri, all on intermediates.

Norris was in P15, Hamilton in P18, now 75 seconds behind. The track was drying out more slowly than expected. Verstappen was chasing down the leader, Antonelli.

On lap 9, Antonelli and Verstappen flew side by side down the start-finish straight, but Kimi remained in the lead. It was clear: Max was the faster driver at this stage of the race.

Then Bottas in the Cadillac ended up in the gravel, bringing out the safety car; Mercedes immediately brought Kimi in, RBR naturally brought Verstappen in too, and Mercedes also brought Russell in, with the order remaining unchanged. All drivers on intermediates took this opportunity to change out of their green-marked tyres.

Norris and Leclerc (both already on slicks) pitted again – Norris now on hard Pirellis, Leclerc on softs. Hamilton (still without a stop) was now in P15.

Standings on lap 11: Antonelli on medium tyres, Verstappen on softs, Russell on mediums, Hadjar on softs. So Red Bull Racing were taking a big risk. Verstappen was ranting over the radio, asking why the race wasn’t restarting. He wasn’t wrong, as Bottas’s car had long since been cleared to the side. Race control waited until the stragglers (including Hamilton) had caught up. But he was moaning over the radio that he had no grip.

On lap 13, the race was given the green light again and the field bunched up once more, in the following order: Antonelli, Verstappen, Russell, Hadjar, Lawson, Ocon, Lindblad, Sainz, Bortoleto and Piastri.

At the restart, Antonelli initially held his ground, but then Verstappen surged irresistibly into the lead, and Kimi also had to let Russell past.

The big questions now were: how long would the soft tyres on Verstappen’s car last, and would it rain again?

Further back, Bortoleto was in P9, Hülkenberg in P10, Hamilton in P12, Norris in P13 and Leclerc in P15. Bortoleto and Sainz clashed, with Sainz briefly ending up in the gravel; the FIA launched an investigation.

Lap 16 (of 55): Bortoleto pitted; Hamilton overtook Hülkenberg, putting the Englishman up to P9, now in pursuit of Piastri.

Verstappen pulled slightly clear at the front; he was handling the soft tyres very well, as had already been evident during Friday’s endurance run, though the track was nearly 30 degrees hotter then!

Lap 18: Kimi complains over the radio that he could be going faster. Translation – let me past Russell. At this point, Verstappen was three seconds ahead of Russell. Russell was asked: ‘How are the tyres?’ Translation: ‘Pick up the pace.’

Antonelli was urged to be patient: “We’ve got it, but keep your tyres in good condition. We’re doing something else.”

Hamilton was now in P7 ahead of Lindblad and Piastri. The Australian was instructed to stay right on Hamilton’s tail.

Lap 21: Antonelli launched his first attack on Russell, which was initially fended off, but he then got past; the championship leader was now in P2 behind Verstappen, 4.3 seconds behind.

The FIA announced: a 10-second penalty for the collision with Sainz; the Brazilian had spun the Spaniard round – a clear-cut case.

Lap 23 (of 55): Hamilton had overtaken Lawson, so he was now in P4, but eleven seconds behind Hadjar.

Hülkenberg dropped two places, to Leclerc and Norris, leaving Nico in P12.

Lap 25: Antonelli skidded straight on in the final corner before the start-finish line and knocked over a bollard. Kimi groaned over the radio: “Check my front wing.” The Mercedes, however, had weathered the collision well. Kimi was now eight seconds behind leader Max Verstappen.

Standings on lap 28 (of 55): Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Hadjar, Hamilton, Lawson, Piastri, Leclerc, Ocon and Norris, with Hülkenberg in P12.

Ferrari brought Leclerc into the pits – switching from soft Pirelli tyres to soft tyres again.

Standings on lap 31: Verstappen 9.4 seconds ahead of Antonelli, who was 5.1 seconds ahead of Russell, followed by Hadjar, Hamilton, Piastri, Norris, Hülkenberg, Alonso and Leclerc.

Then Hadjar and Hamilton pitted for fresh tyres, the Parisian switching to softs, the Englishman to mediums.

On lap 33, Russell also pitted from P3: soft tyres for the Mercedes driver.

One lap later, Verstappen pitted: used soft tyres. Behind him, Antonelli also pitted: soft Pirellis as well.

Hamilton was closing in on Norris and Hadjar, but was ranting over the radio: “These tyres feel awful – how long do we have to drive on them?” Race engineer Carlo Santi replied: “Until the end.”

Standings on lap 37 (of 55): Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Hadjar, Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Lawson, Norris, Lindblad and – encouragingly – Alonso in P11.

Further back, Hülkenberg (on soft tyres) overtook two cars in a single move through a corner – Stroll and Ocon – whilst Nico was chasing Lindblad and Alonso in the hope of securing P10.

At the front, Verstappen had everything under control – maintaining a consistent gap of nine to ten seconds over Antonelli. Russell was a respectable distance behind Kimi, followed by Hadjar, who was still having to deal with Hamilton.

Applause from the stands on lap 40: Alonso overtook Lindblad to move into P10. But Nico Hülkenberg was closing in from behind.

On lap 43: yellow flag, Albon had come to a standstill (gearbox failure), virtual safety car period.

Verstappen pitted: soft tyres again. Antonelli stayed out on track, as did Russell. Max was thus back in P2 behind Kimi, albeit on fresher tyres. Hamilton also pitted and was fitted with soft tyres. Leclerc also pitted.

One lap later, still under the VSC, Antonelli also pitted for fresh tyres, as did Russell, so Verstappen was back in the lead. The VSC phase was converted into a proper safety car period, as the gearbox on Albon’s Williams had seized up. It felt like an eternity to let the stragglers through and get the field back into the correct order.

Bad luck for Verstappen: his whole nice lead gone. With the sun now quite low in the sky.

Kimi Antonelli was cautioned for breaching the track limits. Kimi grumbled: “Yeah, but I’m battling Max here.”

Then events came thick and fast: engine failure in Russell’s car, and Norris veered off the track because he was bearing down on Piastri at far too high a speed, presumably distracted by Russell coasting to a halt. This, of course, made the safety car period even longer.

And a major setback for Russell in his World Championship battle against Antonelli.

Kimi on the radio: “What on earth happened there?” – “We’re still looking into it, but it seems to be an engine problem.”

The race was restarted on lap 52 (of 55): Verstappen caught Antonelli off guard, then overtook Hadjar and Hamilton.

Hamilton overtook Hadjar to move up to P3, prompting huge cheers from the stands for the much-loved record-breaking champion.

Then Leclerc also overtook Hadjar.

This order remained unchanged: victory for Verstappen, ahead of Antonelli and Hamilton, followed by Leclerc, Hadjar, Piastri, Lawson, Alonso in eighth place with Aston Martin, then Norris and Lindblad. Nico Hülkenberg, unfortunately, finished eleventh again.