Author Archives: PressBox

Liam Lawson made an early charge on Max Verstappen at Sepang, fighting wheel-to-wheel with the pole sitter at Turn 1 before finishing seventh in a race shaped by wet-to-drying conditions, strategy calls and a Safety Car. Lawson qualified 11th, though one race recap said he started seventh, and he also battled Oscar Piastri as the track dried before rising as high as fourth after the restart.

He later slipped back as faster cars cycled through on different pit strategies, but said he was very proud of Racing Bulls and called it one of the best starts to his F1 career. Lawson said the team’s tire choices and second stint were strong, and that he had expected the race to be good only for ninth before late luck helped him gain ground.

Teammate Arvid Lindblad recovered from last on the grid to finish 10th and complete a double points finish for Racing Bulls, leaving the team fifth in the constructors’ standings. Lawson’s move on Verstappen also fit a season in which Racing Bulls drivers are usually expected to give him little resistance, something Lawson has already done more than once.

Max Verstappen delivered Red Bull Ford Powertrains its first Formula 1 pole and its first race victory in Malaysia, turning pole position at Sepang into a win that Verstappen called “very special” and “something everyone should be proud of.” It was Red Bull’s first pole since becoming a full power unit manufacturer, and Verstappen beat Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton in qualifying after a strong weekend that team leaders said showed the progress made since the start of the season.

The race brought mixed conditions, a twice-delayed wet start, changing strategy calls and a late safety car. Mercedes drivers briefly moved ahead at the start, but Verstappen regained control after Red Bull made the right tire decisions and kept calm through the interruptions. The victory was Verstappen’s 72nd career win, his first of the season and his first since Abu Dhabi last December, while Red Bull Ford Powertrains recorded its maiden victory as an engine maker.

Verstappen said the result was emotional because his father Jos was in attendance and praised the team’s unity and perseverance after a difficult start to the year that included competitiveness problems and technical issues. Team principal Laurent Mekies called it a milestone for the organization, and Christian Horner, who had overseen the creation of Red Bull Powertrains with Ford before his dismissal in 2025, described it as an incredible achievement after five years of work.

Ferrari’s decision to start both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc on slick soft tyres in the wet conditions at the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang backfired immediately, leaving both drivers at a major disadvantage after a rain delay. The track was still wet, most of the field began on intermediates, and Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur later said the team had been on the wrong side of the tyre call. Hamilton said the opening gamble put the race in trouble and Leclerc said, “everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong.”

Hamilton fell from second on the grid to as low as 17th or 18th before recovering as the circuit dried and a late safety car reshaped the race. Ferrari fitted him with fresh soft tyres, and he passed Isack Hadjar late to finish third, a result he called “bittersweet” and a missed chance to fight for the win. He said he had wanted to start on intermediates, warned the track was still wet, and later praised the mechanics, engineers and strategy group for helping salvage the podium.

Leclerc’s race unraveled after first-lap contact with Nico Hülkenberg, which left him with a puncture and front-wing damage. A slow pit stop dropped him to last, but he recovered to finish fourth, which he said was the best result possible given the chaos and his lack of feeling with the car. Ferrari scored 27 points, remained second in the Constructors’ Championship, extended its lead over McLaren and closed the gap to Mercedes slightly, while Vasseur and Leclerc both said the team needed to learn from the mistake before Singapore.

Isack Hadjar said a battery problem and poor grip cost him a chance at a Bahrain Grand Prix podium, after he described the race as a “joke” and said his Red Bull was “horrible to drive.” Hadjar started eighth after an engine penalty, went through the gravel on the formation lap and climbed through the field on intermediate tires, passing Liam Lawson for fourth on lap six before inheriting third when George Russell retired on lap 50.

His chances faded in the final laps after a Safety Car restart. Hadjar said he briefly had no battery and could not defend on the straights, which left him vulnerable as Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc passed him after the restart. He said he had held off Hamilton earlier when the Ferrari driver was on medium tires, but Hamilton’s switch to soft tires left Hadjar unable to respond.

Hadjar finished fifth, nearly four seconds behind Hamilton, after losing a potential podium in the closing sprint. He said the problem appeared to be on the chassis side rather than the power unit, criticized his own pace and said the team needed to understand why it had been so poor before the next race in Singapore. Red Bull’s first grand prix win of the season with Max Verstappen did little to soften his disappointment.

George Russell’s 2026 Formula 1 title hopes were hammered by Mercedes power-unit failures in Bahrain and Sepang, where late retirements ended likely podium runs and left him 84 points behind teammate Kimi Antonelli. Russell said his championship chances were “exceptionally unlikely” and described the season as “beyond disappointment” and “relentless” after repeated bad luck and mechanical problems.