Verstappen wins Bahrain GP in Malaysia as Antonelli extends lead

Max Verstappen won the rain-delayed 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at Sepang on Sunday, beating Kimi Antonelli by 2.307 seconds. It was Verstappen’s first win of the season and the first Grand Prix victory for Red Bull Ford Powertrains. Antonelli finished second; Russell’s retirement while running third left Antonelli 84 points ahead of his Mercedes team-mate in the championship.

Verstappen led FP1 on Friday, with Charles Leclerc fastest in FP2 and Antonelli in FP3. Verstappen then took pole in qualifying on Saturday. Hadjar qualified third, but a five-place penalty for an additional power-unit element put him eighth on the final grid and promoted Antonelli to third. Russell, who qualified eighth, started seventh.

Sunday’s scheduled 15:00 local start was delayed by heavy rain. Several cars then suffered power problems while moving very slowly behind the Safety Car during the formation-lap sequence, forcing Race Control to suspend the procedure and restore the original grid order. The field set off again behind the Safety Car at 16:33, then lined up for a standing start after two laps.

FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis later attributed the stoppages to an FIA-supplied software bug triggered by very low speeds and cars bunching together. He said the problem prevented power from being redeployed, linked it to wet-condition electrical-power reductions and said the emergency update overrode some reductions in affected sectors.

Verstappen said his engine had no power at the start and he had to wait for it to return. Hamilton said his power did not come back until he stopped and restarted his Ferrari. Lawson said his radio was not working before the formation lap and that a pit-board instruction restored it. Alonso called the original-grid reset unfair, while acknowledging that he lacked all the information and would understand stopping for safety.

Pirelli said nine drivers began on Intermediates, with the rest choosing Soft or Medium slicks. Ferrari started on Softs and McLaren on Mediums; Verstappen, Antonelli and Russell were among the Intermediate starters. Piastri switched to Intermediates early, while Norris stayed on Mediums.

At the standing start, Antonelli and Russell passed polesitter Verstappen. Russell, starting seventh, quickly moved into second. Bottas qualified 21st and started 19th; on Softs, he spun on the damp track and triggered the first Safety Car. He retired after seven laps.

Verstappen had already passed Russell on Lap 6. The Safety Car gave the Intermediate runners a chance to switch to slicks: Mercedes chose Mediums, while Red Bull put Verstappen and Hadjar on Softs. At the restart, Verstappen passed Antonelli around the outside at Turn 1 and completed the move at Turn 2; Russell also passed his team-mate at Turn 5. Antonelli regained second from Russell on Lap 21, but Verstappen was then about five seconds up the road.

Ferrari’s slick start sent both drivers towards the back of the order. Leclerc damaged his front wing in contact with Hülkenberg and pitted for a replacement; Race Control later reported no further investigation into the Turn 9 incident. Hamilton stayed out on Softs and began recovering places. He said he saw a one-minute deficit on the screen and thought his race was over, but he recovered to third. Pirelli lists Hamilton’s strategy as Soft–Medium–Soft.

McLaren could not match the pace at the front: Piastri finished sixth and Norris ninth. Norris estimated that the team’s straight-line-speed deficit cost almost two tenths per lap, while also saying he could have done better. Team principal Andrea Stella assessed McLaren’s car package as fourth in performance terms and said that even perfect decisions would not have lifted Piastri above sixth.

Albon had qualified 20th and started 18th, but reached the top ten on Intermediates before his Williams stopped after 41 laps. He said a gearbox problem ended his race. The stoppage brought a Virtual Safety Car at 17:53 and a full Safety Car at 17:58. Verstappen stopped during the VSC on Lap 43 and Antonelli a lap later; the full Safety Car bunched the field.

Russell was running third when his Mercedes stopped ahead of Turn 1 under the late Safety Car, after 49 laps. Mercedes described the problem as an apparent power-unit failure.

Norris ran through the gravel as the field bunched behind the Safety Car, dropping out of the top ten before recovering to ninth. At the final restart, Verstappen kept Antonelli behind. Hamilton passed Hadjar for third on Lap 53 and Leclerc followed a lap later, leaving Hadjar fifth. Hadjar said he lacked power for two laps after the restart and believed a podium was possible; separately, he said he thought the issue was on the chassis side and the power unit was fine.

Piastri finished sixth, Lawson seventh, Alonso eighth, Norris ninth and Lindblad tenth; Hülkenberg was 11th. Lindblad climbed from 22nd on the grid to 10th, while Colapinto went from 21st to 13th.

Stewards’ decisions

The stewards found Bortoleto wholly responsible for his Turn 2 collision with Sainz and imposed a ten-second penalty; Sainz finished 17th and Bortoleto 18th. They reprimanded Norris for erratic driving behind the Safety Car, but found no Safety Car overtake and judged his rejoin safe. In a separate pit-entry decision, they took no further action against Albon, finding he slowed to comply with the required delta time; Piastri had to brake and take avoiding action, but there was no contact. Audi was fined €30,000, with €20,000 suspended, after a premature green signal created an unsafe situation; the stewards found it was not an unsafe release.

After Sepang, Antonelli had 320 championship points and Russell 236, an 84-point gap. Norris was fifth and Verstappen sixth on 188 points apiece; McLaren had 316 constructors’ points and Red Bull 298. Seven rounds remained in the 2026 season.

Update 5 October 2026

Antonelli told media including RacingNews365 that Verstappen positioned his car better at the restart on slicks and had a better feel for the grip through the opening two corners. He said being overtaken annoyed him, but that he could learn from the move.

Autosport’s chronological account distinguishes a 40-minute rain delay from the subsequent 53-minute red-flag stoppage caused by the software problem.