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-AMG Petronas, 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 Revolut F1 Team'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
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 Kimi 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 Alpine F1 Team lap putting him seventh after he took the fastest first sector.
Max Verstappen currently sits 6th in the drivers' standings with 163 points.
Source: Autosport
