F1’s return to Sepang after nine years may have decided the title following a chaotic afternoon in Malaysia, where Max Verstappen took his first win of the season and back-to-back wins at Sepang.
George Russell’s late engine failure may prove a championship-defining moment as teammate Kimi Antonelli pulled further ahead, drawing comparisons with Lewis Hamilton’s retirement at Sepang in 2016, which handed Nico Rosberg a crucial advantage in that year’s title fight.
Their closest championship challenger, Hamilton, once again showed his class in mixed conditions, fighting back to third place and closing the gap to Russell in the standings.
General News
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has confirmed the plan is to still stage the final two races of the 2026 season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. Two months ago, Domenicali stated Imola was ready to host the season-finale if needed due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
However, the ceasefire between Iran and the US-Israel appears to be holding, though a solution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz hasn’t been reached. While fighting and strikes continue, Iran on vessels it says have attempted to cross the strait without authorisation.
Last Saturday, the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles and drones launched by the Houthis towards Saudi Arabia. US media report Saudi leadership has requested military support from Trump.
Domenicali told Sky Italy: “We have confirmed the calendar. The final two Grands Prix are set to take place in Qatar and Abu Dhabi. That is the direction we’ve chosen based on the information we have – and subject, of course, to the necessary assurances which are absolutely essential. This is the strategy we intend to follow through to the end of the year.”
Last week, the teams were told a deadline of mid-October to make an absolute final decision on the end of the season.
Weekend Recap
FP1 saw Max Verstappen make a strong start to the weekend with a 37.520, which put the Dutchman almost four tenths faster than George Russell. The Mercedes drive managing to split the two Red Bulls as the Englishman went four tenths faster than Isack Hadjar. Kimi Antonelli was fifth, six tenths behind Russell as he went over two tenths behind Charles Leclerc.
FP2 Leclerc was fastest, setting a 37.528, a tenth faster than Isack Hadjar. Hadjar put himself almost four hundredths faster than Lando Norris; the world champion split the Red Bulls after going over a tenth faster than Max Verstappen. Verstappen was half a tenth faster than Lewis Hamilton, who looked equally competitive on his race simulation.
FP3 Antonelli was fastest with a 36.302, which put him over a quarter of a second faster than Verstappen. Hadjar took third ahead of Russell by half a tenth, but both drivers were more than half a second behind Antonelli, who appeared to have found a nice rhythm for qualifying.
In qualifying, Verstappen took his first pole of the season as he beat Hamilton by just under three tenths, taking Ford’s first pole since Magny-Cours in 1999. Hamilton managed to split the Red Bulls as he went almost a quarter of a second faster than Hadjar.
Verstappen won a chaotic and rain-delayed race; the Red Bull driver converted his pole into a two-second victory, ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli. The Dutchman has looked on fire all weekend, but victory was not simple, with weather, safety cars, delayed starts and restarts.
Russell retired with a power unit failure, significant and could prove decisive in the championship battle, much as Hamilton’s engine failure in Malaysia in 2016 gave teammate Nico Rosberg a crucial advantage in the title race.
The seven-time champion drove a brilliant race and looked to have lost out at the delayed start and started fifteenth when the race finally got going after a storm and a FIA software failure.
Hamilton fought through the field from eighteenth after dropping down at the restart, then moved to third after that gamble on the start forced Ferrari into an early stop to go to inters, as the track wasn’t ready for soft tyres. When it was Hamilton’s turn, he showed blistering pace and passed Isack Hadjar late on to claim third.
McLaren
Lando Norris has apologised to Franco Colapinto after stinging comments he made after the Alpine driver caused a crash that took both of them out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Colapinto locked up into the first corner at the restart, crashing into Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly who then went into the McLaren.
Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the incident in Saturday’s race, Norris said “there are some drivers who shouldn’t be in Formula 1” and called for such incidents to result in one-race bans for the initiator.
Colapinto apologised to both Gasly and Norris during his post-race interviews, but the Argentine driver took a five-place grid penalty for the race this weekend. On Monday morning, Norris posted on Instagram: “Tough weekend overall in Baku and of course a disappointing and early end to the race.”
“After the race, I sent Franco a message apologising for the comments I made that I simply should not have said. I know better, and emotions were running high, but that is not an excuse; it was wrong of me. I’ve made mistakes of my own over the years, and I know this is very much a part of racing and fighting on the limit.”
