Red Bull’s Max Verstappen won a disorderly Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, clinching his first victory of the season, as George Russell’s title hopes dwindled further with a late retirement. After the race was delayed by an hour and a half due to dysfunctional software on a wet track, Verstappen outduelled both Mercedes to triumph as Russell was struck by a technical issue.
After a 40-minute delay due to a downpour, the formation lap began, with several cars including front-row starters Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton suffering software glitches. The red flag was waved, delaying the race by a further 53 minutes. When the race finally got under way, only nine cars opted for intermediate tyres, including Verstappen, Kimi Antonelli, Russell and Hadjar.
A standing start took place at the end of lap two. The Silver Arrows of Antonelli and Russell surged to the front, despite polesitter Verstappen having the same intermediates. Verstappen passed Russell for second place on lap six and caught Antonelli on lap eight. A safety car period caused by Bottas allowed the inter-shod runners to switch to slicks. A ruthless Verstappen went around the outside of Antonelli at the restart in Turn 1, while Russell swept past in Turn 5.
As Verstappen pulled away, Antonelli found a way past Russell on lap 21. Antonelli went wide at the last corner and hit the pit entry bollard on lap 24, losing another two seconds to Verstappen. Late in the race, Russell suffered a technical issue and was forced to retire, leaving Antonelli to finish second behind Verstappen.
Source: Autosport F1 News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing