Formula 1: Verstappen tames the chaos at Sepang. And Antonelli extends his lead
All sorts of things happen, but in the end it’s the Dutch Red Bull driver who comes out on top, ahead of Kimi’s Mercedes and Hamilton’s Ferrari
Max Verstappen has returned to victory at Sepang nine years after his previous win there, which also marked the final official edition of the Malaysian Grand Prix, where he finished ahead of Hamilton in a Mercedes and Ricciardo in the same Red Bull-Tag Heuer. This is his 72nd career victory, adding to a tally that had stood still since Abu Dhabi 2025 on one of the most challenging days of this season. It was a Sunday that saw Mercedes fail to be the best car and McLaren’s performance plummet.
Joining Verstappen on the podium first and foremost was Antonelli, and – performing better than he did at the Olympics – following Russell’s unexpected retirement due to technical problems, Hamilton pulled off a historic and memorable (double) surge (and Leclerc too) who, on the restart following yet another delay caused by the stationary Mercedes, managed to snatch the podium place from Red Bull’s second driver, the resurgent Hadjar, securing a podium finish that was as unexpected as it was timely for Italian morale. Italian fans, in fact, remain torn between bitterness over Ferrari’s still mediocre season – fortunately salvaged by a decisive turnaround from the seven-time British champion – and the confirmation of the rising star from Bologna, a young twenty-year-old, Antonelli, who is increasingly on course to become the youngest world champion in history. And the first Italian after a long drought spanning seven decades.
Leclerc finished fourth, with a position handed to him – just as it was for Hamilton – thanks to Russell’s debacle and, to be fair, one he fought tooth and nail to secure so as not to be outdone by the lion with whom he shares the pit: thanks to a vehemence not seen from him for some time; indeed, the Monegasque driver too was able to dig deep and summon the energy to secure the best possible finish given his circumstances, right behind his team-mate in red. A very important performance for Ferrari’s morale but also for the world championship standings: Leclerc is now back in fourth place, a massive blow for the ‘papayas’, who see the outgoing champion in fifth and Piastri in seventh, with Verstappen today level on points with Norris and trailing only on head-to-head results.
A nightmare start: the monsoons are becoming an ever-greater threat to live TV broadcasts
Following a near-record delay of over an hour and a half due to torrential rain, the away race in Bahrain got off to a very shaky start, with the chaos leading up to the various start attempts deserving special mention: standing water, aquaplaning, Hadjar ending up in the gravel during the formation lap, followed by technical issues for both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, with the procedure suspended once again and the cars sent back to the pits. There was also confusion over the pit lane order and tyre choices as track conditions changed rapidly; Hamilton initially described the conditions over the radio as ‘extremely slippery’.
The race then completely shook up the grid. Kimi Antonelli had initially managed to take the lead and was running ahead of Verstappen, who had, in the meantime, quickly overtaken Russell. The decisive factor turned out to be tyre choice: at the same time, we saw intermediates, slicks and softs on a track that was drying out fairly quickly. Hamilton stayed on slicks, trying to capitalise on the changing track conditions; Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, lost ground in the early stages. The teams that ultimately paid the highest price were Ferrari and McLaren.