“Me and Franco came to a good understanding, are still good friends and are both excited to get back racing this weekend.”
McLaren say they were caught “a little bit by surprise” during Friday practice, while Oscar Piastri suggested that the team appear to be a “tiny step behind” their rivals at the front. Piastri and Lando Norris ended FP1 in eleventh and twelfth on the timesheets respectively; the squad looked to have made progress during the second session as Norris climbed up to P3, while Piastri was sixth.
conceded that first practice had not been smooth sailing for the Woking-based outfit. Saying, “We definitely looked better in FP2 than FP1. FP1 we were struggling a lot, to be honest. Things seemed a bit more positive [in FP2].”
“Obviously it was a bit of an interesting session because everyone was expecting rain and then we didn’t get it, so I think the tyre choices and things like that were a little bit different to normal, but we seemed reasonable. I don’t know what the long run pace was like really, but no, interesting first day.”
Things didn’t improve in qualifying for McLaren, who were slowest of the top four teams, with Norris six tenths off Verstappen and both just ahead of George Russell. When asked whether there were factors that held McLaren back during qualifying, Norris gave a very blunt verdict on the team’s performance: “We’re just slow.”
He told reporters, “The car’s not good enough here. I think this tarmac is very different to a lot of other tracks we’ve been to this year, and therefore, I think you see Mercedes struggle a lot more today, especially.”
“You see Red Bull quicker than they usually are. So, I think the order is just shaken up a little bit. I think we struggled a little bit more than what we were expecting because of the surface. So, I think we will struggle a bit more than we thought this weekend.”
“But my lap was good; that’s the only thing I can complain about, really, is if I did a good lap or not. And it’s down to me, and I did a good lap, so I’m satisfied with my performance today, but just the performance of the car is a long way off.” I think despite the drop-off in pace by McLaren, it again highlights the fluctuations we have seen this season. It’s also hard, unless your sandbagging majorly to make up six tenths, and there’s something strange going on this weekend with Mercedes power units.
That speed deficit continued throughout the weekend for Norris, who finished ninth sixteen seconds behind Verstappen, while Piastri appeared unaffected in the race as he finished sixth.
Heading into Singapore next weekend, the British driver knows he cannot use the speed issues as an excuse and that he must make improvements himself. When discussing the straight-line speed issues, Norris said, “I have no idea. I mean, the team is trying, but I’m losing almost two-tenths every lap.”
“Two-tenths a lap over 55 laps, it’s painful as hell, so it’s making my life pretty damn difficult. But there are also other things I could have done better; that’s not just an excuse. But there are also things I can do better, and the team needs to do better as well.”
Norris was also given a warning by the stewards after nearly crashing into the back of Piastri as George Russell retired with his engine failure on lap forty-nine. The McLaren driver almost crashed into the back of Piastri as the field entered Turn 1 in the safety car queue.
The near-miss occurred at the same time Russell had slowed and pulled to the right-hand side of the track after suffering an engine failure in his Mercedes. Norris had to run off track to avoid hitting Piastri and lost several places when he took a trip through the gravel trap, before recovering to finish ninth come the chequered flag.
The reigning world champion was investigated by the stewards over the incident and was handed his first reprimand of the 2026 season.
Mercedes
Kimi Antonelli went into this weekend saying he will “re-establish the order” over George Russell, after being outperformed by his teammate in Baku. Antonelli had finished ahead of Russell in five successive Grands Prix but could only manage fifth in Baku.
He produced his best weekend of the season to claim victory from pole position. The result cut Antonelli’s lead over his Mercedes teammate to 66 points with eight rounds remaining. Asked whether Russell is now his only title rival after Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton dropped more than 100 points back, Antonelli said: “He’s always been my rival.”
“But I’ll make sure next week I re-establish the order and just make sure that I will be back at my usual level because this weekend I was driving more like my grandma, so it wasn’t the usual Kimi.” Last weekend, the Italian had a scrappy weekend, which could have been due to a technical issue in practice that may have affected his confidence, leading to him crashing out in Q1 and being unable to take any further part.
Speaking about last weekend, he said, “In FP1 I did three laps and then missed the half of FP2. In FP3, I was getting to the rhythm, and then in qualifying, that Q1 one lap was actually okay. But I did a mistake, and then again you re-enter in the bad loop.” Antonelli said those issues meant he was driving at eighty per cent in Baku.
