There are unusual Formula 1TM races. The 2026 Bahrain Grand PrixTM held in Malaysia certainly merited that description. Delayed by a tropical downpour it was eventually won by a world champion who had somehow reached October without winning a race.
Welcome back, Max Verstappen.
After a remarkably difficult season by his standards, the four-time World Champion finally returned to the top step at Sepang, producing a superbly controlled victory ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Lewis Hamilton.
But for Monaco, there was another story unfolding behind them. Charles Leclerc went from the second row of the grid to the very back of the field, and then fought all the way back to fourth. Better still, the result propelled the Monegasque into fourth place in the World Championship.
Bahrain With a Malaysian Postcode
The race already had one of the more peculiar backstories in Formula 1TM history.
Bahrain’s original Grand PrixTM had been postponed, with Formula 1TM eventually finding an extraordinary solution: Bahrain would retain its Grand PrixTM, but Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit would host it.
Thus Formula 1TM returned to Sepang for the first time since 2017 for the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand PrixTM in Malaysia.
Malaysia then supplied another ingredient Bahrain rarely has to worry about.
Rain. Lots of it.
A huge thunderstorm soaked the circuit before the start, delaying proceedings and creating such difficult conditions that the starting procedure was suspended. When racing eventually began, teams faced the crucial decision: intermediates or slicks?
Ferrari gambled.
And initially, it went horribly wrong.
Mercedes Pounces
Verstappen had started from pole, remarkably his first pole of the season, with Hamilton alongside him and Leclerc fourth, immediately behind the seven-time World Champion.
Mercedes had chosen intermediates for Antonelli and George Russell, and the decision immediately paid off. Both swept past Verstappen, Antonelli taking the lead with Russell second.
Ferrari’s slick tyres, meanwhile, were hopeless on the still-wet circuit.
Hamilton and Leclerc tumbled backwards.
But while Hamilton persevered, Leclerc’s situation became considerably worse. Contact with Nico Hülkenberg left the Ferrari with a puncture and damaged front wing. He was forced into the pits for intermediates and repairs, the slow stop depositing him at the very back of the field.
From fourth on the grid to last.
For Leclerc, the Bahrain Grand PrixTM appeared to be disappearing almost before it had begun.
Verstappen Goes Hunting
At the front, Verstappen was not prepared to let Mercedes disappear.
After Valtteri Bottas spun and triggered a Safety Car, the leaders switched to slicks. Verstappen, now on soft tyres, attacked.
He passed Russell and then Antonelli, taking control of the race and beginning to build the sort of advantage that once seemed routine during his championship-dominating years.
Behind him, however, the two Ferraris were beginning a very different race.
Hamilton started climbing through the field.
And so did Leclerc.
Leclerc: From Last to the Brink of the Podium
Leclerc’s first lap had contained just about everything a driver doesn’t want: the wrong tyre, contact, a puncture, front-wing damage and an unscheduled pit stop.
Yet from last place he began working his way steadily forward.
Changing conditions and Safety Cars helped bring the field back towards him, but Leclerc still had to make the recovery happen. By the closing stages he had reached sixth despite all the time lost during his opening-lap nightmare.
Then the race changed again.
A late Safety Car compressed the field, leaving Leclerc with an opportunity that had seemed almost unimaginable earlier.
At the restart, Verstappen led Antonelli and Isack Hadjar. Hamilton was fourth and Leclerc fifth.
Hamilton attacked first, passing Hadjar for third.
One lap later, Leclerc followed him through.
Suddenly the driver who had been dead last was fourth.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur later singled out the achievement, noting that Leclerc’s recovery had been made particularly difficult by having to replace the damaged front wing after the first-lap collision. He described the fightback to fourth as particularly impressive.
Russell’s Heartbreak
There was drama elsewhere too, with potentially enormous consequences for the World Championship.
Russell had arrived at Sepang as Antonelli’s closest challenger, 66 points behind his Mercedes teammate.
For much of the race both appeared destined for another substantial haul of points.
Then, late in proceedings, Russell’s Mercedes stopped with an apparent power-unit problem.
Zero points.
Antonelli finished second and collected 18.
His championship advantage suddenly expanded from 66 to 84 points.
Fourth — Twice Over
Leclerc’s fourth place also brought an important reward.
The 12 points lifted Monaco’s driver above Lando Norris into fourth place in the World Championship on 191 points. He is now just 23 points behind Ferrari teammate Hamilton, who occupies third on 214.
So Leclerc had somehow begun the afternoon fourth on the grid, fallen all the way to last, fought back to fourth in the race, and left Malaysia fourth in the World Championship.
Not a bad afternoon’s recovery.
The Champion Reminds Everyone
At the front, Verstappen had one final challenge to negotiate.
The late Safety Car wiped out his advantage and gave Antonelli another opportunity. But Verstappen controlled the restart and crossed the line ahead of the Mercedes, with Hamilton completing the podium and Leclerc immediately behind him.
It was Verstappen’s first victory of 2026 and Red Bull’s first of the season, an important reminder that while the Dutchman may no longer be dominating the championship, neither he nor Red Bull has forgotten how to win.
Antonelli left Malaysia with an increasingly imposing championship lead.
Hamilton left with a podium that had looked distinctly unlikely during the opening laps.
Russell left with nothing.
And Charles Leclerc?
From fourth to last to fourth, and now fourth in the World Championship.
For Monaco, that might just have been the comeback of the afternoon.
