Max Verstappen won the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit, taking his first Formula 1 victory of the season. The Red Bull driver converted pole position into a win after the start was delayed by more than 90 minutes because of heavy rain. Official results placed Kimi Antonelli second and Lewis Hamilton third. Verstappen completed 55 laps and finished 2.307 seconds ahead of Antonelli, with Hamilton 4.919 seconds behind the winner.
The unusual combination of the race name and location came from a special arrangement on the 2026 calendar. The Bahrain Grand Prix was staged at Sepang in Malaysia. Formula 1’s official records list the event for October 2–4, with the race completed on October 4. Both the FIA and Formula 1 identify the venue as the Sepang International Circuit.
Weather shaped the start procedure. Standing water made the circuit unsafe at the scheduled time, forcing a delay, and an initial attempt to begin was later suspended. When the field finally started in slippery, changing conditions, teams split between intermediate and slick tyre strategies. Pole-sitter Verstappen lost positions to Mercedes drivers Antonelli and George Russell on the run to the first corner but settled into a rhythm and recovered the places.
Formula 1’s race report said Verstappen passed Russell and Antonelli to retake the lead. A Safety Car following a spin by Valtteri Bottas created an important opportunity for drivers who had started on intermediate tyres to switch to slicks. The expected additional rain did not arrive, the circuit became faster, and Verstappen gained control of the race at the front.
Late Virtual Safety Car and Safety Car periods compressed the gaps again. Russell, who had been running third, retired with five laps remaining because of a suspected power-unit problem. His retirement helped championship leader Antonelli increase his advantage with a second-place finish. Reuters reported that Antonelli’s lead over his closest rival and Mercedes teammate Russell grew to 84 points.
Hamilton’s third place followed a recovery from an unsuccessful opening strategy. The Ferrari driver started on slick tyres, a choice that did not work in the wet early phase, and dropped as low as 18th. As conditions evolved, Hamilton moved back through the field and reached the podium. Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc finished fourth, while Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar took fifth.
The rest of the official top 10 was Oscar Piastri in sixth, Liam Lawson seventh, Fernando Alonso eighth, Lando Norris ninth and Arvid Lindblad tenth. Verstappen’s result was also Red Bull’s first race victory of the 2026 season and the first Formula 1 win for Red Bull Ford Powertrains. The FIA highlighted the result as the team’s breakthrough victory in its new power-unit era.
The Sepang result also carried personal history for Verstappen. He won the last Malaysian Grand Prix held at the circuit in 2017 before Sepang left the Formula 1 calendar. Nine years later, he returned to the same track and won another rain-affected race, this time under the Bahrain Grand Prix title and during the later stages of the championship season.
Under the official scoring, Verstappen collected 25 points, Antonelli 18 and Hamilton 15. The finishing order and gaps were confirmed through FIA and Formula 1 records. The championship consequences will continue into the next race weekend, while the defining features of Sepang were the long weather delay, contrasting tyre strategies, repeated Safety Car periods and Russell’s late retirement.