When asked if another win could sow some doubts in Antonelli’s mind, Russell replied, “As I’ve really said this whole season, firstly I never really felt in a position to fight for the victories because I didn’t feel that the performances were strong enough. But now, finally, I feel I’m in a place where I can fight for victory week in and week out.”
“Of course, there is a big deficit in the championship, but we’re only two-thirds of the way through. There’s a third of the season to go, and still so much can happen. So I’m just going to go race by race. I’m enjoying it more than I have done recently, just because I feel more at one with the car, and hopefully this new upgrade with a few characteristic changes is also going to play into my favour a bit more.”
Discussing what changed, Russell says he wasn’t lost any more and his confidence was back, growing. He explained that he was having to think about how to make those adjustments, where it is now become more natural.
Well, with the upgrades, Friday didn’t go as planned for the championship leaders: Russell finished FP2 second, three and a half tenths behind Verstappen, with Antonelli in fifth around a second off. But in that FP2 session, neither Mercedes got a clean qualifying simulation after both made mistakes.
Ahead of qualifying, Russell said he is up against it if he wants to bag back-to-back pole positions – although he refused to rule himself out of the fight. He said, “Currently, I think that Verstappen looks very fast, and then the race pace of McLaren looked very quick, but never say never. It was a really cool experience driving this circuit. I’ve never driven here before. It’s really an iconic place, so that was cool.”
Russell believes there is work to do for Mercedes to get on the pace of Red Bull
“But yeah, with these conditions, tyre [degradation] is huge for everybody. And the cars are operating in a very different window. So, I think as a team, we just haven’t got the car quite where we need it to be. We need to make some set-up adjustments, because we’re a bit off the pace.”
Deputy Team Principal Bradley Lord was in agreement about just how tricky the day was for the team, despite their drivers managing 56 laps between them in FP2. He described it as being similar to what the team saw in Budapest but warned they couldn’t revert the upgrades.
The team perhaps needs to manage these issues this and next weekend in Singapore, historically their weakest circuit, but they will figure out how to resolve these issues for Austin but never count them out this season.
Russell had to settle for eighth on the grid, seven tenths off pole, with this weekend being the toughest one of the season as the team struggled for performance while Antonelli was fourth.
As such, he waited until the circuit was clear to record his first lap in the final segment, with his time initially putting him in P3 before being pushed down to fourth – yet he will ultimately move back up to third due to a penalty for Isack Hadjar ahead.
Reflecting on the session, Antonelli said: “It’s a shame because with only one set [of soft tyres, there was] big pressure. I did what I could, but definitely with another set, we could have fought for front row – not P1, because Max [Verstappen] was just too quick today. So probably front row was possible today, but obviously a shame with the track limits and we’ll try to do our best tomorrow.”
Russell was equally confused by the teams qualifying, and I think it proved that upgrades don’t always work, but tyres have also been a big problem this weekend with high deg. He added, “It’s the most demanding circuit on the tyres, so we don’t know exactly why we didn’t have the pace. I think from Friday it was clear we weren’t on the pace of the Red Bulls and then throughout the course of this weekend we just haven’t really progressed.”
“The others have caught up and overtaken, but I think tomorrow the race is going to be a totally different story. Very high tyre degradation, all three tyre compounds look viable, so I think there will be some opportunities.”
Hopes of building on Baku ended late on for Russell after spending much of the race in the top three; an engine failure led to a retirement with six laps to go. He said after the race, “It’s just a bit of a shame. Another failure, when we were on course for a pretty certain podium. It’s a tough one to take. It’s unfortunately happened too many times this season, and, yeah, this is just where we are.”
Watching that race and thinking back to 2016, Mercedes has seen titles effectively decided here, and I went back to that moment when Hamilton’s engine failed. That won Rosberg, many believe, the title, and this season in some ways has been like that for Russell. Mercedes throughout this season, as I said in testing, have the best power unit, but its fragile.
But he avoided sensational comments – he won’t say the title is out of reach – but his assessment is bleak nonetheless. Saying, “I don’t need to say I think it’s gone or whatever. 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’ve had luck not on my side.”
Red Bull
Max Verstappen picked up where he left off in 2017, going fastest in FP1 before settling for fourth, almost a tenth and a quarter off in FP2. Verstappen spent the entirety of FP2 on the medium compound. Every other driver at the top of the time sheet, including Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and teammate Isack Hadjar, put down a qualifying simulation with the soft compound.
