SEPANG, Oct 4 — Max Verstappen claimed his first victory of the Formula One season in a chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix today, winning a race that began 1hr 40min late and only at the second attempt after torrential rain hit Sepang.
The Red Bull driver had started from pole but made a poor getaway on intermediate tyres, allowing Mercedes pair Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to sweep past him in the wet opening laps.
The race turned in Verstappen’s favour after Valtteri Bottas spun into the gravel on lap nine, bringing out the safety car as the rapidly drying circuit prompted most of the field to switch to slick tyres.
Verstappen took advantage of the restart to pass Antonelli and Russell before opening up a comfortable lead he would not relinquish.
Antonelli eventually finished second to strengthen his championship campaign, while Lewis Hamilton produced a strong recovery to claim third for Ferrari.
Hamilton had started alongside Verstappen on the front row on dry tyres but dropped down the order in the early wet conditions. The seven-time world champion worked his way back through the field as the track dried to secure a podium finish.
Russell looked set to take third before suffering late heartbreak with five laps remaining, when his Mercedes appeared to develop a power-unit problem during a late safety-car period and he was forced to retire.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth, ahead of Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar in fifth, while Oscar Piastri took sixth for McLaren.
Liam Lawson was seventh for Racing Bulls, with Fernando Alonso holding off Lando Norris in the closing stages to finish eighth for Aston Martin. Norris was ninth, while Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.
“72 mate, 72! Amazing job. What a fantastic weekend. Really deserved. Really good job everyone. You can be really proud of it,” Verstappen told his team over the radio after taking the chequered flag.
The race had originally been scheduled to start at 3pm but was delayed after torrential rain swept across the Sepang International Circuit shortly before lights out. A revised formation lap was initially set for 3.40pm before the race eventually got under way at 4.40pm.
Formula One returned to Sepang this weekend for the first time since 2017, when Verstappen also won at the Malaysian circuit.
