Red Bull’s Max Verstappen earns team’s first win of year after recovering from poor wet weather start ; Antonelli shores up championship lead in P2 as heartbroken Russell retires late in chaotic GP; Hamilton rallies from disastrous starting tire decision to salvage podium

Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia wound up being just as bizarre as its kludgy race name and the geopolitical circumstances that relocated it to the Sepang International Circuit for the first time since 2017. Tropical downpours delayed the race start by more than 90 minutes and then widespread software issues during the formation lap created trouble for numerous front runners and general chaos prior to the actual start of the race. Once the lights finally did go out, pole-sitter Max Verstappen lost out to the Mercedes duo of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in the treacherous, wet track conditions. But the Dutch Master, clearly having the fastest car of the weekend, slowly recovered, utilizing a Lap 9 Safety Car triggered by Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas spinning into the gravel, which prompting the frontrunners to pit oof of Intermediates for slick Pirelli tires.

There was no stopping Max at the restart 🤩

#F1 #BahrainGP https://t.co/D8i9GQltM3

— Formula 1 (@F1) October 4, 2026

Verstappen then executed a brilliant restart at the beginning of Lap 13, overtaking Antonelli around the outside of Turn 1 and 2, and slowly stretched his advantage overr the ensuing laps to what would become a steady if not massive lead over Antonelli lead. When the checkers flew at the end of this fairly crazy 55-lap affair, Verstappen claimed his and Red Bull’s first victory of the 2026 season by 2.307 seconds ahead of the P2 Antonelli. While it was an important win for Red Bull and a fitting reward for their steady progress as the year has gone on, it also turned into a nearly championship crowning day for the young Italian Silver Arrows ace, as Antonelli watched his teammate Russell DNF with some sort of mechanical issue after a Safety Car pit stop on Lap 50. That unfortunate break for the Briton somewhat mooted his victory in Azerbaijan, as Russell saw his deficit to Antonelli grow again to a daunting 84 points with just seven rounds remaining on the calendar.

While Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton completed the podium in third place, one has to wonder what might have happened if the team had not gambled on starting both he and Leclerc on Soft Pirellis rather than the Inters that seemed pretty clearly to be demanded of the post-deluge conditions at Sepang. Needless to say, that gamble backfired rather spectacularly, dropping both Prancing Horses dramatically down the pylon and leaving Hamilton to order the team to keep him out on those opening set of Softs rather than pitting for Inters as teammate Leclerc opted to do on Lap 3, the seven-time champ counting on the track to dry out enough to be able to make up positions during the crossover from wet to dry conditions. Hamilton succeeded in both his strategic surmise and his execution of it, running all the way to Lap 31 before his first pit stop and then making the most of fresh rubber during a Virtual Safety Car to hunt down the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar for the final podium place. When Leclerc made the same Trun 1 move on Hadjar on the penultimate lap  to secure P4, their drivers had salvaged what could have been a disastrous day for the Scuderia in Sepang.  Nonetheless, there were still questions left hanging in the humid air about Ferrari’s often iffy strategy decisions.

Top 10 finishers of the Bahrain GP in Malaysia:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The races are coming thick and fast as we hurtle towards the end of the season — the equally tropical though not at all similar Singapore Grand Prix will be next in a week’s time with all the challenges the tight confines of the Marina Bay Circuit entails. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!