After the session, he explained that it was because the team believed rain was coming, and suggested his running wasn’t representative. He said, “I think we had a decent start, but it’s tricky, the track is really hot, a lot of degradation, so a lot of things to figure out, but it’s been positive.”
Asked whether Red Bull was actually making progress over what looked like two successful sessions, Verstappen was keen to calm the high expectations that stemmed from the earlier run.
Adding, “I mean, progress, it is difficult. It was warmer again in FP2, different programs, so hard to say progress, but there’s still a lot of things to look at to try and understand better.”
Well, Verstappen went on to take pole for the first time this season, beating Lewis Hamilton by almost three-tenths; he handed Red Bull and its Ford power unit the first pole position of its partnership. Isack Hadjar took third, although a five-place grid penalty now pushes him down to eighth. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli takes his place.
Speaking in the press conference following the session, Verstappen was happy to start a tough race from the front. He said, “At some tracks, we were kind of close, but now I think this weekend it was very positive for us. I think from FP1 we started quite well, and from then onwards, we’ve just been trying to improve the car further. Honestly, I’m very happy to be on pole here.”
“It’s tough always around here. It’s very hot for us, but for the cars, for the brakes, for the tyres. The race is definitely going to be a tough one. You have to manage a lot, and it’s impossible to know at the moment, of course, who can do that the best.” I think Red Bull has been a surprise but the question for the race is if they’ve given too much in terms of set-up for qualifying.
Verstappen took his first win of the season by two and a half seconds, despite a loss of power hampering his getaway. The Dutchman started the race from pole position but quickly dropped back as Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell overtook him at the race start. While his start was compromised, Verstappen went on to claim his first Grand Prix win of the season and Red Bull’s first victory with its own power unit.
Verstappen said, “It’s a really nice one [win] after the year we’ve had and the progression we have made. I’m incredibly proud of everyone. Just super nice to win here. It’s incredible. To win our first race in our first year with our own power unit is pretty impressive.”
I think this was a hugely significant win for Red Bull. We already know how good they are at building cars, but winning in their first season as a power-unit manufacturer is a landmark achievement. It was also the first victory for a Ford-powered car since Giancarlo Fisichella in 2003 at Interlagos.
Ferrari
Ferrari has insisted it has “full confidence” in Fred Vasseur amid mounting speculation about both his job and the potential of Christian Horner replacing him. Speaking to the media in a news conference on Tuesday, the team’s chief communication officer Maria Conti said the team wanted to avoid any “gossip” moving forward.
she said, “We have confidence — full confidence — in Fred Vasseur and in his team, and we continue to do so. At this time it’s really important that the team remains united and cohesive, and we are focused with all the energy on the work ahead.”
“Ferrari has always attracted extraordinary interest, and it’s only natural that many professionals aspire to be part of it. It is a reflection of the strength of what Ferrari really represents. So, this is why we really want to avoid, and we do not intend to fuel speculation or comment on assumptions coming from outside the company.”
“And it’s not just related to the story in the times of Mr. Horner, but in general, the speculation about Fred.” These rumours were sparked by the former Red Bull CEO’s comments to The Times last weekend, primarily to promote his new autobiography, out next month, and included a response to a question about whether he would take the Ferrari job.
Horner replied: “Would I consider Ferrari? I mean, Ferrari is the biggest brand in Formula 1. It’s the dream. And arguably it’s the sleeping giant of Formula 1.” ESPN understands Horner was not intending to use the Times interview to declare his interest in Vasseur’s job and has been told by sources he is not actively pursuing a job with the Italian job as things stand, nor has he been offered one.”
Vasseur has been Ferrari boss since 2023 and almost led the team to a constructors’ championship the following season, narrowly missing out to McLaren. He played an instrumental role in signing Hamilton to the team at the start of 2025.
Following his impeding incident with Gabriel Bortoletto, Hamilton was given a reprimand and Ferrari was fined €10,000. In FP2 the seven-time champion blocked Bortoletto on the entry to Turn 9 as he suffered damage to his right-hand side mirror, resulting in a scary closing speed of over 150km/h, forcing the Brazilian to veer out of the way.
Afterwards, the FIA’s race stewards handed the seven-time world champion a warning, with Ferrari docked €10,000 for the incident for not warning its driver.
