Max Verstappen converted pole into the 72nd victory of his career and his first of the season at the 2026 Bahrain GP, held in Malaysia. The race faced a delayed start due to the rain and a software glitch that exposed how the 2026 F1 regulations function in these conditions. Some teams fumbled their strategy calls, while others recovered; some had to pay the price.
Despite its issues, it was an entertaining race, befitting the Sepang International Circuit. We discuss some of the prominent performances in our Biggest Hits and Misses format on The Sports Side.
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Hit: Max Verstappen gets his first win of the season
It was not smooth sailing for the Dutchman, as he lost his pole position to the Mercedes duo at the start. Wet weather, software issues, and safety cars made things more complex than they should have been.
Verstappen looked comfortable from the start of the weekend as he took pole by three-tenths of a second on Saturday. There was a fumble for a brief time when he lost the lead, but he regained it and held off Kimi Antonelli for the victory.
It is also important to understand that this performance gain did not happen all of a sudden. Red Bull has been working on upgrades throughout the season, and it has been a case of trial and error for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Red Bull’s Azerbaijan upgrade was not very effective at the low-downforce Baku track, and Verstappen chased Russell during the final laps of the Azerbaijan GP but had to settle for P2 in Baku. The upgrades proved more effective at Sepang as they unleashed the performance gains.
“It’s always very hard to say why it is, but I think for us anyway, the last few races we have probably understood the car a little bit better, but also the upgrades have pushed some of the weaknesses out of the car,” Verstappen said of the performance.
“There are, of course, always things that you would still like, but we have been adding bits to the car, and they have worked. It’s as simple as that.” The 29-year-old added.
It was also a major moment for Red Bull Powertrains, as they also secured their first-ever win. Red Bull decided to start its own power unit project in consultation with Ford. This year, the team switched to its own power unit, and this win with the team’s own power unit will be very special and serve as a confidence booster.
Miss: George Russell is unable to finish the race, falling further behind
George Russell came to Malaysia after the Azerbaijan win, keen to build momentum, but this proved to be another disastrous weekend for the Briton in what has been a difficult year. He was outqualified by his teammate Kimi Antonelli, who only got one chance in Q3.
Russell’s race ended with a power unit failure; until that moment, he was in P3 and pursuing a podium finish. Blaming Russell entirely for this debacle would not be fair, as the W17 upgrades did not deliver as expected in the tougher Sepang conditions.
The 28-year-old is now in P2, 84 points adrift of championship leader Antonelli.
Hit: Lewis Hamilton secures a podium despite a poor start
Lewis Hamilton had a poor start as Ferrari made the wrong call to start him on slick (soft) tyres on a track that was not fully dry, while intermediate tyres were the right choice. Hamilton himself realised this soon: “As we pulled out [of the pits], all the spray came out the back of Max’s car, and I was like: ‘Okay, I’m done. My race is really in trouble.’”
After falling behind those on the grid who were on intermediates, the Briton felt he had no choice but to commit to his soft tyres. Once the track dried, soft tyres were the right tyres to be on, and he recovered from 16th to fifth. He reduced the 11-second gap to Isack Hadjar to 3.5 seconds. He was on mediums at this point in the race and was struggling, so he pitted to switch to soft tyres again, passed the Red Bull, and ended up on the podium. Safety car timing also favoured the Ferrari driver.
“For us to get back to the podium, I never thought that that was going to be the case,” Hamilton said. He was not shy about openly stating his disagreement with team members over the selection of soft tyres at the start of the race. “I’m not going to go to the casino with the guys,” he added.
Miss: McLaren leaves Malaysia confused
At the start, the grid was divided into two halves: those who decided to start on intermediates and those who started on slicks, which was the wrong decision, as they realised very soon. McLaren was on the wrong side of the strategy call as they started on slicks.
This was quickly rectified on Oscar Piastri’s side of the garage as he was called back and switched to intermediates. The team’s lack of pace, compounded by a poor tyre strategy call, made things more difficult for Norris.
After struggling throughout the race, he was caught out by cars ahead of him behind Russell’s Mercedes under the safety car. This error cost him, as he ended up behind Liam Lawson and Fernando Alonso in P9. Oscar Piastri finished in P6.
After the upgrades, McLaren performed well on high-downforce circuits like Budapest, Zandvoort, and Madrid. Now, it seemed like that pace had vanished. The lack of competitiveness was more of a problem for Norris, who was already struggling with power unit issues that cost him straight-line speed.
Team principal Andrea Stella acknowledged this dip in performance: “The picture changed very rapidly. We have to take a look at our own development. We don’t see any anomaly in our data. But we have to acknowledge that potentially some competitors have developed their car with bigger steps than we did. It’s a very specific condition here in Malaysia, so I think we should give ourselves more time.”
Now, with the next race in Singapore less than a week away, the Woking-based squad has to resolve these issues.
Hit: Fernando Alonso gets best result of the season
Fernando Alonso finished in P8, scoring valuable points. The team started on slicks but was quickly provided with the opportunity to rectify the error when the safety car was deployed. It was his third points finish.
While the Baku circuit exposed Honda’s engine deficit, Sepang’s balance highlighted gains in the chassis department. This shows AMR 26 has made significant improvements.
“There are not many weekends where we can score points, and in those weekends we cannot have any mistakes,” Alonso said. “We cannot lose the opportunity, so we executed well today, so I’m happy for the team, for the points,” He added.
F1’s 2026 season continues this weekend in Singapore.
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