Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia Result: Verstappen Wins

Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Sunday 4 October 2026, turning pole position at Sepang International Circuit into his first victory of the season. Kimi Antonelli finished second for Mercedes. His teammate George Russell retired late with a suspected power unit failure. Round 16 began 93 minutes behind schedule, after rain, a safety-car formation lap and a red flag.

What was the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia result?

Verstappen won. Antonelli was second. Isack Hadjar took fifth for Red Bull, a quiet bit of good news for a team that now has more than one driver to talk about.

The places in between are where we stop. At the time of writing, outlets disagreed on whether Lewis Hamilton or Charles Leclerc took the last podium step, and we would rather publish a gap than a guess. We will name the full top ten once the official classification on Formula1.com settles it. Consider this the only time the third step of a podium has been treated like a rumour.

How did the race at Sepang unfold?

It began with weather. Torrential rain and thunderstorms pushed the start back by 40 minutes, according to RacingNews365. When the field finally rolled out behind the safety car for formation laps, power unit software issues reportedly sent drivers off the track and down the order. The red flag came out before the race had properly begun, and the start finally came 93 minutes late.

Verstappen did what pole-sitters are supposed to do and rarely manage in a mess like this: he got on with it. He had qualified on a 1:35.130, 0.298s clear of Hamilton, according to Formula1.com, and from there the win looks to have been controlled rather than chased. Hamilton had a difficult start and a messy restart, then recovered, which is as much as we can responsibly say about him until the official numbers land.

Then, late on, a safety car. It did not decide the win. It decided something bigger.

Why does Russell's retirement matter more than the win?

Because of arithmetic. Russell stopped with a suspected power unit failure roughly five laps from the end, as reported by Athlon Sports and RacingNews365, and the reported standings afterwards put Antonelli on 320 points and Russell on 236. That is an 84-point gap with seven rounds left.

For perspective, three outright race wins are worth 75 points. Russell would need more than that just to draw level, and he would need Antonelli to cooperate by finishing off the podium. The title is open on paper and very closed in practice.

Verstappen, meanwhile, sits on 188 points, level with Lando Norris according to two outlets. The win does not rescue his season. It does remind everyone that a Red Bull on pole in the wet is still a serious object.

What did Mercedes learn at Sepang?

That one car finishing second and one car stopping five laps early is, mathematically, a very good day and a very bad day at once. Antonelli left Malaysia with a bigger lead than he arrived with. Mercedes left with a reliability question and a rising need to explain it before the next race. Nobody has yet published the cause as fact, so we are treating "suspected" as the operative word.

The cruelest thing about reliability is that it does not care who deserves the points. Russell had a competitive race running until the failure, per Athlon, and the final laps are exactly when a team wants a quiet radio.

What happens next?

Formula 1 moves to the Singapore Grand Prix on 11 October 2026, a sprint weekend, according to the GridRaces schedule. That compresses the recovery window for everyone, Mercedes included.

If you want to see how this race fits into the season's pace picture once the Sepang timing data is loaded, the GridRaces telemetry room is where it will live. And if you think you know who wins in Singapore, make your pick on the predictions page and put your Energy where your confidence is. Leagues are where the arguments get settled: see GridRaces Leagues.