The stewards wrote in their verdict, “The Stewards accept that (Hamilton’s) right-hand mirror was damaged, as confirmed by photographic and video evidence, and that he had received no radio warning from the team. Both team representatives stated that such warnings are not normally issued where the approaching car is not on a push lap. (Bortoleto) also confirmed that he remained in control of the situation.”
“The Stewards considered that HAM unnecessarily impeded the significantly faster approaching car by moving onto the racing line at slow speed. The fact that BOR was not on a push lap does not alter that conclusion.”
Hamilton says last-minute improvements helped him into a “sweet spot,” which helped his last lap improvement to qualify second just under three tenths behind Verstappen. The Englishman struggled for pace in practice but said post-qualifying setup changes helped turn things around.
He said, “It’s so hot here. I keep saying it, but that’s made it a massive challenge for the tyres, for the car, for the mechanics in the garage, and I’m really, really thankful to my team.”
“We made so many changes through all these practice sessions, and because the cars are sliding, and these tyres are overheating, it was really, really hard to find a good balance.”
“We made one last change going into qualifying, and I think we hit the sweet spot. So to be able to close the gap to two or three tenths to Max, who’s been so quick all weekend, is great. I’m so, so grateful.” This was the best qualifying result since his win in Barcelona.
It was a surprise to him as well, as they were looking at fifth best on ultimate pace, given they expected Mercedes upgrades to move them further ahead. Hamilton added he believed that where he lost out to Verstappen by around three or four tenths was on the straights.
Hamilton went on to lose a place in the race to Antonelli as he finished almost five seconds behind his title rival. The Seven-time Bahrain GP winner struggled at the start, dropping to seventeenth at one point, but the gamble to take the actual racing start on softs saw him slice easily through the field.
Asked how he felt after the race, Hamilton wasn’t sure. “I think it’s bittersweet. We had an opportunity and ultimately didn’t maximise it. I had a tough [time] at the beginning, but after the race got going and I managed to keep it on track — which, I’m telling you, was so, so hard.
“I didn’t think that I’d be able to get back to third place, so I’m very, very grateful for that and very happy with it. Obviously we had the wrong call in the beginning, which was so difficult and I could see everyone just pulling away.”
“I could see on the screen it was a minute down, and I thought that was kind of race over for us. But I just kept my head down, the guys did a great job with the pit stops – obviously lots of tyre changes and lots of chasing.”
Ferrari, as we know, has for the last decade made these bad calls on strategy, but Hamilton managed to salvage this result, and that felt again like vintage Hamilton in mixed conditions. Asked if they could have got more out of the race, he suggested that they needed to execute the race better.
Williams
Carlos Sainz recovered from a grid penalty in Baku to score for the first time in ten weekends, but the Spaniard believes that Williams “need more” from their upgrades if they “want to fight for points regularly”. Throughout this season, the team has struggled with performance issues and an overweight car which they hoped to have corrected with the significant upgrade last weekend.
It seemed to have an immediate impact as they enjoyed their first Q3 appearance of the year with Sainz, although he was given a five-place grid drop after failing to slow for yellow flags. Aided by retirements for drivers further ahead, he improved from fourteenth to tenth to score a point, but was left with mixed feelings from the weekend as a whole.
After last weekend’s race, he said, “I think [it’s] what we deserved this weekend, to get a point for the team after the effort of the upgrade and a great Qualifying yesterday. Some good management there at the end for the last 10-15 laps, getting myself back into contention.
“I’m very disappointed after what happened yesterday, the way that was managed, the way that was handled. I was very depressed, let’s say, going into today. I managed to get a point for the team which was the target.” But despite that, he believes this upgrade will allow them to have fun and fight; however, he still needs to work with teammate Alex Albon to score points.
Albon meanwhile crashed out in Baku, triggering a Safety Car that ultimately led to restart chaos that eliminated multiple drivers. Reflecting on the error, Albon explained: “Unusual crash, unusual place. I’ve not fully understood – maybe I braked a little later than the last lap, had a tailwind. We don’t like that corner as well, so we generally front-lock there. My fault, but it happens.”
Aston Martin
Days after confirming he would stay in F1 next season, Fernando Alonso scored his best finish of the season with eighth as the two-time champion finished six tenths behind Liam Lawson.
Alonso was able to make the most of the bizarre circumstances and used them to his advantage to score points, battle his way through the order, and fight with teams he usually would not be around, like Ferrari and McLaren. I think this race, where we know rain levels performance, was one where experience won out as we said on Thursday going into the weekend only half the drivers had race here before today.
