Practice report

F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Verstappen pips Russell to top FP1

The championship-leading Mercedes outfit may have brought many car upgrades to Sepang, but it was Red Bull who went quickest in opening practice

Max Verstappen topped opening practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia aboard a highly competitive 2026 Red Bull Formula 1 car in an uninterrupted session at Sepang.

The four-time world champion posted a 1m37.520s to go 0.383s quicker than second-placed George Russell of Mercedes, with Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar completing the top three on a 1m38.303s.

It came on F1’s first visit to Sepang in nine years – Verstappen won the last race there in 2017 - which is hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix on behalf of the Sakhir circuit due to the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict.

So with next to no recent data of the Malaysian track, it was little surprise to see teams rush out in the early moments of FP1 with the medium tyre largely being the preferred choice.

It saw Russell go quickest of the medium runners in the opening 30 minutes, setting a 1m38.932s that was 0.522s quicker than team-mate Kimi Antonelli – but there were some outliers.

That included both Red Bull cars, which chose the soft tyre from the off, allowing Verstappen to set the early pace with a 1m38.883s, 0.049s quicker than Russell in second.

Hadjar had a trickier time of it sitting seven tenths off the Dutchman, having at times been caught out by the low-grip nature of Sepang such as an understeer moment at the final hairpin.

But grip was not the only thing to contend with, as drivers had to adapt to the hot and humid conditions of the Southeast Asian country given temperatures hit 32C.

“This is the craziest I’ve ever been in my life with temperatures,” claimed Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, who was 2.631s off the pace during the opening half of the one-hour session.

“Even more than Bahrain in FP1.”

Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi F1 Team

Photo by: Colin McMaster / LAT Images via Getty Images

Drivers nevertheless dealt with it, and the final 30 minutes started with Hadjar lowering his team-mate’s benchmark to a 1m38.303s, just as more teams fitted the soft compound.

So lap times kept tumbling: Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton went 0.064s and 0.287s off Hadjar respectively, before Russell took the top spot with a 1m37.903s.

The upgraded W17 was therefore looking fast, but so was the RB22 – last weekend it took its first double podium of 2026 – as Verstappen soon went 0.383s quicker with a 1m37.520s.

That lap was set with 25 minutes remaining, yet the closing moments saw drivers go back onto the harder compounds, working through various testing programmes ahead of the weekend.

The top three of Verstappen, Russell and Hadjar therefore remained as it was, with fourth going to Leclerc (+0.847s) and championship leader Antonelli taking fifth on a 1m38.580s.

Antonelli just seemed to have a scrappier time of it – struggling to find the pace that has allowed him to dominate the 2026 campaign – and in FP1 he split the Ferrari duo.

So Hamilton took sixth with a 1m38.590s, 1.070s off Verstappen, with Pierre Gasly’s 1m38.715s putting him seventh for Alpine after he took the fastest first sector.

F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia FP1 results

FP1

All Stats

Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	Tyres	km/h
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	3	Red Bull	Red Bull	23	1'37.520		S	204.622
2	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	25	+0.383 1'37.903	0.383	S	203.822
3	I. Hadjar Red Bull Racing	6	Red Bull	Red Bull	23	+0.783 1'38.303	0.400	S	202.992
4	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	25	+0.847 1'38.367	0.064	S	202.860
5	A. Antonelli Mercedes	12	Mercedes	Mercedes	23	+1.060 1'38.580	0.213	S	202.422
6	L. Hamilton Ferrari	44	Ferrari	Ferrari	21	+1.070 1'38.590	0.010	S	202.401
7	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Mercedes	22	+1.195 1'38.715	0.125	S	202.145
8	L. Lawson Racing Bulls	30	RB	Red Bull	22	+1.586 1'39.106	0.391	S	201.348
9	A. Lindblad Racing Bulls	41	RB	Red Bull	27	+1.677 1'39.197	0.091	S	201.163
10	N. Hulkenberg Audi	27	Audi	Audi	23	+1.691 1'39.211	0.014	S	201.134
11	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	23	+1.756 1'39.276	0.065	S	201.003
12	L. Norris McLaren	1	McLaren	Mercedes	21	+1.773 1'39.293	0.017	S	200.968
13	G. Bortoleto Audi	5	Audi	Audi	25	+2.028 1'39.548	0.255	S	200.454
14	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Honda	22	+2.163 1'39.683	0.135	S	200.182
15	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31	Haas	Ferrari	23	+2.638 1'40.158	0.475	S	199.233
16	O. Bearman Haas F1 Team	87	Haas	Ferrari	23	+2.791 1'40.311	0.153	S	198.929
17	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	22	+2.801 1'40.321	0.010	S	198.909
18	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Honda	19	+2.893 1'40.413	0.092	S	198.727
19	F. Colapinto Alpine	43	Alpine	Mercedes	22	+3.011 1'40.531	0.118	S	198.493
20	C. Sainz Williams	55	Williams	Mercedes	25	+3.085 1'40.605	0.074	S	198.347
21	V. Bottas Cadillac F1 Team	77	Cadillac	Ferrari	23	+3.280 1'40.800	0.195	S	197.964
22	S. Perez Cadillac F1 Team	11	Cadillac	Ferrari	24	+3.300 1'40.820	0.020	S	197.925
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