As the marching band played both the Bahraini and Malaysian anthem in the pouring rain, race control decided that the start in Malaysia would be delayed, as the 2026 F1 cars have not been driven in the rain yet. Given Max Verstappen took his dominant pole in dry and warm conditions, the form book was out the window.
After a 40-minute delay the formation lap was finally underway with everyone on the intermediates. First to make a mistake is Isack Hadjar who takes a detour through the gravel. Next one was Max Verstappen who has an issue accelerating, but he can fix it and continue. Who cannot is Lewis Hamilton with a similar issue. The Ferrari driver sees the almost entire field go past before he can get going.
However, this has a knock-on effect as multiple drivers are stranded on the back straight as the Safety Car and Verstappen catch up to the rest of the field. The starting procedure is sensibly suspended before the chaos is even bigger. Replay shows Lando Norris also had a brief excursion over the run-off area, but no harm was done.
Tyre choices cause chaos on track
93 Minutes after the original formation lap time the race got going again. A very big spread in terms of tyres choices as the drivers leave the pits, with the Ferrari’s have opted for the soft tyres as Verstappen has intermediates on. Pierre Gasly, also on softs, spins into turn 4, proving Verstappen right for the moment. The field is exceptionally stretched behind the safety car, as Sergio Pérez decides to ditch the soft tyres.
Race control decides for a standing start, as Oscar Piastri also goes to the intermediates, along with a few others. Both Mercedes drivers have a great start, as does Liam Lawson who fights Verstappen for third.
Both Ferrari drivers have plummeted through the field on the softs, and are more than half a minute behind after just one lap. Charles Leclerc bails out as well, and gets a new nose in the process too. He hit Nico Hülkenberg in turn 9.
Hadjar is now at the rear of Lawson, with the Racing Bulls driver defending tooth and nail against the car he drove just two races ago.
Verstappen charges to the lead
The front runners start to look for wet patches on the straights, but the lap times show the intermediates are still the tyre to be on.
Verstappen decides he’s seen enough of George Russell and passes the Briton into turn 4. Hadjar follows his example and passes Lawson at the end of the same lap. Gabriel Bortoleto complains about smoke and fire, but is unsure whether it is his car or not.
Piastri is pressuring Alex Albon, but cannot find a way past yet. Same holds for Verstappen versus Antonelli, with the Dutchman getting really close in the final corner.
Right as the cross-over point between the slicks and intermediates appears, Valtteri Bottas parks his Cadillac in the gravel of turn 13, forcing a Saferty Car. This prompts all intermediate shod drivers to stop for slicks. Verstappen opts for soft tyres, in contrast to both Mercedes on mediums.
A few of those starting on slicks also stopped, promoting Hamilton to 15th at the moment. He claims a lack of grip behind the Safety Car, proving he is not in a happy place yet.
When the Safety Car pulls in to the pits, Verstappen inmmediately puts Antonelli under pressure into the turn 1/2 complex and passes the championship leader into turn 4. Russell profits straight away by passing Antonelli under traction into turn 5.
Behind them Bortoleto had a coming together with Carlos Sainz, causing the Spaniard to tumble down the order.
Hamilton crawling back to the front
Despite his complaints, Hamilton does see himself a few positions up the order, as he is challenging both Audi’s for the points. Bortoleto decides he wants no part of it and enters the pits, before Hamilton overtakes Hülkenberg for ninth.
Next up for him is Piastri, who in turn is chasing Arvid Lindblad for seventh. The rookie has gained 14 places since the start, and manages to keep Piastri at bay for the moment. Hamilton is another story however, as the seven-time world champion passes both Piastri and Lindblad in the matter of laps.
As Verstappen is creating a gap to Russell, Antonelli asks for the cars to swap, as he feels he is clearly quicker. The team however decides he can do it on track if he indeed is. Antonelli does not need anymore encouragement and passes Russell in lap 21.
