ended Red Bull’s wait with a controlled win in a rain-delayed Bahrain Grand Prix staged at Sepang, and the result leaves Kimi Antonelli 84 points clear in the Formula 1 standings.
The Dutchman took his and the team’s first victory of 2026, leading Antonelli home after retired from third with a power-unit failure five laps from the flag. climbed from near the back to third. Verstappen’s win was also the first for Red Bull’s own power unit, and it moved him level with Lando Norris on 188 points.
Heavy rain pushed the start back by about an hour and a half. Formation laps behind the safety car then turned messy. Several cars, including Max Verstappen’s and Lewis Hamilton’s, crawled after a software problem that early indications linked to an update issued by the FIA during the delay. The FIA had not responded to requests for comment. The rules did not cover the jumble, and the field was sent away in the original order.
Verstappen and Hamilton, on the front row, lost ground at once. Antonelli and Russell swept into first and second on intermediate tyres. Hamilton had chosen soft slicks on a track that was still too wet, dropped towards the rear and lost nearly a minute.
Verstappen repassed Russell for second on lap six. A safety car for Valtteri Bottas, who spun at Turn 13, brought the leaders in for slicks. On the restart, Verstappen passed Antonelli at Turn Four, and Russell also got by the Italian on the exit. From there Verstappen was alone at the front. Antonelli retook Russell on lap 21 at the same corner.
A late safety car for Alex Albon’s Williams set up a short run to the flag. Russell pulled off before Turn One with five laps left, before that safety car had even ended. Norris had to use the gravel to avoid Oscar Piastri and fell from eighth to 11th, then recovered to ninth.
Asked if his 72nd win was his sweetest, said: “It’s a really nice one, after the year that we’ve had and the progression that we’ve made. I’m incredibly proud of everyone, and it’s just super nice to win here.”
He added: “It was very hectic with a lot of different things at the start. No power, so you have to wait for the power to kick in. But then we made the right call with the intermediate [tyres], and after that, step by step, we moved our way forward. From there onwards we could do our own race until the end again, of course with the Safety Car, but we kept it all under control.”
On the power unit, he said: “It’s incredible. I think already, of course, we started, and also to win our first race in our first year with our own power unit is pretty impressive.”
Lewis Hamilton stayed out on the softs he had started on during the early safety car and began picking cars off. He was on ’s tail by lap 24, trailed the Red Bull after their lap-31 stops, then used the late safety car to switch to softs and passed Hadjar into Turn One a lap after the restart. Charles Leclerc also got by Hadjar. Fernando Alonso scored only his third points finish of the year in eighth.
1. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes)
3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari)
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull)
6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)
7. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls)
8. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)
9. Lando Norris (McLaren)
10. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)
George Russell’s retirement leaves Kimi Antonelli 84 points clear, and it looks close to the end of a title fight many had expected the Briton to win.
1. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) – 320
2. George Russell (Mercedes) – 236
3. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) – 214
4. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) – 191
5. Lando Norris (McLaren) – 188
6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) – 188
7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 128
8. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) – 96
9. Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) – 65
10. Pierre Gasly (Alpine) – 41
