Max Verstappen is back, Verstappen wins in Malaysia

Leading into Sunday

Heading into the weekend, Mercedes was expected to come out on top once again as they have dominated most of the season so far. However, as Kimi Antonelli has taken over the championship, Max Verstappen took first place in free practice, claiming the fastest lap. In the following free practice sessions in FP2 and FP3, Verstappen was consistently one of the fastest drivers on the track. Heading into qualifying, Verstappen was looked at as one of the faster drivers, as he was the last winner at the Sepang circuit. In all three qualifying sessions, Max was the top of the leaderboard and claimed pole position on Saturday claiming his first pole position of the season and his first since Abu Dhabi 2025. He would start in the front row alongside Lewis Hamilton.

Chaos at the start

Before everything got going, the race was supposed to start at 3 PM local time; however, heavy rain hit Sepang and delayed the start by 40 minutes. Once the race got going, Max Verstappen, who had lost power and couldn’t accelerate properly, and Lewis Hamilton, who started second, had the same problem. Hamilton said that he was pressing the throttle, and nothing was happening. Ferrari reported it was a software issue. A bunch of other cars had the same issue, and everyone went back to the pits.

A Chaotic Restart

At the start of the race, Mercedes took control as they made the right call on the tires and were in the lead. McLaren and Ferrari went on slick tires; this gamble ultimately destroyed Lewis Hamilton’s race early. Later on, when the circuit dried, Max stayed composed and controlled the race with the Mercedes drivers fighting behind him; meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton began an incredible recovery drive, picking off cars one by one and dragging himself back into contention, and by lap 21 he moved up to P5. The Mercedes strategy put them in a position to challenge Max, but he was extremely strong after the safety car period. Verstappen had a marginal lead over the pack.

A Fantastic Finish

Later in the race around about lap 41 Alex Albon ‘s Williams had a gearbox problem and stopped on track, which brought out a virtual safety car. This was huge for Max as he was allowed to pit without losing much time; however, temporarily Antonelli took the lead, but both of them Mercedes drivers double-stacked in the pits as Max got back the lead. The situation got even more dramatic as Albon’s car was stranded. It couldn’t be immediately cleared, and they waited for a full safety car. On lap 50, George Russell suffered a power unit failure and pulled to the side. Someone who had been fighting from the front and was in championship contention was out of the race. This changed the final part of the race; however, the result was still the same, as Max Verstappen kept the lead at the restart and never looked back, winning. Following Verstappen was Kimi Antonelli in second and Lewis Hamilton in third.

This was Verstappen’s first win of the 2026 season and his 72nd victory in Formula One, his first since Abu Dhabi 2025, and with the win in Sepang he took the record for the longest gap between two victories at the same circuit, with the last time he won in Malaysia being in 2017 (nine years ago), surpassing Nigel Mansell’s record of a seven-year gap between wins at the Kyalami circuit (1985-1992). This is Red Bull Ford power train’s first Formula One victory in its first season as the Red Bull's works power unit program.

Standings After Bahrain GP in Malaysia