- Verstappen Ends 2026 Drought With Victory in Chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix
Max Verstappen claimed his first Formula One victory of the 2026 season after surviving heavy rain, two delayed starts and changing track conditions to win a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix staged at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.
The Red Bull driver recovered from losing the lead at the start to finish ahead of Mercedes championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton produced a remarkable recovery from 18th place to complete the podium.
Verstappen’s victory was his first since the 2025 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 72nd of his Formula One career. It also delivered Red Bull’s first victory of the season and its first with its own power-unit operation.
“It’s a really nice one after the year that we’ve had and the progression that we’ve made,” Verstappen said. “I’m incredibly proud of everyone.”
The result capped Formula One’s return to Sepang after a nine-year absence. The Malaysian circuit hosted the Bahrain Grand Prix as a replacement event following disruption to the original Formula One calendar caused by conflict in the Middle East.
The race began more than 90 minutes later than scheduled after torrential rain swept across the circuit. A software problem affecting the energy-management systems of several cars then caused further confusion during the formation laps, with some drivers slowing dramatically or stopping on the track.
The FIA later described the problem as an “unprecedented” combination of low engine speeds, low-grip conditions, wet-weather energy settings and Sepang’s sector configuration. Officials distributed an updated software release to teams during the delay.
When racing finally began, Verstappen made a poor getaway from pole position.
Antonelli accelerated through the middle to take the lead, while George Russell moved from seventh on the grid to second, briefly putting the two Mercedes cars ahead of Verstappen.
The Dutchman began his recovery on lap six, passing Russell at Turn Four before closing on Antonelli.
A safety-car period triggered when Valtteri Bottas spun his Cadillac into the gravel allowed Verstappen to reduce the gap and switch tyres. He remained close to Antonelli at the restart before overtaking the Italian at Turn Three.
Russell followed past his Mercedes teammate moments later, but Antonelli regained second place on lap 21.
Verstappen subsequently controlled the race and established a lead of more than 10 seconds before another safety-car intervention compressed the field during the closing stages.
“That is one of the craziest Formula One races I have ever seen,” Sky Sports F1 analyst Martin Brundle said after the finish. “That was absolutely wild.”
Hamilton’s third-place finish followed a disastrous opening phase in which Ferrari’s decision to start him on slick tyres proved unsuitable for the wet track.
The seven-time world champion fell from second on the grid to 18th and more than a minute behind the race leader.
“Obviously, we had the wrong call at the beginning,” Hamilton said. “I thought that was kind of race over for us.”
A timely safety-car intervention brought him back into contention. Hamilton then used strong pace and effective pit stops to climb through the field before passing Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar during the final sprint to the chequered flag.
Charles Leclerc recovered from the back of the field to finish fourth after overtaking Hadjar with two laps remaining. Hadjar took fifth, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.
Liam Lawson finished seventh, while Fernando Alonso secured Aston Martin’s best result of the season in eighth.
The most consequential development for the championship came five laps from the finish when Russell retired with a suspected power-unit failure.
The Briton had been running third and remained Antonelli’s closest rival in the standings. His retirement allowed Hamilton onto the podium and left Antonelli with an 84-point championship lead with seven rounds remaining.
Antonelli’s second-place finish lifted him to 302 points, compared with Russell’s 218. Hamilton moved into third in the standings on 199 points.
“Today was the maximum we could have done,” Antonelli said after holding off Hamilton during the closing laps. “We’ve been struggling a bit more than usual, but still really happy to come away with P2.”
The combination of Antonelli’s consistency and Russell’s reliability problems is beginning to alter the nature of the title contest. What had appeared to be a close fight between the Mercedes teammates is becoming increasingly one-sided as the season approaches its final stages.
For Verstappen, the victory came too late to revive a realistic championship challenge, but it demonstrated that Red Bull has made tangible progress after spending much of the season behind Mercedes and Ferrari.
The wider concern for Formula One will be the technical failure that disrupted the start. Drivers warned that unpredictable power delivery in poor visibility could have caused a serious collision.
Verstappen described the formation-lap scenes as “insane”, while Hamilton said he had been forced to stop on the track, shut down his engine and restart it—something he had never previously experienced in Formula One.
The race ultimately delivered the season’s most dramatic afternoon. But behind Verstappen’s return to victory and Hamilton’s recovery lies a more uncomfortable question for Formula One: whether the complexity of its new power-unit technology is beginning to undermine the racing it was designed to improve.
