The 2026 F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia ended with Max Verstappen coming out on top in a chaotic event. The race would first get delayed due to weather, then became a complete mess during the first start procedure, and only after these issues would we have a race that saw a massive delay.
In the end, between the Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car periods, we had an action-filled race as Ferrari and McLaren’s gamble of starting the race on slick tires failed spectacularly. In the end, the finishing order saw Max Verstappen win the race with a rousing ovation, followed by Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton. As the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia race weekend comes to an end, what were some of the key takeaways? Let’s take a look.
#1 Max Verstappen made the difference in that Red Bull
The Red Bull was a race-winning car this weekend, and there’s no doubt about that. But at no point can we discount the impact Max Verstappen had on the overall performance. Just a glance at Isack Hadjar and his struggles in the same car, and how easily he was walloped by both the Ferraris, should tell you everything about how easy it was for things to go wrong with this car.
Max Verstappen has been a bit of a specialist around the Sepang International Circuit and won the last time we raced here as well. This race weekend was another example of the driver just being in a zone where nobody comes close to him.
#2 George Russell is having the second driver syndrome at Mercedes
The feature of the 2026 F1 season for George Russell appears to be that every time he starts building some sort of momentum, he gets knocked down a peg or two. The DNF in the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia has more or less ended any hopes of a title battle, but it’s just the way it has happened which is eerily similar to what used to happen with the second drivers in the past as well.
More often than not, it’s either a bad strategy or a bad pit stop, or bad reliability that thwarted whatever little momentum they’ll try to build. George Russell has been going through the same this season, and, unfortunately, after this race, he can kiss his championship hopes goodbye.
#3 Ferrari makes the same mistakes every time
It’s almost reached a point where it’s comical to expect Ferrari to have a subpar strategy whenever there’s rain on the horizon. This continues to happen far too many times with the team, and you have to wonder why there’s just no attempt to make amends when it comes to such a thing.
Charles Leclerc asked to come to the pits and change tires after the first formation lap but was shot down. He could have potentially finished on the podium if he’d been listened to. At the same time, with the kind of pace Lewis Hamilton showed, he could have been P2 in the race ahead of the Mercedes. A P3-P4 doesn’t read as bad, but this could easily have been a double podium at the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia.
#4 Fernando Alonso proved everything that didn’t even need proving
One of the common things in F1 continues to be this urge from a section of the fans to question why Fernando Alonso is still racing. The driver has just announced another extension, and there were questions raised about whether he was holding up a spot for a young driver.
The F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia saw Fernando Alonso drag a power unit that has close to a 100 BHP deficit to a top 8. If that doesn’t shut the doubters up, nothing will.
#5 The 2026 F1 rulemakers should hang their heads in shame
Imagine a scenario where a hardcore fan brings a bunch of his fans to watch the race and then is forced to explain the farcical nature of what happened to the cars on the first formation lap, and then, for no reason whatsoever, the start of the race is delayed.
The race started close to 100 minutes late. It would have been understandable if this was due to safety concerns, but the reality is that it was because the power units on these cars started having issues. How does anyone who is watching the sport for the first time be interested in continuing to watch again if it is so farcical? Today was the day when the people responsible for putting together the 2026 F1 regulations should hang their heads in shame.
