A crazy, rain-delayed Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia finished with Max Verstappen earning Red Bull their first win of the 2026 season at Sepang International Circuit on Sunday.
And Kimi Antonelli's grip on the title race was strengthened when the Italian finished in second place, while his Mercedes teammate George Russell suffered an engine failure with five laps to go – likely ending any lingering hopes the Briton had of winning the drivers' championship.
Antonelli's lead over Russell is now 84 points with seven races to go following a GP that was held up by more than 90 minutes after heavy rain and then confusion over the grid order.
There was also two safety cars following the retirements of Valtteri Bottas and Alex Albon for a race had been rescheduled from April and moved to Malaysia because of the continuing conflict in the Middle East.
Verstappen was the last driver to win in Sepang in 2017 before it was taken off the calendar and the Dutchman, who had also taken pole, gave Red Bull a huge boost despite an early setback when he lost the lead before Turn 1.
The four-time world champion would fight back to earn his first victory since last season's Abu Dhabi GP, finishing less than two-and-a-half seconds ahead of Antonelli, with Lewis Hamilton recovering from a disastrous start that saw him drop down to 18th place to claim third. Hamilton's Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc was fourth.
Red Bull's Isack Hadjar dropped from a podium spot in the last few laps to finish fifth, Oscar Piastri came home sixth ahead of Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls and the Aston Martin of Fernando Norris took eighth place.
“It is a really nice one after the year that we had and the progression that we have made. I am incredibly proud of everyone and it is super nice to win here,” said 29-year-old Verstappen.
“It was very hectic, I mean there was a lot of different things in the start, no power so you have to wait for the power to kick in. But then we made the right call, with the intermediates and after that, step by step we moved our way forwards and from there onwards we can do our own race until the end and then with the safety car, but we kept it all under control.”
Antonelli, meanwhile, had no complaints about falling short of what would been his ninth win of the campaign. “I think that was the maximum we could have done,” said the 20-year-old. “Of course, a massive congrats to Max and Red Bull for the incredible weekend.
“On our side, a lot of work to do. Of course, you know, we've been struggling a bit more than usual but still really happy to come away with P2.
“It was amazing [to race in Sepang] and the fans were incredible this weekend, so thank you so much and hopefully it will come back in the future to Malaysia.”
It was a sensational race for Hamilton who dropped way back after due to an incorrect tyre choice for the wet start as the seven-time champion went on to pass Red Bull's Isack Hadjar for third place with three laps to go, marked by the deafening roars of spectators in Sepang.
“Yeah, well thank you guys,” said the 41-year-old British driver. “Big congratulations to Max. What a tough, tough race that was, we had the wrong call at the beginning which was so difficult and I could just see everyone pulling away and I could see on the screen it was a minute down. And I thought that was the race over for us.
“But, I just kept my head down, the guys did a great job with the pit stops, lots of tyre changes, lots of chasing and honestly of all the years I have been here, this is the best race we have had here. Particularly because of this crowd. Big thank you everyone.”
All that thrilling action came after a farcical start to proceedings as first heavy delayed the race, before a series of technical problems left several cars crawling around on the formation laps on a wet track behind the safety car. It then took more time for race organisers to decide what order the cars should be in when the race did start.
When the action did get under way in the original order, Mercedes duo Antonelli and Russell powered to the front ahead of Verstappen and Hamilton on the front row.
Verstappen would eventually retake the lead when the safety car was brought on to allow marshals to recover the Cadillac of Bottas as the Dutchman immediately passed Antonelli on the restart. It was Verstappen's race to lose from that point and there would be no mistake.
