Verstappen gave Red Bull Ford first pole and win in Malaysia
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 4, 2026
Verstappen victory
Max Verstappen turned Red Bull Ford Powertrains’ first pole position at Sepang into its first victory as a power-unit manufacturer, and the result gave him his first win of the 2026 season. It also delivered Red Bull its first win of the year and pushed Verstappen to 72 career victories. The race marked another step for a program that had been building toward a breakthrough, and the conversion from pole to win made the day even more meaningful for the team. Verstappen took control from the front and backed up the promise of Saturday’s pace with the kind of execution Red Bull needed in changing conditions. The victory mattered on two levels. It rewarded the driver for the pole and it gave the manufacturer a clear milestone in its first season at the top of the project. For Verstappen, it was a clean reset to the season. For Red Bull Ford Powertrains, it was the first time the pole had led all the way to the checkered flag.
Wet conditions
The race did not unfold in straightforward fashion. The start was delayed, then the field went into wet, mixed conditions that kept teams under pressure from the opening laps. Red Bull managed the situation well, and the timing of its tire calls during safety-car periods helped shape the outcome. In a race where strategy mattered as much as outright speed, those decisions gave Verstappen the support he needed to protect the lead and keep the result under control. Kimi Antonelli finished second, giving him the best chase from behind after the race settled into its rhythm. George Russell also figured into the front of the race before his run ended with an apparent power-unit failure while he was running toward a podium position. That retirement changed the shape of the fight behind Verstappen and left Red Bull to capitalize on the chance in front of it. The conditions, the delays and the safety-car periods all made the margin for error small, and Red Bull handled the key moments. The result came from that mix of pace and timing.
Mekies milestone
Laurent Mekies called the result a milestone, and the word fit. Red Bull Ford Powertrains reached its first win in its first season as a power-unit manufacturer after five years of work, and the victory gave the project a clear reference point going forward. The scale of the moment came from the path that led there. The company had already earned pole at Sepang, then followed it with a race win in difficult conditions, and that sequence showed the program could deliver across an entire weekend. For Red Bull, the result went beyond a single trophy. It confirmed that the work behind the scenes had reached a level where pole position could become a victory. It also gave the team a fresh platform after a season opening that had not yet produced a win. Mekies’ assessment matched the facts on the ground. The pole, the win, the strategic calls and the conditions all came together in a race that gave Red Bull Ford Powertrains a first of its own.
