SEPANG, Malaysia (AP) — Max Verstappen's long wait for another Formula 1 race win is finally over. The title race might be over, too.
Verstappen took his first victory of an often-frustrating year for the four-time champion at Formula 1's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Sunday. A retirement for George Russell handed a huge title boost to Kimi Antonelli.
Verstappen was leading from Antonelli and Russell behind the safety car with five laps to go when Russell suddenly pulled over in his Mercedes.
The retirement allowed Antonelli to further stretch his lead over teammate Russell from 66 points to 84, with seven races remaining on the schedule, including those in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
Mercedes told Antonelli over the radio it appeared Russell had suffered a power unit problem.
“You’ve almost got to laugh. I’m beyond disappointment,” the British driver told Sky Sports.
Antonelli finished second and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton passed Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Isack Hadjar for third.
Verstappen savors a win after ‘tough start’
Four-time champion Verstappen hadn’t won since the final race of last season, but upgrades to his Red Bull car made him competitive again in Malaysia this week. That means Verstappen extends his run of winning at least once every year since he joined Red Bull in 2016. His only winless season was his 2015 rookie year.
“Very special for us. We had a very complicated and tough start to the year with all sorts of problems and just not being competitive enough,” he said.
“But throughout the year, the team has been working very hard to understand our issues, bring good performance upgrades to the car and make it more drivable. Step by step, we’ve been getting closer and closer.”
It was also the first win for Red Bull Ford Powertrains, the engine partnership between Red Bull and American auto giant Ford. The last time a car with a Ford-branded engine won an F1 race was in 2003 with the Jordan team.
Delays for rain and software issues
The first wet-weather race for F1 in 2026 started more than 90 minutes later than planned. The start was first delayed 40 minutes for heavy rain, then suspended again when cars had apparent software problems on the formation lap.
When it finally did get under way, Verstappen was slow off the line and lost places to Antonelli and Russell. He chased down Russell and then got past Antonelli in a side-by-side fight after a safety-car restart.
After Verstappen took the win, he had another small delay before hearing his anthem. Crowd chants filled an awkward silence as Verstappen waited on the top step of the podium before the Dutch anthem finally began.
The race was relocated because of the Iran war, becoming F1's first event at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia since 2017.
Ferrari recovers from early blunders
Hamilton's third place capped a remarkable recovery for the seven-time champion and ends a run of five races without a podium finish for the Italian team.
It seemed almost impossible early in the race as Hamilton, and his teammate Charles Leclerc, were near the back of the pack. Ferrari had gambled on sending them to the start on dry-weather tires as the track began to dry after rain, causing Hamilton to drop from second to near the back.
Leclerc also overtook Hadjar late on to follow Hamilton with fourth place, as Hadjar ended up fifth. Oscar Piastri was sixth for McLaren after a punchy late battle with Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, who was seventh after racing near the front at the start.
Fernando Alonso was eighth in Aston Martin's best result of the season, Lando Norris ninth after going off-track and losing places, with Lawson's teammate Arvid Lindblad 10th.
