Max Verstappen converted pole position into victory during Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, which was impacted by heavy rain, featured an entertaining crossover from intermediate tyres to slicks and saw overtaking from start to finish – as well as a dramatic late retirement.
After a delayed start and then a suspended start procedure, as several drivers struggled to maintain speed on the initial formation lap, the race eventually got underway in slippery, mixed conditions – leading to split tyre strategies and plenty of early action.
Polesitter Verstappen fell behind Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and Russell on the run down to Turn 1, with all three drivers running intermediate tyres, but he soon settled into a rhythm and managed to pick off the Silver Arrows either side of a Safety Car that was deployed when Valtteri Bottas spun out.
That Safety Car period represented the ideal window for the intermediate starters to switch to slick tyres, with those who line up on slick compounds getting caught out, and threats of further rain not materialising before the chequered flag.
Verstappen controlled proceedings after working his way back into P1, pulling away from Antonelli and Russell – who had their own battle over second – and navigating a late Virtual Safety Car/Safety Car combination to secure his and Red Bull’s first win of the 2026 campaign.
Antonelli was already set to extend his championship lead over Russell by three points when his teammate dramatically ground to a halt on the start/finish straight behind that final Safety Car, dealing another blow to the Briton’s already slim title chances.
The full top 10 are- P1: Verstappen, P2: Antonelli, P3: Hamilton, P4: Leclerc, P5: Hadjar, P6: Piastri, P7: Lawson, P8: Alonso, P9: Norris and P10: Lindblad.
What a result for Max Verstappen! If you told him at the beginning of the season he would’ve got a win I think he would’ve thought it was very far away, but he did it and he did it in style.
As for his teammate, Hadjar finished 5th, a decent result – a shame he didn’t manage another podium but a very good points haul for the team.
A great result for Antonelli, at the start of the weekend he seemed to have struggled slightly but he managed to make up for it and get on the podium for that all important Championship fight.
Which is on to my next topic – is it still a Championship fight? Russell DNF’ed after it was looking like a decent weekend for him however can he get back mentally strong for these final 7 races… It’s a big ask considering how on form Antonelli has been.
Third for Hamilton, back on the podium again which we love to see – but it does make you think could he have potentially got a bit more if what went wrong didn’t? We will never know…
As for his teammate, Leclerc, he finished closely behind in fourth, so a good points haul for the team!
Sixth for Piastri a good result for him, managed to keep it out of trouble and score some points. As for his teammate, a disappointing weekend with Norris finishing ninth not what they would’ve expected and to see that it was the straightline speed they was struggling with is not ideal.
Double points for the Racing Bulls – Lawson finishing 7th and Lindblad in 10th. Really great result for them considering it’s both of their first time driving at this track.
And rounding out the point scorers, is Mr Fernando Alonso who finished 9th – a really great result for the whole team. Hopefully a step in the right direction!
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