He said, “Yeah, it was a fun race for sure. A lot of things going on since the beginning, you know, with the red flags, and then we wait a lot in the pit lane. So, we decided to start with the slick tyres, so obviously it was not the right decision, but, you know, at that point it felt good. We were even faster than the Ferraris.
“I overtook Hamilton. I was pulling away from him, so at that point I thought, okay, you know, this is going well. But obviously, you know, we were very slow with the slick, and thanks to the safety car, everything regrouped and started a new race from that point onwards.”
Haas
Esteban Ocon and Haas have announced the Frenchman will leave the team at the end of the season. The announcement came on Wednesday he and the team confirmed his departure following months of speculation about his future.
Haas said that there would be no imminent news on his replacement, despite reports that Brazilian Ferrari junior Rafael Camara has been lined up to partner Britain’s Oliver Bearman next season. Ocon joined the team last year partnering Bearman, the Ferrari junior driver outperforming him since they have been teammates.
Ocon wrote on social media: “My time with Haas F1 Team will come to an end at the end of the 2026 season. I leave this project with my head held high and proud of my performances in what were not always the easiest of circumstances for various reasons and factors outside of my control.”
Alpine
Following the collision between Norris and Colapinto last weekend, the Argentine was subjected to only abuse. The fallout led to Alpine releasing a statement on Sunday condemning the online abuse and hate aimed at drivers and others in F1 that had followed the incident.
It’s not the first time Alpine have spoken out against social media abuse this season, with the online conduct of Colapinto’s fans having previously come under scrutiny. FIA stewards and Alpine staff were targeted when Colapinto received a drive-through penalty for overtaking under a double yellow flag in Zandvoort.
Alpine appeared to attempt to avoid antagonising Colapinto’s fans in their latest statement by insisting their statement wasn’t “aimed at any one fan base or the supporters of one team or driver”.
The statement said: “As a team, we feel it’s necessary to speak out once more about the hate and abuse online following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Not only aimed at one of our own drivers, but also members of the Formula 1 community, including media, and to our racing counterparts whom we respect, admire, and revel in competing against in the pinnacle of motorsport.”
Race review
The return to Sepang delivered one of the best weekends of the season; Max Verstappen’s win, in hindsight, has been coming maybe over the last month and indicates that Red Bull has made huge progress to be winning again so early with Ford, given they are a new power unit entry.
Throughout that race, I was reminded why we love this circuit; there was so much going on in that race and with the delayed start and everything that played out, it felt like the best race of the season. You need to wonder if the title race is over; it isn’t mathematically, but George Russell’s DNF is a nail in the coffin, reminiscent of 2016. He has had no luck this year; as we said, this was seen in the rise of Kimi Antonelli.
Speaking of 2016, Hamilton great recovery after the shambolic call to start on dry tyres at the restart, but he showed his true racing instinct to finish third. As we know, he is brilliant in mixed conditions. That race had everything in it; Sepang’s long-awaited return delivered everything Formula 1 fans could have hoped for.
Perhaps the biggest winner of all was Sepang itself. After a decade away from the calendar, the circuit delivered a spectacular race and reminded everyone why it remains such a favourite among drivers and fans alike.
Let’s hope we do not have to wait another ten years for its return, particularly with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim indicating Malaysia is interested in bringing the Grand Prix back on a more permanent basis.
Results Summary
Pole Position |
Max Verstappen
Red Bull – Ford RBPT 01:35.190 |
|||||
Podium |
||||||
Po |
Name |
Nat |
Team |
Time |
Points |
|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull – Ford RBPT | 01:47:147.808 | 25 | |
| 2 | Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli | ITA | Mercedes | +00:02.307 | 18 | |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Ferrari | +00:04.919 | 15 | |
| Fastest
Lap |
Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull – Ford RBPT | 01:38.220 | ||
Championship Standings
Drivers’ Championship |
Constructors Championship |
|||
Po |
Name |
Points |
Constructor |
Points |
| 1 | Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli | 320 | Mercedes | 556 |
| 2 | George Russell | 236 | Ferrari | 406 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 214 | McLaren – Mercedes | 316 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | 191 | Red Bull – Ford RBPT | 298 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | 188 | Racing Bulls – Ford RBPT | 90 |
