Max Verstappen overcame a truly chaotic, twice-delayed, rain-affected race to claim his first win of the 2026 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, while Kimi Antonelli strengthened his title bid with second place as George Russell retired late on.
Formula 1’s return to Sepang after a nine-year absence provided the most remarkable race day of the season as heavy rain before the start finally delivered the campaign’s first wet-weather action at its 16th round.
The start time was twice pushed back by delays before the 55 laps were twice disrupted by Safety Cars. Verstappen beat Antonelli to victory, while Lewis Hamilton fought back from dropping to 18th after a Ferrari tyre-strategy gamble backfired to claim a stunning third place.
“That is one of the craziest Formula 1 races I have ever seen,” said a disbelieving Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle after the chequered flag fell almost three and a half hours after the scheduled race-start time.
“That was absolutely wild.”
Russell was running third behind Mercedes team-mate Antonelli under a late Safety Car but was forced to retire with a suspected power-unit problem.
The Briton’s deficit to Antonelli has widened to a season-high 84 points with only seven rounds remaining.
Although he lost the lead from pole when the race eventually got under way, Verstappen fought back to reclaim first place and had built a lead of more than 10 seconds over Antonelli before the second Safety Car was deployed in the closing stages.
Verstappen capped an impressive weekend with his first win since last year’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 72nd victory of his career.
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Watch Lewis Hamilton drop to P15 as Mercedes claim the lead at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Hamilton had dropped more than a minute off the lead from second on the grid after Ferrari were among those caught out on slick tyres when the race finally got under way, with the track still too slippery for dry-weather rubber.
But a timely first Safety Car closed the pack back up, allowing the Briton to recover. Hamilton then showed blistering pace and passed Isack Hadjar late on to claim third.
Charles Leclerc also overtook Hadjar in the closing laps to demote the second Red Bull to fifth, while Oscar Piastri finished sixth for McLaren after his own topsy-turvy race.
More to follow…
Formula 1 heads straight to Singapore for the last Sprint weekend of the season with track action starting this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
