Max Verstappen has delivered the first Formula 1 victory for Red Bull Ford Powertrains—and he did it during a race that began with a 90-minute rain delay, confused tire strategies and enough standing water to remind everyone why Formula 1 left Sepang with several memorable weather stories.
Verstappen won the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia by 2.307 seconds over Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli. Lewis Hamilton recovered from an unsuccessful decision to start on slick tires and completed the podium for Ferrari.
The victory was Verstappen’s first of the season, Red Bull’s first under the new 2026 power-unit regulations and the first win for the Ford-supported powertrain program. www.reuters.com
That makes the result more important than another wet-weather Verstappen masterclass. Red Bull designed and built its own Formula 1 power unit for the first time, with Ford providing technical support in areas including electrical systems, battery technology, software and manufacturing.
The program now has a race victory.
Why was the Bahrain Grand Prix held in Malaysia?
The unusual event name requires an explanation.
Formula 1 originally scheduled the Bahrain Grand Prix for April 2026, but conflict in the Middle East prevented the event from taking place safely. Formula 1, the FIA and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia later reached an agreement to hold the replacement race at Sepang International Circuit from October 2–4.
The event retained the official name Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Sepang hosted the race, while Bahrain remained its nominal organizer.
Formula 1 had not raced at Sepang since 2017. Placing the event between the Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix allowed the series to restore the race without creating a major logistical detour for the teams.
It was an unusual arrangement, but international motorsport has never allowed geographic clarity to interfere with a sufficiently complicated commercial agreement.
Heavy rain delayed the start
Verstappen started from pole position, with Hamilton alongside him and Antonelli immediately behind.
The race was supposed to begin at 3 p.m. local time. Heavy rain left standing water across the circuit, forcing officials to delay the start while sweepers and track workers attempted to improve conditions.
When the cars finally left the pits, visibility and grip remained poor. Isack Hadjar aquaplaned into the gravel during the formation procedure, Verstappen reported acceleration trouble and Hamilton temporarily stopped with a software problem.
Race control suspended the start and returned the cars to the pits. Because the field entered pit lane in a different order, officials restored the original grid positions before trying again.
By that point, the rain had eased and Sepang was drying rapidly. Drivers and engineers now faced the decision that defines mixed-condition racing: intermediates or slicks?
Choose the wet-weather tire too late and it overheats on the drying line. Choose the slick too early and the car becomes a very expensive hydroplane with advertising.
Slick tires punished Ferrari at the start
Verstappen, Antonelli and George Russell selected intermediate tires for the eventual standing start. Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were among the drivers gambling on slicks.
The intermediates immediately worked better.
Antonelli accelerated through the middle and took the lead into Turn 1. Russell also passed Verstappen around the outside, dropping the polesitter to third.
Hamilton and Leclerc moved in the opposite direction. Their slick tires could not generate enough temperature or mechanical grip on the wet circuit, sending both Ferrari drivers toward the rear of the field.
A slick tire needs its tread surface and internal structure to operate within a specific temperature window. On a wet track, the tire cannot generate that heat effectively. Water also prevents the rubber from maintaining consistent contact with the pavement.
Intermediate tires use grooves to move water away from the contact patch. Their softer construction also generates heat more effectively under cool, damp conditions.
The tradeoff arrives when the track dries. The softer tread begins overheating and moving excessively, while a slick finally reaches the environment it was designed to handle.
The fastest tire therefore depends on where the circuit will be several laps from now—not merely where it is when the team makes the decision.
Verstappen recovered before the crossover
Verstappen did not remain behind both Mercedes drivers for long.
He passed Russell at Turn 4 on Lap 6 and began closing on Antonelli. The decisive strategy change arrived when Valtteri Bottas spun his Cadillac into the gravel on Lap 10, triggering a Safety Car.
Verstappen used the reduced-speed period to switch from intermediates to slicks. Mercedes brought Antonelli and Russell in together, forcing the team to service both cars sequentially.
That double-stack cost time.
When racing resumed, Verstappen remained close to Antonelli. He passed the Mercedes at Turn 3, while Russell moved past his teammate shortly afterward.
Verstappen then began setting fastest laps and established a lead of more than four seconds. Antonelli eventually repassed Russell on Lap 21, but he could not recover the time already lost to the Red Bull.
The final classification showed Verstappen 2.307 seconds ahead of Antonelli after 55 laps. Hamilton finished another 2.612 seconds behind, completing an impressive recovery from his early tire mistake. www.reuters.com
Why stopping under the Safety Car matters
A pit stop always costs time, but the amount lost relative to other cars changes when the field is circulating behind the Safety Car.
