Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Hamilton bemused after F1 ‘Lego race’

“Amazing” was the word Verstappen chose to describe his and Red Bull’s first win of the 2026 season at a chaotic, bizarre and, in some ways, unprecedented race.

It would be wrong to say the victory was a complete surprise, as it came after three consecutive podium finishes in which the four-time champion appeared ot be edging closer and closer to such an achievement.

But it certainly adds a fresh twist to a season of fluctuating fortunes at the front, in which the only real constant has been Kimi Antonelli, as the championship heads into its final stretch.

It was Verstappen’s 72nd victory and it came in a manner entirely familiar to those who have followed his career – but entirely unfamiliar to this season.

The Dutchman was the man all weekend at Sepang, where Verstappen also won the last time the track held a race in 2017. To such a point that as early as Friday afternoon his rivals were all saying he was going to be difficult to beat.

He duly delivered a dominant win, which barely looked in doubt even through the chaos of a delayed start, software glitches caused by a bug in the mandated FIA engine settings that wreaked havoc for him and several other drivers on a formation lap, losing the lead to the two Mercedes off the line and a late safety car period.

What was remarkable about that, though, is that until Malaysia not once so far this season had Verstappen had been in this position.

Red Bull started this year in a bit of a state.

The fourth fastest car among the big four teams, it was debatable at times in the early races whether their car was even better than that of their junior team, Racing Bulls.

All year, Verstappen has been battling an inconsistent handling balance. And there was doubt for some time as to whether he would even stay at Red Bull beyond this year.

Although contracted to the end of 2028, it was widely known there were performance-related clauses in his contract that allowed him to leave, and McLaren courted him in the summer.

In the end, though. Verstappen decided to stay, saying he liked the environment at Red Bull, he had faith they would return to the front, and he did not mind a bit of extra work helping them do it.

Those sentiments were expressed in an interview at the Italian Grand Prix a month ago. He finished third that weekend, but even that recently there was no indication that a performance such as this was in the offing.

But a trickle of upgrades in the past few races finally all came together with the introduction of a new floor in Baku, the weekend before Malaysia.

There, awkward circumstances in qualifying left him eighth on the grid when by merit he would have been on the front row. But a late safety car closed up the field, and he spent the final stint right on the gearbox of George Russell’s leading Mercedes, and lost out on the win by less than 0.2secs.

Malaysia proved that promise was more than a flash in the pan.

“We had a very complicated and tough start to the year with all sorts of problems and just not being competitive enough,’ Verstappen said on Sunday.

“But throughout the year, the team has been working very hard to understand our issues and bring good performance upgrades to the car and make it more driveable.

“Step by step, we’ve been getting closer and closer, and today, and of course especially this whole weekend, we’ve been really in good form. So, yeah, it’s amazing.”

There are six or seven races remaining, depending on whether F1 gets the security reassurances it needs to give it the final confidence to commit to the end of the season grands prix in Qatar and Abu Dhabi in the context of the war in the Middle East.

On this basis, Verstappen could well be a factor in all of them.

If the championship battle had any jeopardy remaining in it, that would certainly up the ante. But Russell’s retirement from third place with an engine failure with five laps to go in Malaysia has pretty much eradicated that.

Antonelli’s second place and Russell’s retirement extended the Italian’s lead to 84 points. With either 158 or 183 remaining in total, depending on how the season ends, that size of lead means only some kind of miraculous turn of events could turn the tide back in Russell’s favour.

“I don’t need to say I think it’s gone,” Russell said, “but, of course, it’s exceptionally unlikely and that’s just the reality.

“I knew if I wanted to come back, I needed luck on my side. Unfortunately, I had luck not on my side.

“So, you know, a three-point loss today being behind Kimi turned into an 18-point loss. Of course, if it was on the other side it would have been an 18-point gain. So it’s a real shame, but that’s just how it is.”

It’s not the first time an engine problem has robbed Russell of big points this year. But Antonelli has had his reliability issues, too, and to about the same level.

The reality is that Antonelli has been the better performer this year – as he was again in Malaysia after his odd off weekend in Baku – and he will deserve the title when it comes.