Foreign media praise Verstappen’s Sepang win as race chaos draws criticism

Max Verstappen claimed his first victory of the 2026 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, held at Sepang on 4 October. Foreign coverage ranged from praise for his return to criticism of the race’s chaos and the new F1 cars, as relayed in RacingNews365’s post-race roundups.

After about 300 days, Verstappen was back on the top step, a return La Gazzetta dello Sport celebrated. Marca called his drive a masterclass and described him as the best F1 driver of the past decade; AS cast the win as new hope for a sport it said was facing an identity crisis.

The BBC praised Verstappen’s dominant performance. The Guardian said the chaotic start did not detract from the win and predicted it would rank among the sweetest of his career.

Other coverage had a less celebratory focus. La Gazzetta described the race as chaotic and turbulent; the Daily Mail used the headline “Formula Farce” and argued that the new-generation cars were not fit for purpose. The Telegraph separately questioned whether F1’s increasingly complex machinery had become too sophisticated.

Verstappen’s win was also the first Formula 1 victory for the Red Bull Ford Powertrains project. De Telegraaf saw the milestone as validation for the project. Laurent Mekies noted that many people had once believed it would never work.