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Verstappen wins rain-delayed Bahrain Grand Prix held at Sepang

Max Verstappen took his and Red Bull's first win of 2026 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, run at Sepang in Malaysia after a delay of about an hour and a half. Kimi Antonelli was second and Lewis Hamilton third, after George Russell retired from third with a power unit failure.

8 outlets · 2L · 5C · 1R First reported Account updated

Updated (version 2). New coverage since the last version from ABC News (Australia), Evening Standard, Gulf News, The National.

Image: CNA
Image: Al Jazeera
Image: Irish Independent
Image: BBC News
Image: ABC News (Australia)
Image: Gulf News
Image: Evening Standard
Image: The National

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The story, neutrally told

Centre · 2Red Bull's Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia on Sunday 4 October, his first victory of the 2026 season. Mixed · 2Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, the championship leader, finished second and Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton third; Charles Leclerc was fourth and Red Bull's Isack Hadjar fifth. Centre · 1Gulf News said it was Verstappen's 72nd race win, tying Michael Schumacher for the most wins with one team, and Red Bull's first with its own power train.

Mixed · 2The Bahrain race was held in Malaysia because of disruption linked to the Middle East conflict and the war involving the US and Iran. Mixed · 2The start was delayed by about an hour and a half: CNA and Al Jazeera put it at one hour 40 minutes and the Irish Independent at one hour 33 minutes. Mixed · 2The BBC and the Irish Independent say rain was only part of the cause. After a first formation-lap attempt, Verstappen, Hamilton and other cars were hit by a software problem that left them barely able to accelerate.

Centre · 1The Evening Standard said Verstappen, Hamilton and others were hit by software problems linked to the 50-50 combustion-battery split and quoted Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson saying that if a driver is off throttle too long the turbo spools down and the battery goes flat, leaving only combustion power. It said Fernando Alonso questioned the red flag ("This is racing"), and that a further 53 minutes passed before the restart with no explanation given. Mixed · 2The BBC said initial indications were that a software update the FIA issued to teams during the delay was responsible, and that the FIA had not yet responded to requests for comment. The Irish Independent linked the problems to the 50-50 split between combustion and battery power in this season's rules and said no explanation was given for the further delay. Centre · 1The BBC reported that the rules did not cover the jumbled field order, and that the race restarted in the original grid order with the positional penalties for lost places on a formation lap ignored. It listed questions over race organisation, particularly the start, among the day's key stories.

Mixed · 2The National said race organisers took more time to decide the grid order, and ABC reported that after the first delay of 40 minutes for heavy rain the start was suspended again over apparent software problems on the formation lap. Centre · 1Verstappen started from pole on intermediate tyres but had a slow getaway, and the two Mercedes passed him early on. Mixed · 2A safety car on lap nine, for Valtteri Bottas's Cadillac, let the leaders switch to slick tyres, and Verstappen took a lead he did not lose when the race resumed.

Right · 1The Irish Independent put his winning margin over Antonelli at 2.3 seconds. Centre · 1Hamilton started on slick tyres in the wet, dropped towards the back of the field, then recovered. The BBC says he passed Hadjar for the final podium place with three laps to go, after a late safety car for Alex Albon's stopped Williams let him change to softer tyres. Centre · 3Ferrari and McLaren chose slick tyres for the wet start while Red Bull and Mercedes chose intermediates; Hamilton fell as far as 18th, about 80 seconds behind, before recovering. He said the early tyre call was wrong and he thought the race was over, but called it the best race he had had in Malaysia, citing the crowd. Leclerc was fourth and Hadjar fifth.

Mixed · 2George Russell retired from third place with a power unit failure with five laps to go, which the BBC and Irish Independent say all but ended his title hopes. The BBC puts Antonelli 84 points ahead of him with six or seven races left. Centre · 2Russell said the retirement turned a three-point deficit to Antonelli on the day into an 18-point one, growing his championship gap from 66 to 84 points, and called his chances "exceptionally unlikely". Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff confirmed a power unit failure, said he was "massively annoyed", and warned that repeated DNFs could cost the team; Mercedes still lead the constructors' standings by 151 points. Mixed · 2Verstappen said the intermediate-tyre call was right and that the start was hectic because of the wait for power to kick in. Antonelli, 20, said second place was the maximum available. ABC listed Piastri sixth, Lawson seventh, Alonso eighth (Aston Martin's best result of the season), Norris ninth and Lindblad tenth.

Mixed · 2Formula One moves to Singapore next weekend, where the BBC says the triple-header ends on 11 October.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left2 outlets

Framing
Al Jazeera runs a short, result-led report on Verstappen's win and Russell's agony, and ties the venue to the regional conflict.
Emphasis
Verstappen's first win and his Sepang history, Hamilton's recovery, and the Middle East war's effect on the calendar.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention the software failures at the first start, the questions over organisation, or the FIA.
Charged language
“agony”“finally won”
For example
“But there was agony for George Russell, who had to retire from third place in the second Mercedes” — Al Jazeera
“amid the US-Israeli war on Iran” — Al Jazeera

Centre5 outlets

Framing
CNA gives a brief results-focused account that attributes the delay to rain. The BBC gives a long analysis built around the chaotic start, the FIA and Hamilton's recovery.
Emphasis
The BBC stresses race organisation and the unprecedented start, the title picture and tyre strategy. CNA stresses the result and podium.
Leaves out or plays down
CNA does not mention the technical problems or the questions over the start. The BBC does not mention the conflict as the reason for the venue.
Charged language
“madcap afternoon”“chaotic”“bizarre technical problems”
For example
“A series of questions over race organisation, particularly over the start” — BBC News
“only started on the second attempt one hour and 40 minutes late because of rain” — CNA

Right1 outlet

Framing
The Irish Independent treats the race as a farce that exposed this season's new cars and rules, with criticism of the sport's chiefs.
Emphasis
Software failures tied to the 50-50 power split, an unexplained delay, Alonso's criticism of the red flag and Verstappen's reaction.
Leaves out or plays down
Gives no reason beyond the war for the venue change and does not say Verstappen's win came from the pit-stop strategy as the BBC does.
Charged language
“farcically”“software gremlins”“embarrassing scenes”“controversial 50-50 split”
For example
“the race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia was overshadowed by embarrassing scenes when this season's new cars – which had already faced stern criticism – effectively failed to work in the wet.” — Irish Independent