F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Max Verstappen clinches victory amid turmoil as George Russell exits the race.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull emerged victorious in a chaotic Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, securing his first win of the season, while George Russell's chances for the title faced further decline.
The race, delayed for an hour and a half due to malfunctioning software on a wet track, saw Verstappen outpace both Mercedes drivers to claim the victory, as Russell encountered a technical setback.
Software issues create turmoil
Following a 40-minute pause triggered by heavy rain, the formation lap commenced, with Isack Hadjar experiencing a gravel mishap while the field warmed up their intermediate tyres. Several competitors, including pole-sitter Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, faced software malfunctions that made throttle input unresponsive. A red flag was displayed, leading to an additional 53-minute delay.
Once the race finally kicked off, only nine cars, including Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli, Russell, and Hadjar, chose intermediate tyres, while others like Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, and Oscar Piastri opted for slicks. Pierre Gasly, who spun out behind the safety car on the first lap, fell to 13th position.
A standing start occurred at the conclusion of lap two, as Piastri, Gabriel Bortoleto, Lance Stroll, and Nico Hulkenberg made late pit stops to switch from slicks to intermediates.
The Silver Arrows of Antonelli and Russell quickly advanced to the front at the start, despite Verstappen, who had the same intermediates, narrowly holding off Liam Lawson for third place, with the Racing Bulls driver also making a fast start.
Meanwhile, the Ferraris and Norris slipped down the order. After making contact with Nico Hulkenberg’s Audi, Leclerc pitted at the end of that lap for a new front wing and transitioned to intermediates, while Hamilton and his teammate lost significant time trying to make their slick tyre gamble work, alongside the Alpines, Oliver Bearman, Fernando Alonso, and Valtteri Bottas.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, Williams
On lap six, Verstappen overtook Russell for second place at Turn 4, with the top three drivers separated by just three seconds, while fourth-placed Lawson trailed by 10 seconds, only to be passed by Hadjar at the final corner of that same lap.
By lap eight, Verstappen had closed in on Antonelli, applying pressure on the race leader; however, Antonelli went wide at the last corner but managed to maintain his lead.
Bottas-triggered safety car levels the playing field
Bottas lost control in Turn 13 on lap nine, becoming stranded in the gravel and prompting a safety car period that provided the perfect opportunity for drivers on intermediates to switch to slicks as the latter became the faster tyre compound, allowing those who had gambled on slicks to minimize their losses.
Antonelli led the pack, followed by Verstappen, Russell, Hadjar, Lawson, Ocon, Lindblad, Sainz, Bortoleto, and Piastri, with a mix of slick tyre compounds on track – notably, the Mercedes drivers on mediums and the Red Bulls on softs – while Hamilton, Norris, and Leclerc found themselves in 15th to 17th positions, with the Ferraris on softs and Norris on hards.
A determined Verstappen maneuvered around the outside of Antonelli at the restart in Turn 1, while Russell passed him in Turn 5, dropping the championship leader to third in a matter of seconds. Meanwhile, Bortoleto and Sainz collided, resulting in the Williams dropping to 18th and the Audi driver receiving a 10-second penalty.
As Verstappen began to pull away from the Silver Arrows by over three seconds, Antonelli grew impatient behind his teammate; however, team orders were not in play, so the Italian rookie found a way past in Turn 4 on lap 21. Further back, Hamilton was overtaking opponents one by one, reaching fifth place by lap 22, while Leclerc moved into the top 10 on the following lap.
Antonelli went wide at the last corner and struck the pit entry bollard on lap 24, losing two additional seconds to Verstappen, increasing the gap to 7.5 seconds. He was now only one second ahead of Russell, but both gaps subsequently widened.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
The wave of second pit stops began on lap 29 for the frontrunners, including Russell on lap 32, who switched to softs – perhaps too early for his liking. Antonelli logically followed suit on the next lap to avoid being undercut, as did Verstappen, who was now comfortably leading by 11 seconds.
Verstappen (briefly) loses lead under VSC, Russell retires
As Hadjar faced pressure from Hamilton, the virtual safety car was deployed due to Alex Albon stopping because of a technical issue. Verstappen took advantage of a ‘cheap’ pit stop but relinquished the lead to Antonelli; both Ferraris also switched tyres.
Mercedes opted to pit both cars on the subsequent lap, along with most of the frontrunners, until the VSC transitioned into a full safety car – which influenced the remaining drivers.
With the final laps approaching under green-flag conditions, Verstappen led Antonelli, Russell, Hadjar, Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Norris, Lawson, and Alonso, who had fought his way into the top 10.
However, before racing resumed, Russell experienced a technical issue and stopped trackside, retiring from the race, while Norris was caught off guard by the slowing cars ahead, leading to a gravel trip and dropping to 11th.
Only four laps remained when the safety car returned to the pits, and Verstappen executed the restart flawlessly, as was typical for him; he faced no threat from Antonelli and claimed victory. Hamilton managed to pass Hadjar in Turn 1 on lap 53, securing his first podium finish since Silverstone. The Frenchman also fell behind Leclerc's sister Ferrari.
Piastri finished sixth ahead of Lawson, while a determined Alonso fended off Norris for eighth place. Lindblad secured the final point in 10th, highlighting another strong performance for the Racing Bulls compared to the rival Alpine team.
After initially holding sixth place, Esteban Ocon slipped to 15th by the end of the race, finishing behind his teammate Oliver Bearman.
F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia Results
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