Verstappen snatches first 2026 win as chaos and Russell's retirement rock Sepang

Max Verstappen won a rain-disrupted Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, Malaysia, to claim his first Formula 1 victory of the 2026 season, while championship rival George Russell saw his title hopes take a serious blow after retiring with a technical issue late in the race.

The race was delayed by a total of 93 minutes before a wheel turned in anger. A heavy downpour pushed back the formation lap by 40 minutes, and when the field finally set off to warm intermediate tyres, software glitches rendered the throttle ineffective on several cars — including front-row starters Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. A red flag followed, adding a further 53 minutes to the wait.

When racing eventually began, the grid split sharply on tyre strategy. Nine drivers, among them Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli, Russell and Isack Hadjar, started on intermediates, while Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri gambled on slicks. Pierre Gasly, also on slicks, spun behind the safety car on lap one and fell to 13th. A standing restart was held at the end of lap two after Piastri, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll and Nico Hulkenberg made late pit stops to switch to intermediates.

At the restart, the two Mercedes of Antonelli and Russell surged clear of polesitter Verstappen, who only narrowly held off a blistering Liam Lawson for third. The Ferraris and Norris struggled on slicks, with Leclerc pitting at the end of lap one after clipping Hulkenberg’s Audi, while Hamilton and the Alpine drivers continued to haemorrhage time on the wrong rubber.

Verstappen moved past Russell for second in Turn 4 on lap six and was soon pressuring Antonelli for the lead. On lap eight, Antonelli ran wide at the final corner but held on. The race turned on lap nine when Valtteri Bottas lost control at Turn 13 and beached his car in the gravel, triggering a safety car period that gave the intermediate runners the ideal window to switch to slicks — by then the faster compound.

The strategic reset reshuffled the order, and Verstappen ultimately emerged at the front to take the victory, outduelling both Mercedes drivers across the full race distance. Russell, who had been in contention for much of the afternoon, was denied a points haul by the late technical failure, leaving him with ground to recover in the championship standings.

The result marks Verstappen’s first win of a 2026 season in which F1’s new technical regulations have already produced unpredictable machinery in wet conditions, with software reliability proving a significant factor even before the opening lap was completed.