F1 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia results: Verstappen ends win drought in Sepang

Max Verstappen claimed his first Formula 1 victory of the season, and a career 72nd, at the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, recovering from a difficult opening lap to beat Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton in an enthralling wet-dry race.

After the original starting procedure was suspended when several drivers pulled over to the side of the track with technical glitches, the Red Bull driver started from pole but slipped into the pack.

Verstappen soon recovered, passing both Mercedes drivers to retake the lead. He remained out front through the final stages, surviving several Safety Cars to take the chequered flag first.

Antonelli finished second for Mercedes, while Hamilton completed a remarkable recovery to third after dropping as low as 18th in the opening laps. Arvid Lindblad also recovered well and finished tenth, with Oliver Bearman in 14th.

George Russell looked set for another strong result before retiring from third place, while Lando Norris recovered from the back after an early slick tyre gamble to finish ninth.

Full summary of the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia results

• Max Verstappen won the Malaysian Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton.
• Lando Norris took ninth and Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.
• Oliver Bearman finished 14th, while George Russell was forced to retire after running third.

2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia results

Verstappen fights back to claim 72nd F1 victory

Verstappen started from pole but slipped into the pack and emerged from the opening corners in third. Russell came under pressure from Verstappen at the start of Lap 6, with the Dutchman making the move for second.

Two laps later, he had closed onto Antonelli's rear wing and began hounding the Mercedes. The Safety Car at the end of Lap 9 gave Verstappen another opportunity, allowing him to switch to soft tyres and restart second, before attacking Antonelli into Turn 1 and completing the move around the outside through Turn 3.

Verstappen later stopped again on Lap 34 for another set of soft tyres and retained the lead. Another Safety Car on Lap 43 brought him back into the pits for another tyre change, before one final restart.

From there, Verstappen pulled clear over the final three laps to secure his 72nd career victory.

Antonelli settles for second after leading early

Antonelli made the perfect getaway from third on the grid, sweeping into the lead at Turn 1.

The Mercedes driver held off Verstappen's pressure through the opening phase of the race and remained in front until the first Safety Car.

After switching to medium tyres, Antonelli restarted in the lead but lost out to both Verstappen and Russell during the first lap of the restart.

He recovered well, retaking second from Russell on Lap 21 before making his own second stop on Lap 34 for soft tyres.
Antonelli restarted second and remained there through the final stages, securing another podium finish to extend his lead in the championship to 84 points.

Hamilton completes remarkable recovery to take third

Starting second, Hamilton ran into trouble on the formation lap and had to pull over, rebooting the onboard systems to get the car moving again. He then struggled badly on slick tyres while much of the field ran wets, falling all the way to 18th by the first Safety Car on Lap 9.

Hamilton switched to soft tyres and restarted 15th, beginning a concerted recovery effort. He climbed to 13th on the restart, reached ninth by Lap 16 and by Lap 30, he was fifth.

After switching to mediums under Safety Car, Hamilton restarted fourth following Russell's retirement and spent the closing laps hunting down Hadjar.

With three laps remaining, Hamilton finally made his move, passing Hadjar into Turn 1 on Lap 53 to take third and complete a spectacular comeback drive.

Russell's strong run ends in retirement

Russell started seventh but surged into second at Turn 1. He remained there until Verstappen passed him on Lap 6 and later pitted under the first Safety Car, switching to medium tyres.

Russell restarted third and immediately regained second from Mercedes team-mate Antonelli through the high-speed chicane.

Despite being overhauled by Antonelli on Lap 21, he remained in contention with his team-mate deep into the race, but his afternoon came to an abrupt end while running third.

Under the Safety Car, Russell pulled over to the side of the track and retired, surrendering what had looked set to be another strong points haul.

Norris recovers to ninth after difficult opening

Norris started fifth but, like Hamilton, was one of the biggest losers off the start. Gambling on slick tyres while most of the field opted for wets, the McLaren driver slipped all the way down to 17th after the first lap.

He had recovered to 15th when the Safety Car appeared on Lap 9, and restarted 17th after a switch to hard tyres.

From there, Norris steadily worked his way forward, reaching 14th after the restart, 12th by Lap 21 and eighth by Lap 30.

He briefly climbed as high as fourth while others ahead pitted, but pitted himself for soft tyres ahead of Lap 41. Norris then suffered another setback when he went off at Turn 1 under the Safety Car, dropping to 11th.

Following the restart, he recovered to ninth and held that position to the finish.

Lindblad scores again as Bearman finishes 14th

Lindblad started from the back of the grid in 22nd but produced a strong recovery drive. The Racing Bulls driver made significant early progress and was eighth by the time the first Safety Car was deployed on Lap 9. He switched to hard tyres and restarted seventh.

Lindblad eventually slipped back to 14th by Lap 30, but fought his way back through the field once again and was 12th by Lap 43.

A strong restart late in the race saw Lindblad eventually take tenth and the final championship point.
Bearman, meanwhile, started 16th and also faced a difficult opening phase on slick tyres, falling to 20th by the first Safety Car.

After switching to mediums, the Haas driver recovered steadily, moving up to 17th by Lap 25 and 16th by Lap 43.
Bearman restarted 13th for the final phase but slipped back to 14th, where he finished.

2026 Malaysian Grand Prix: key takeaways

• Max Verstappen recovered from a poor opening lap to claim his 72nd Formula 1 victory.
• Kimi Antonelli finished second after leading the race through its early stages.
• Lewis Hamilton recovered from 18th to third after being caught out by the opening wet conditions on slick tyres.
• George Russell retired from third place while running in podium contention.
• Lando Norris recovered from 17th to finish ninth after an early tyre gamble.
• Arvid Lindblad charged from 22nd to tenth to score the final championship point.

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