It’s been nine years since Formula 1 last raced in Sepang, but Red Bull’s Max Verstappen picked up right where he left off, winning an action-packed Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The confusingly-named race matched the extraordinary way it came to be with thrills and spills of its own, offering plenty of drama, chaos and triumphs up and down the field.
The rain threatened to scupper the event before it even got going, with the country’s infamous torrential shower delaying the start by 40 minutes. And when officials did find the track sufficiently dry to race on, a software glitch – which the FIA attributed to low engine speeds, wet-weather energy management settings and Sepang’s unique sector layout – caused half the grid to grind to a halt, resulting in nearly another hour of delay as F1 scrambled for a fix.
When the race finally got underway, pole sitter Verstappen was swamped by the fast-starting Mercedes cars of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, with all three choosing to stay on intermediate tyres on the still-damp track. Those that instead gambled on starting on slicks – including Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in second – ended up tumbled down the order.
Having survived an early skirmish with Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Verstappen then passed Russell on lap six and was on course to do the same to Antonelli, before Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas’ spin on lap nine brought out the safety car. Pitting for slicks as per the rest of the intermediate runners, the Dutchman made light work of the young Italian at the restart, sweeping past at Turn 3 before Russell followed suit at Turn 5.
Further back, Hamilton had fallen all the way down to 18th by the time the safety car was deployed. Electing to stay out on the red-walled soft tyres, he staged a fight back for the ages, climbing from 16th at the lap 13 restart to fifth just ten laps later, closing in on Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar.
Out in front, Antonelli complained on the radio about being faster than Russell. He was, passing his teammate on lap 21, but he could do nothing about Verstappen’s devastating pace, the gap having grown from four seconds to ten by the time Williams’ Alex Albon’s retirement triggered a virtual safety car late on.
Verstappen pitted, coming out behind Antonelli and setting up an enthralling dogfight, but the latter diving into the pits soon after neutralised the battle for victory. But there was more drama even after the full safety car was deployed on lap 46, as a power unit failure sidelined Russell with just five laps to go.
With the race going green with three laps to go, Hamilton – who had been struggling to pass Hadjar on the medium tyres and had by then switched back to softs – surged past the Frenchman into the final podium place a lap later on the run down to Turn 1. Hadjar then had to suffer the indignity of being passed by the other resurgent Ferrari of Charles Leclerc the following lap, helping to rescue yet another strategy disaster by the storied Italian team.
Hadjar eventually finished fifth ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had opted to start on slicks but dove into the pits for intermediates during the formation lap. Having leapt to a high of fourth, Lawson eventually fell down to seventh ahead of Fernando Alonso, whose attacking drive clinched the struggling Honda-powered Aston Martin’s best finish of the season.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris took ninth after outbraking himself in his McLaren as the field slowed down due to Russell’s retirement. The other Racing Bulls of rookie Arvid Lindblad clinched the final points-paying position, capping off a great result for the Red Bull sister team and capitalising on its rivals’ non-score.
In the drivers’ title standings, Russell’s DNF extends Antonelli’s lead to an almost unassailable 84 points with seven rounds to go, at 320 points versus 236. Hamilton remains third at 214 points, with Leclerc next at 191 and Norris tied with Verstappen at 188. As for the constructors’, Mercedes holds a massive lead over Ferrari at 556 points versus 405, with McLaren third at 316 points, Red Bull fourth at 298 points and Racing Bulls a distant fifth at 90 points.
The real winner was, of course, Malaysia. Despite the clear influence Bahrain exerted on the event, bringing its own title sponsor and erecting a massive marquee tent promoting its culture, it was the Malaysian track (and the weather) that brought the thrills. It’s no wonder that the government is in talks to bring the Malaysia GP back as a permanent fixture. Would you like to see Sepang back on the calendar? Let us know in the comments.
