Max Verstappen dominates in Malaysia: 'Incredibly proud'

Published on 04 October 2026 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen has won the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. In a spectacular race on the Sepang circuit, battling changeable and chaotic conditions, the four-time world champion drove his way to his first win of the season. Thanks to the win, he’s shy just 26 points of third place in the championship. Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton completed the top three.

Max celebrates on his team radio moments after crossing the finish line: “72 mate! Amazing work guys. What a fantastic weekend!” After jumping out of the car, he tells the cameras: “It’s a really nice one after the year that we’ve had and the progression we’ve made. So yeah, I’m incredibly proud of everyone, and it’s super nice to win here.”

He explains a little as to his problems at the start of the race: “The start was hectic, with a lot of different things — no power, you had to wait for the power to kick in. But we made the right call, with the intermediates. After that, step by step, we moved our way forwards. From there we could do our own race, until the end. Of course there was the safety car, but we kept it all under control.”

He also has some congratulatory words for the Red Bull power train: “It’s incredible. To win a race in our first year with our own powertrain is pretty impressive.”

An intense downpour delayed the start of the race by forty minutes. At 9:40, all drivers headed out on intermediates in the hope of resuming the race, but with little luck. Multiple drivers struggle with technical problems which prevent them from accelerating. Max, too, is battling technical issues, but he manages to stay on track and keep pushing forward. The issues force the FIA to further delay the race start, and the drivers duck back into the pits.

Finally, the race kicks off at 10:33 with a standing start. Oracle Red Bull Racing and Mercedes elect to head out on inters, while a number of drivers start on slicks, including Lewis Hamilton who is starting on P2. Max gets a relatively clean getaway, but both Mercedes have a lightning-quick start. Kimi Antonelli takes the race lead and George Russell also shuffles through to P2. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) looks to pass Max but doesn’t pull off the move, and the four-time world champion hunkers down in P3 for the time being.

The drivers starting on slicks start to drop further and further back down the field. The track is still too wet, and Hamilton loses about sixteen seconds a lap. All top fourteen drivers are on inters, while those drivers on slicks follow at a noticeable distance.

In lap six, Max is in Russell’s rear view mirror and catches the Brit in an impressive overtake maneuver executed over the first couple of corners. Oracle Red Bull Racing-teammate Isack Hadjar has, in the meantime, also been promoted to P4. Just when Max puts his head down to catch the lead, Valterri Bottas crashes off the track. A safety car heads out, and all the drivers on inters head in to change to slicks. The Red Bulls choose softs, while the Mercedes-drivers go onto medium tyres. Both teams have more than enough time to execute the switch; their closest competition are over 70 seconds behind.

In lap 13 the safety car retires. Max immediately resumes his hunt for the lead, and manages to overtake Antonelli shortly after. A couple of turns later, Russell also passes his teammate. Russell’s small win is, however, short-lived, as Antonelli rovertakes him for P2 in lap 21. Meanwhile, Max shoots off into the distance, and increases his lead to five seconds. The McLarens and Ferraris are slowly transitioning to the dry conditions, and seem to be making gains on the track. Hamilton especially has found some secret speed, and is soon cruising in fifth place.

Max continues to drive an impressive race and increases his lead. As he makes his pitstop in lap 34, he’s at least ten seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. Max again chooses the softs, and Russell and Antonelli follow suit this time.

In lap 43 Alex Albon (Williams) is forced to retire his car due to gearbox problems, summoning a virtual safety car. Max makes a quick pit stop and switches to yet another set of softs. He briefly sacrifices his race lead, but a lap later Antonelli also pits. Eventually, the VSC transitions to a real safety car. A lap before the safety car heads in, Russell’s car succumbs to an unknown car issue and he’s forced to retire. Meanwhile, Lando Norris shoots off track, and drops down to eleventh place.

In lap 52, the track is freed for racing once more. Max has a strong restart and maintains the lead. Hadjar, who was cruising in P3 thanks to Russell’s retirement, loses two positions to the Ferraris and drops down into fifth place.

Max flies to the end of the race, Antonelli hot on his heels, and is the first across the line for the first time in the 2026 season. He wins the Bahrain Grand Prix, hosted by Malaysia, which markes his second win on the Sepang circuit, and the 72nd win of his career. The fans commemorate Max’s drive by naming him ‘Driver of the Day’.

Results Grand Prix Bahrain: