(Formula 1) – Max Verstappen converted pole position into victory during Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, which was impacted by heavy rain, featured an entertaining crossover from intermediate tyres to slicks, and saw overtaking from start to finish – as well as a dramatic late retirement for George Russell.
After a delayed start and then a suspended start procedure, as several drivers struggled to maintain speed on the initial formation lap, the race eventually got under way in slippery, mixed conditions – leading to split tyre strategies and plenty of early action.
Polesitter Verstappen fell behind Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and Russell on the run down to Turn 1, with all three drivers running intermediate tyres, but he soon settled into a rhythm and managed to pick off the Silver Arrows either side of a Safety Car that was deployed when Valtteri Bottas spun out.
That Safety Car period represented the ideal window for the intermediate starters to switch to slick tyres, with those who lined up on slick compounds getting caught out, and threats of further rain not materialising before the chequered flag.
Verstappen controlled proceedings after working his way back into P1, pulling away from Antonelli and Russell – who had their own battle over second – and navigating a late Virtual Safety Car/Safety Car combination to secure his and Red Bull’s breakthrough first win of the 2026 campaign.
Antonelli was already set to extend his championship lead over Russell by three points when his team mate dramatically ground to a halt on the start/finish straight behind that final Safety Car, dealing another blow to the Briton’s already slim title chances.
Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were high-profile names to start the race on slick tyres, with both drivers dropping towards the back of the grid as a result. However, inspired comeback drives saw them recover to P3 and P4 respectively, and bag a healthy haul of points for Ferrari.
Isack Hadjar dropped from third to fifth in the closing laps as Hamilton and Leclerc completed their charges, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in P6, Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson in P7 and Fernando Alonso in a morale-boosting P8 for Aston Martin.
Lando Norris sat on team mate Piastri’s tail before the final restart, only to lose control of his McLaren behind the Safety Car and run through the gravel, leaving him to settle for ninth, in front of Racing Bulls rookie and final points finisher Arvid Lindblad.
As has so often been the case this season, Audi driver Nico Hulkenberg just missed out on a reward in 11th, followed by the other Aston Martin of Lance Stroll, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and the Haas machines of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon.
Pierre Gasly almost crashed out during the formation lap on slick tyres, but managed to rejoin the action and eventually finish 16th, ahead of Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, who were involved in a mid-race collision (for which the latter was penalised).
Cadillac’s Sergio Perez was the day’s final finisher in 19th position, given the aforementioned Russell’s heartache, Bottas’ race-ending spin, and another stoppage involving the Williams of Alex Albon, which brought out the late Safety Car.