During normal racing, competitors continue traveling at full speed while a driver enters pit lane, slows to the speed limit, changes tires and accelerates back onto the circuit.
Under the Safety Car, every car on track must reduce its speed. The vehicle making the pit stop still loses time, but its rivals are covering less distance during the stop.
That makes a Safety Car an attractive opportunity to change tires—provided the team has the correct tires ready and the driver has not already passed the pit entrance.
Verstappen’s timing allowed him to make the transition as the track moved toward slick conditions. Mercedes brought both cars in, but servicing Antonelli and Russell together created the familiar double-stack delay.
The mechanics can work on only one car at a time. The second driver must wait unless the team can create enough separation between them.
Modern Formula 1 strategy combines tire temperature, radar forecasts, traffic gaps, pit-lane loss and probability calculations. Sometimes it also requires politely parking one multimillion-dollar race car behind another while everyone watches the stopwatch.
Red Bull Ford records its first victory
The win represents the first major result for Red Bull Ford Powertrains.
Red Bull established its powertrain division after Honda initially announced its withdrawal from Formula 1. Ford joined the project to support development of the power unit created for the 2026 regulations.
The new formula combines a turbocharged 1.6-liter V6 with a substantially more powerful electrical system. The regulations eliminated the MGU-H, retained regenerative braking through the MGU-K and placed greater emphasis on electrical deployment.
That shift makes several engineering areas especially important:
- Battery temperature management
- Energy recovery under braking
- Electrical deployment strategy
- Turbocharger response without the MGU-H
- Combustion efficiency
- Software calibration
- Drivability on corner exit
- Reliability across the complete race distance
Wet conditions increase the difficulty. The powertrain must deliver its combined output smoothly enough for the rear tires to use it.
An aggressive torque request that works on dry pavement can create wheelspin on a damp corner exit. Engineers therefore adjust throttle maps, hybrid deployment and differential behavior to make the available power manageable.
Peak output does not help if the rear tires convert it into spray.
The first win does not solve everything
Red Bull and Verstappen entered Sepang without a victory during the 2026 season. One successful weekend does not prove that the team now has the fastest or most reliable package.
It does confirm that the powertrain can win.
That matters because completely new engine programs rarely arrive without development problems. Cooling, vibration, calibration, energy deployment and component durability must all be validated under real racing conditions.
Russell’s late retirement provided a reminder. The Mercedes driver stopped on the main straight with a suspected power-unit problem five laps from the finish. His retirement eliminated what could have been another podium and severely damaged his championship position.
An engine or hybrid failure near the end of a race produces the same number of points as one occurring near the beginning. It merely provides more time for everyone to become emotionally invested.
Red Bull Ford still needs to prove that this performance can be repeated on dry circuits and across different track layouts. Sepang rewarded wet-weather control, strategic flexibility and strong high-speed performance. Singapore will present a slower, hotter street-circuit challenge.
Ford’s motorsport expansion is producing results
The Formula 1 victory arrives while Ford is expanding its factory involvement across multiple disciplines.
Ford has also confirmed a full factory return to the World Rally Championship in 2028, followed by an all-new rally car in 2029. Our breakdown of Ford’s WRC factory return explains how the rally program fits into the company’s broader engineering strategy.
Formula 1 gives Ford experience with electrical systems, batteries, turbocharged combustion, simulation and control software. Rallying adds all-wheel-drive development, rough-surface durability and rapid service procedures.
The technologies do not move directly from a Formula 1 car into a Mustang or F-150. Development methods, engineers and test processes can transfer even when complete parts cannot.
That is the more credible motorsport connection. Your next street car will not receive Verstappen’s engine because Ford won at Sepang. The people developing its electronics, combustion strategy or thermal-management systems may benefit from solving related problems under considerably less forgiving conditions.
Why the Red Bull Ford victory matters
Verstappen’s Sepang win matters because it provides the first competitive validation of Red Bull Ford’s new power-unit program.
The team did not win through straight-line performance alone. It won by combining:
- A manageable wet-weather power delivery
- Correct intermediate-tire selection
- A well-timed Safety Car stop
- Fast transition onto slicks
- Reliable hybrid performance
- Verstappen’s ability to recover after losing the lead
The race also confirmed that the return to Sepang remains capable of producing the uncertainty Formula 1 often spends considerable effort attempting to manufacture through regulations.
This time, the circuit and weather handled that job naturally.
Red Bull Ford has its first victory. The next test is whether the team can repeat it when the track is dry, the strategy is conventional and everyone has fewer excuses.
