Verstappen wins as Russell retires from chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia after 91-minute rain delay
Max Verstappen won an eventful Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia from Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton, in a Sepang special packed with wet weather delays, Safety Cars, recovery drives and late drama with George Russell's power unit-related retirement.
Race Report
After a 40-minute delayed start due to heavy rains, we had the first formation lap behind the Safety Car, but bizarre software problems on that lap for Hamilton, and presumably Verstappen and a few others on the grid as well meant that the formation lap went completely haywire.
Several cars stayed behind a slow moving Hamilton, Hadjar had a trip through the gravel, Norris went off at Turn 13, and several cars outright stopped on track. The chaos forced Race Control to suspend the start procedure, throwing a red flag and further delaying the race start after the downpour.
After yet another lengthy delay, the track now fully drying up, another start time was issued, an hour and a half after the original start time.
As the tyres were revealed during the formation lap, Verstappen was on the intermediates, Hamilton on the softs, Antonelli on the intermediates, Leclerc on the softs, while McLaren and Aston Martin pairs were on the mediums.
Meanwhile, Pierre Gasly on the softs went off the track and dropped down four places to 13th. A standing start was issued, as drivers like Sergio Pérez bailed out of the slicks and swapped to the intermediate tyres.
Other drivers to bail out included Oscar Piastri and Gabriel Bortoleto, peeling into the pits ahead of the start.
At the start of the race, the Ferraris immediately dropped off, as Mercedes charged to the front. Antonelli took the lead of the race ahead of Russell. After the melee of the race start, the top 10 was occupied by Antonelli, Russell, Verstappen, Liam Lawson, Isack Hadjar, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Ocon, Arvid Lindblad and Oscar Piastri who had managed to climb back into the points despite pitting.
Those who had taken the gamble for the softs were immediately proven wrong, as the intermediate runners surged ahead, forcing the likes of Leclerc to pit (after contact with Nico Hülkenberg), while Hamilton wanted to risk staying out.
On Lap 6, Verstappen passed Russell for second as Antonelli continued to lead the race. His teammate Hadjar also made a move, this time on junior team driver Lawson for fourth after starting eighth.
Three laps later, Verstappen began piling the pressure upon Antonelli, the Mercedes driver going wide but managing to keep the Dutchman at bay.
On Lap 9, Valtteri Bottas beached his Cadillac in the gravel, bringing out a full Safety Car. All those drivers on the intermediates dove into the pits to take on slick tyres. The Mercedes pair bolted on the medium compound, while Verstappen and Hadjar took the softs.
The following lap behind the Safety Car, the order was led by Antonelli from Verstappen, Russell, Hadjar, Lawson, Ocon, Lindblad, Sainz, Bortoleto and Piastri.
On Lap 12 of 55, we returned to green flag racing with Antonelli leading the grid but Verstappen chased him around the outside into Turn 1 in a wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead. Antonelli held on into Turn 2, but Verstappen trapped him and took the lead of the race, as Russell too passed his teammate for second.
Further back, Bortoleto and Sainz had an unfortunate restart as they dropped down to the back of the grid from the points positions after contact, Bortoleto receiving a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
Meanwhile, Hamilton had begun clawing his way back up, overtaking the midfield cars and slotting into ninth by Lap 16. The Ferrari driver’s charge continued as he climbed up to seventh with clean overtakes. “Seventh, we are back in the game”, was the message on Hamilton’s radio.
Soon enough, Antonelli became impatient and urged his team for a switch, claiming he had more pace, to which he was met with a negative. Antonelli then took matters into his own hands, showing off the pace that he had with a pass on his teammate for second.
In the lead, Verstappen was five seconds clear of the field on the softs.
On Lap 25, Antonelli went too deep into the final corner and hit a bollard, allowing Russell to close in again.
Meanwhile, the only driver on track yet to pit was Hamilton on the softs, now up to fifth behind Hadjar. His teammate Leclerc chose to pit from eighth, taking on another set of softs and rejoining the track in 13th.
On Lap 32, Hamilton finally boxed, following Hadjar into the pitlane. The two drivers rejoined in sixth and seventh, Hadjar the lead driver on softs and Hamilton on mediums.
The top three were also called into the pits, the order after this cycle of stops led by Verstappen and followed by Antonelli, Russell, Hadjar, Hamilton, Leclerc, Lawson, Piastri, Norris and Lindblad.
As the laps ticked down, overtakes were being made across the field, Hülkenberg making a memorable one on both Lance Stroll and Ocon to move into 12th.
Meanwhile, Alonso entered the top 10 with a vintage move on Lindblad, on course for a third points finish this season.
The key battle on track was between Hadjar and Hamilton for fourth, three tenths separating the two on Lap 40 as they scrapped corner after corner with Hadjar keeping his elbows out, much to the Ferrari driver’s frustration.
On Lap 43, Albon’s gearbox broke down, the Thai driver then stopping on track to bring out the Virtual Safety Car (VSC).
Verstappen, Hamilton and Leclerc opted to pit, promoting Antonelli to the race lead. Reacting to the other stops, Mercedes called both their drivers in too, returning the race lead to Verstappen.
The VSC continued into Lap 45, but the following lap, a full Safety Car was ordered, giving McLaren the chance to double stack.
The order behind the Safety Car was Verstappen, Antonelli, Russell, Hadjar, Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Lawson and Alonso.
On Lap 50, drama continued as Russell stopped on track with a PU issue, his championship hopes crumbling away with surety. Meanwhile, Norris went off the road into the gravel but managed to hang onto 11th.
The following lap, the Safety Car duration finally ended, as Verstappen took us back racing. Lawson immediately pounced on Piastri for sixth, but the Australian driver quickly reclaimed the position.
Meanwhile, Hadjar found himself in third with Hamilton breathing down his neck with three laps to go. Hamilton’s efforts were rewarded as he climbed onto the podium with a masterclass move on Hadjar, much to the crowd’s delight who cheered the pass with a deafening roar.
Leclerc followed his teammate’s wheel tracks on the penultimate lap with a pass on Hadjar for fourth.
The final lap saw Verstappen secure his win, a first of this season and a first for the Red Bull Ford power unit. Antonelli followed in second with Hamilton punching in a classic recovery drive after Ferrari's strategy misfire to finish on the podium.
Leclerc, Hadjar, Piastri, Lawson, Alonso, Norris and Lindblad completed the top 10; Norris recovering some lost positions and Alonso scoring his best finish of 2026.
More to follow.
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