Bahrain in Malaysia; A return to Sepang brings all sorts of drama and concerns amidst an FIA fumble.
The rain brought all kinds of chaos into the initial start for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, before the session was brought to a sudden stop due to dramas associated with software concerns for multiple drivers and teams brought a red flag out in Malaysia.
Max Verstappen had a smooth and rather easy win, having started on pole and only worrying about a minor position change to the Mercedes pairing of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell. His teammate Isack Hadjar, however, was facing difficulty especially towards the end of the race where his tyres were dropping off and he was being chased by an extremely determined Lewis Hamilton. Isack Hadjar would later finish the race in P5.
Kimi Antonelli continued to extend his lead in the championship securing a P2 result; despite putting all kinds of pressure on Verstappen he could not take the win. George Russell however had possibly the worst result he could’ve wanted. Russell faced a sudden DNF due to what appeared to be a late power unit failure. He was forced to pull over at the exit of the pitlane, before his day was over.
Lewis Hamilton had a rather dramatic weekend, starting on slicks in wet tyres conditions proved fatal to his track position as he dropped down to P15. However, as the intermediate tyres began to fall off and the slicks started to work, he noticed a quick rise in track position, ending up just behind Hadjar at one point in P5, before a safety car stunted the overtake opportunity. In the end, a set of used softs were the answer to a P3 result for Hamilton, as he overtook Hadjar for that result. Charles Leclerc also had similar issues to Hamilton, however choosing to change onto intermediate tyres to make gains through the field. This proved helpful as Leclerc eventually change to slick tyres and jumped ahead of Hadjar as well, to finish P4.
The McLaren duo faced a race with mixed results. For Oscar Piastri, he managed to secure P6, after all the dramas and the choice to be on intermediates from the start. These choices paid off in a positive way. For his teammate Lando Norris, he faced similar circumstances to the Ferrari pair. Having started on slicks, he dropped to the back of the field, before they began to work and he was able to work through the field. However, the ending of the race cost him track position. After accelerating and having to quickly brake at turn one, he locked up and went straight on into the gravel. He got back onto track but was ultimately out of points until he overtook two drivers to finish P9.
Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad continue their good results as a young duo at Racing Bulls. The two drivers managed to secure double points again for the team, with Liam Lawson finishing P7, just behind Piastri, whilst Lindblad was overtaken by Lando Norris and would finish P10 due to that.
The last driver to lock in some solid points was the Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso. With the very difficult season the team has faced, being able to secure good results like a P8 finish, would be extremely helpful to the team in the long run. Lance Stroll was also close to finishing in the top 10, finishing P12.
Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly had a quiet weekend with not much going on to risk their track positions, although they did struggle in qualifying. Colapinto finished P13, whilst Gasly finished P16.
Haas also had a semi quiet weekend, both drivers had a tough qualifying session, but were able to better their results ever so much. Ollie Bearman finished in P14, whilst his teammate Esteban Ocon finished in P15.
Nico Hulkenberg finished just outside the top 10 again, finishing P11. Audi’s luck continues to drop as they struggle to score points and only just miss out on the last spot in the top 10. Gabriel Bortoleto however ended up P18 due to a 10 second time penalty for the incident with Carlos Sainz and would go on to finish P18.
Alex Albon was forced to finish his day early, due to a suspected gearbox issue on lap 43. His teammate Carlos Sainz also had a difficult day. After being tagged by Gabriel Bortoleto and getting damage on his car he struggled for the remainder of the race. In the end Sainz finished P17.
Sergio Perez finished P19, after having yet another difficult race to secure better results. Cadillac have had a year of mixed results having almost secured points at Monaco, they haven’t seen any other opportunities yet. Valtteri Bottas saw yet another DNF added to his 2026 season results. It has been a very trying year for Bottas as he hopes to see more positives in the last few races for the season.
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