Five key insights from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia

The verdict is still out on Mercedes' long-awaited upgrade

Mercedes has finally delivered its highly anticipated aero package, highlighted by a revamped floor, to Malaysia. However, if competitors were anxious that the Silver Arrows would deliver a decisive blow, the verdict is still uncertain regarding how much the newly styled Mercedes W17 has improved.

The performance indicators in Malaysia appeared inconclusive due to the extremely abrasive surface, making Sepang an anomaly on the calendar. Coupled with the heat, the conditions brought out characteristics in the car that team principal Toto Wolff stated were "things we haven't observed all year."

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Mercedes remains optimistic that the upgrade package performs as intended, even if it faced a significant defeat against Verstappen over the weekend, viewing Malaysia as potentially a unique occurrence. "We still believe that the upgrade works," Wolff remarked after qualifying. "We just need to understand why it didn’t perform here."

- Fil Cleeren

Russell’s championship challenge goes up in flames

A Mercedes driver in an F1 title race experiencing a harsh engine failure in the final stages of a race at Sepang. Does that ring a bell?

In 2016, that incident for Lewis Hamilton was a crushing blow to his championship aspirations against Nico Rosberg. A decade later, the same can be said for George Russell against teammate Kimi Antonelli this season.

Russell appeared poised to capitalize on the chaos at Sepang by overtaking Antonelli for second place in the early laps, but he lacked the pace to pull ahead, allowing the Italian to reclaim second place and the top Mercedes driver spot on the track.

When Alex Albon’s Williams succumbed with 10 laps remaining, a late safety car restart seemed to provide Russell another chance to contend against Antonelli. Yet, just as the field was lining up for the restart, the British driver’s Mercedes ground to a halt just before Turn 1, ending his race.

George Russell, Mercedes

All Russell could do was watch as Antonelli secured another substantial points haul, even if he didn’t surpass Max Verstappen for victory, and extend his championship lead to a daunting gap of 84 points that his teammate must overcome in the remaining races of the season.

- Haydn Cobb

Alonso concludes Aston Martin's best weekend of 2026 with a top-10 finish

Points finishes have been infrequent for Aston Martin in Formula 1 lately, so Fernando Alonso securing eight points at Sepang is significant in itself. More encouraging, though, is that the result was not merely a stroke of luck.

The Silverstone squad had already demonstrated commendable speed in Saturday's qualifying, successfully placing both cars into Q2 for the first time this season. Even Lance Stroll, typically reserved in media interactions, expressed optimism, labeling it "our most competitive event" of 2026.

Once the initial chaos subsided, both Alonso and Stroll exhibited solid race pace. The two-time world champion from Spain ultimately converted that into a 10th place finish on merit and later advanced to eighth, while his Canadian teammate crossed the line in 12th.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

This was only the third occasion this year that an Aston Martin finished in the points, with Alonso delivering on each instance, but arguably this was the most deserved. It may not change the trajectory of the team's season, but it provides a foundation for an organization that has faced more challenges than any other under the new regulations for 2026.

- Federico Faturos

F1 must be humble and candid about formation lap turmoil

F1 officials have been insistent that ‘all is well and nothing to see here’ regarding the new-for-2026 regulations, a mantra that has not been necessary to repeat for a while, as the initial issues have been resolved over the first two-thirds of the year.

However, the potential for the first wet race of the new era revealed new complications.

The concerns did not stem from the initial decision to delay the start by 40 minutes due to the heavy rain that impacted the track during the national anthems, which was entirely justified for safety reasons.

Yet, multiple cars experiencing suspected software failures during the two formation laps in the wet led to mayhem, necessitating a red flag, resulting in a ridiculous scene of the safety car entering the pit lane amid the pack.

Reflecting back to January, a private test in Barcelona – which included a day of wet running – was intended to resolve these issues away from public scrutiny. So the question arises, what was accomplished on that day?

Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team, Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Instead, issues more reminiscent of a shakedown test were exposed during a formation lap of the 16th grand prix of the season. Serious inquiries must be made regarding how this occurred and how it can be rectified. Fans were deprived of a genuine wet-to-dry race, with the entire field returning to slicks after 14 laps due to the prolonged delays between the red flag and the actual race start.

It is time for F1 to acknowledge that there were failings that could have been avoided and to learn from this situation without maintaining the ‘everything is fine’ narrative it has upheld all year.

- Haydn Cobb