Bortoleto in the meantime gets a 10-second penalty for the collision with Sainz, putting him well out of position for the points. Replay shows he is indeed a bit overly enthousiastic into turn 2 at the restart.
Hamilton passes Esteban Ocon and Lawson, going to P5 in the process. Team mate Leclerc tries to follow his example and passes both Norris and Hülkenberg. Piastri finally passes Lindblad at the start of lap 24, quickly followed by Leclerc doing the same.
Pit stops help filter top teams to the front
Antonelli is a few seconds clear of his team mate, but it’s not smooth sailing. The championship leader outbrakes himself in the last turn and has to evade the bollard at pit-entry. It cost him a few seconds, but the car is unscathed.
As a few backmarkers are making another pit stop, with about half of the race still to go, Piastri and Leclerc continue their charge forward by passing Ocon for seventh and eight respectively. Norris follows their example a little later.
Leclerc is the first one in the points to swap his tyres for the final stint, right as Piastri puts pressure on Lawson. Ocon also wants to pit but has a really sloppy pit-entry, going through the grass. It eventually costs him a position to Lindblad.
With Hamilton closing in very quickly, Hadjar is called to the pits for a fresh set of new softs. Hamilton joins him and goes to the medium tyres. Both are now behind the McLarens, who are both on the hard tyres.
Russell is next to stop and switches from mediums to softs, and comes out just ahead of Piastri. Verstappen follows a lap later and stays on the softs. Antonelli joins him and also chooses the soft tyres.
Piastri stops for the hard tyres, which is clearly the favourite tyre for the Woking outfit. Hamilton pulls a classic in the meantime, by complaining about the tyres while setting the fastest lap. And it brings him close to Hadjar, who could not get past Norris.
Late SC turns final 10 laps upside down
Like Verstappen and Hamilton, multiple world champion is having a great day. Fernando Alonso is closing in on Lindblad for tenth after passing Ocon. It proves the upgrades by Aston Martin seem to work. If the technical gremlins stay away.
With an investigation for an unsafe release looming over him, Hülkenberg decides to take faith into his own hands and overtakes both Lance Stroll and Ocon into turn 4. And being a few seconds behind Lindblad and Alonso, points are still on the table for him.
The holder of that final point switches as Alonso performs a perfect switchback from turn 1 into turn 2 and leaves Lindblad in his wake.
The battle for fourth place is also still very much ongoing with Hamilton being glued to Hadjar’s gearbox. He cannot find a way past yet, as Albon parks his car with a mechanical issue. This causes a Virtual Safety Car. Verstappen takes the opportunity to swap to fresher tyres, which puts him behind Antonelli. Hamilton stops as well, giving him better tyres in the fight with Hadjar. It costs him a place as well, as it does for Leclerc who stops and ends up behind Norris and Lawson.
The long VSC prompts the other drivers to stop as well, handing the lead back to Verstappen. Albon’s car cannot easily be recovered, so a full SC is deployed. This prompts the McLarens to stop as well, setting the field up for a final dash to the finish.
Frantic final four laps
As the field is about to be let go with five laps to go, a little longer than expected as Pérez takes his time to unlap himself, Russell parks his Mercedes into turn 1. This somehow is oblivious to Norris who goes straight ahead as he has to avoid the slowing pack.
This causes the SC to stay out for another lap, meanind there is four laps left for the drivers to determine who wins in Sepang. Verstappen steps on the throttle and leaves Antonelli behind. Lawson attacks Piastri for sixth, but is overtaken again going into turn 4.
At the end of the lap Hamilton has the better traction and manages to get by Hadjar, completing his comeback drive to the podium. Leclerc follows the example of his team mate a lap later, emphasising the difficult race Hadjar had.
Up front, Verstappen professionally rounds up the race and grabs his first victory of the 2026 season by winning the F1 race in Malaysia. Antonelli comes home second with one hand on the championship trophy, as Hamilton completes the podium. Leclerc is fourth from Hadjar, Piastri and Lawson. Alonso caps a great drive with an eight place, from Norris and Lindblad.
