Torrential rain and a software fault in the cars delayed the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix, staged this year at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit, by an hour and 40 minutes, before Max Verstappen went on to claim his first victory of the 2026 season. After several cars ground to a halt on the formation lap, the FIA suspended the start procedure and gave teams time to load a software update. The track had dried, but starting on slick tyres proved a mistake: Lewis Hamilton dropped outside the top 10 in the opening laps, while Verstappen, on intermediates, seized the lead.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli finished second and stretched his championship lead to 84 points after Mercedes team-mate George Russell retired in the closing laps with a power unit failure. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal, described the race as one of the toughest experiences of his career, while Fernando Alonso held on to a top-10 finish with an upgraded engine.
