Max fastest in first free practice at Sepang

Published on 02 October 2026 by Misha van der Kroon

Max Verstappen has finished the first free practice session ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix as fastest. Due to tensions in the Gulf region, Formula 1 is returning to Sepang for the first time since 2017, with the race set to take place at the circuit where Max won the last edition. At the 5.543-kilometre Sepang International Circuit, George Russell set the second-fastest time in his Mercedes, ahead of Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull in P3. The two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton complete the top five.

At the start of the session, the air temperature is 31 degrees, while the track temperature is 52 degrees. With a 0% chance of rain, there is little prospect of wet weather during the session. Franco Colapinto is the first driver to head out when the lights go green. The vast majority of the field takes to the track on the medium tyres. Max is also out early and begins his first laps on the soft tyres. He immediately sets the fastest time on them.

The lap times continue to tumble, with Max also improving and staying ahead of both Mercedes drivers. Charles Leclerc reports over the team radio that tyre degradation is enormous. This appears to be the case across the field, as the pace of improvement slows considerably after the opening phase.

Halfway through the session, Max is still fastest, ahead of Mercedes driver Russell, with Arvid Lindblad in third. This changes shortly afterwards when Hadjar jumps to the top while Max is still in the pits.

When Max heads out for the second time, he does so on a new set of soft tyres. On those tyres, he retakes P1 from Russell, who had taken over at the top from Hadjar a few minutes earlier. At Mercedes, Kimi Antonelli is still unable to match his teammate Russell’s pace. The young Italian, who has spent a long time in the pits, is more than half a second off the Brit.

Whether Max can hold on to P1 until the end remains to be seen, as he begins a race simulation on the soft tyres in the final quarter of the session, meaning we are unlikely to see any further improvement from him. The same applies to the competition, with mostly yellow sector times indicating that the drivers are also no longer pushing for outright pace and are busy with their long runs.

Looking at the lap times, a few things stand out. Both McLarens are outside the top ten, while Antonelli has a significant deficit to his Mercedes teammate Russell. That brings the first free practice session to an end, with the second session later in the day expected to bring some rain.

Results first free practice Bahrain: