Now, that was a proper race. Max Verstappen clawed his way to a brilliant victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, converting pole position into Red Bull's first win of the 2026 campaign during a wild afternoon of heavy rain, chaotic strategy calls, and non-stop overtaking.
Here is the thing about this race: it started with absolute madness. A massive thunderstorm soaked the Sepang International Circuit just an hour before lights out, forcing Race Control to delay the start as the Medical Car slithered around in deep standing water. When we finally got going, the conditions were properly treacherous. Verstappen actually dropped behind the Mercedes pair of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell on the run to Turn 1 after they all rolled out on intermediate tyres. But the beast of a machine that is the Red Bull eventually settled in. Verstappen picked off the Silver Arrows either side of a Safety Car deployed for Valtteri Bottas spinning out, and once he got back to P1, he controlled the show.
That Safety Car window completely flipped the strategy. The inter runners dived for slick tyres, leaving anyone who foolishly started on slicks completely stranded at the back. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were the high-profile victims of that early slick gamble, but what a recovery they staged. Both Ferrari drivers put on stunning comeback drives to climb all the way to P3 and P4 respectively. Isack Hadjar slipped from third to fifth late on as Hamilton and Leclerc charged through, followed by McLaren's Oscar Piastri in P6, Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson in P7, and a morale-boosting P8 for Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin.
Further down, Lando Norris bottled a chance right before the final restart, locking up and launching his McLaren through the gravel to cross the line ninth ahead of Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad. Audi's Nico Hulkenberg missed out on the points in 11th, trailed by Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto, Ollie Bearman, and Esteban Ocon. Pierre Gasly nearly binned it on the formation lap on slicks before recovering to 16th, ahead of Carlos Sainz and Gabriel Bortoleto—who picked up a penalty for a mid-race crash together—with Sergio Perez finishing 19th.
The real heartbreak, though, was reserved for the end. Russell and Antonelli had been scrapping hard over second place. Antonelli was already set to extend his championship lead, but then Russell's car ground to a halt on the start/finish straight right behind a late Virtual Safety Car and Safety Car combination. That stoppage, triggered by Alex Albon's Williams, handed Verstappen a clear run to the flag and dealt another massive blow to Russell's slim title hopes.
