The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia 2026) was a Formula One motor race held on 4 October 2026 at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia. It was the sixteenth round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship and marked the first Formula One race at Sepang since 2017.
The race was originally scheduled to be held at the Bahrain International Circuit on 12 April, but it and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix were removed from the April schedule following the outbreak of the 2026 Iran war. Following an agreement between Formula One, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), Bahrain and Malaysia, the event was reinstated on the calendar and relocated to Sepang, retaining the Bahrain Grand Prix name. Bahrain retained control over ticket pricing and the right to receive all proceeds from the race.
Max Verstappen (Red Bull) secured his first pole position of the season, also marking the first pole of 2026 for a car not powered by a Mercedes engine. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) qualified second, ahead of Verstappen's teammate Isack Hadjar. Hadjar's five-place grid penalty for exceeding his allocation of power unit elements relegated him to eighth on the starting grid. This promoted championship leader Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) to third, alongside Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) on the second row.
Heavy rain delayed the initial starting procedure by 40 minutes. Technical problems during the formation laps then forced the procedure to be suspended. The race began behind the safety car 93 minutes after the scheduled start, with a standing start following at the beginning of lap 3. Verstappen won from pole to claim his and Red Bull's first victory of the season, and their first since the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It was also the first victory for Red Bull Ford Powertrains and the first for a Ford-powered car since the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix. Antonelli finished second, ahead of Hamilton, who recovered from 18th after starting on slick tyres on the wet circuit. Championship contender George Russell (Mercedes) retired from third with a power-unit failure during the late safety-car period. The result extended Antonelli's championship lead over his teammate from 66 to 84 points.
Background The event was held at the Sepang International Circuit in Sepang across the weekend of 2–4 October. It was the 20th Formula One Grand Prix in the circuit's history. The Grand Prix was the sixteenth round of the 2026 Formula One World Championship and the 22nd running of the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Sepang International Circuit hosted the Malaysian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship annually from 1999 to 2017.
In August 2025, then youth and sports minister Hannah Yeoh said that the government had no immediate plans to restore the Malaysian Grand Prix, citing an estimated annual hosting fee of 300 million Malaysian ringgit (approx. 73 million USD) and competition for places on the Formula One calendar. She said Malaysia would nevertheless be open to a privately funded proposal.
Postponement and attempts to reschedule
The event was originally scheduled to take place across the weekend of 10–12 April 2026 at the Bahrain International Circuit and would have been the fourth round of the championship. As of 2026, the Bahrain Grand Prix was contracted to remain on the Formula One calendar until 2036.
On 28 February 2026, the Iran war broke out following targeted airstrikes by the United States and Israel. In retaliation, Iran launched counterattacks targeting numerous American military bases in the Middle East, including those in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, all of which are host countries to Formula One Grands Prix. Shortly after the conflict began, Pirelli cancelled scheduled tyre tests at the Bahrain International Circuit because of safety concerns. On 14 March, Formula One announced that the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix would not take place on their originally scheduled April dates.
By late July, efforts to preserve one of the two rounds had focused on the Bahrain Grand Prix, with the Sepang International Circuit among the replacement options being considered. A decision on any replacement would need to be made before the summer break following the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Relocation to Sepang
On 24 July, the Malaysian youth and sports minister Mohammed Taufiq Johari announced that the Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the Ministry of Youth and Sports had received preliminary information about the possibility of Sepang hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix. The ministry was discussing and assessing the proposal, with further developments to be announced after a decision had been finalised. Formula One had outlined the logistical requirements for staging a Grand Prix rather than presenting Malaysian authorities with a confirmed event. Although Sepang retained the FIA Grade 1 licence required for Formula One and continued to host the Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix, organising a Formula One race at short notice would require additional work. Reuters reported that multiple replacement venues were being assessed and that no decision had been made.
On 26 July, Formula One and the FIA announced that Sepang would host the Bahrain Grand Prix from 2 to 4 October. The agreement was reached with the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia, and the remainder of the 2026 calendar was left unchanged. The addition produced a 23-race schedule, with the event forming part of a run of three consecutive race weekends alongside Azerbaijan and Singapore.
Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim welcomed the agreement and said that Malaysia was ready to support Bahrain, Formula One, and the FIA in staging the event. Reports indicated that Bahrain would cover most of the rescheduling costs, while retaining the ticket pricing rights and race proceeds.
Championship standings before the race Going into the weekend, Kimi Antonelli led the Drivers' Championship with 302 points, 66 points ahead of teammate George Russell in second and 103 ahead of Lewis Hamilton in third. Mercedes, with 538 points, led the Constructors' Championship from Ferrari and McLaren, which were second and third with 378 and 306 points, respectively.
Entrants
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.
Tyre choices
Tyre supplier Pirelli selected its C2, C3, and C4 compounds—the middle three in its range—for the event, designating them as hard, medium, and soft, respectively.
Penalties Franco Colapinto (Alpine) carried a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision at the previous Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
Practice Three free practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 2 October 2026, at 12:30 local time (UTC+8), and was topped by Max Verstappen (Red Bull) ahead of George Russell (Mercedes) and Verstappen's teammate Isack Hadjar. The second free practice session was held on the same day, at 16:00 local time, and was topped by Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) ahead of Hadjar and Lando Norris (McLaren). A virtual safety car was deployed in the closing minutes after Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) stopped on track. The third free practice session was held on 3 October 2026, at 12:30 local time, and was topped by Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) ahead of Verstappen and Hadjar. The session was briefly red-flagged due to debris on track from the car of Oliver Bearman (Haas).
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 3 October 2026, at 16:00 local time (UTC+8), and determined the starting grid order for the race.
Qualifying report In the first segment of qualifying (Q1), Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman (Haas) left the pits early as the team planned to use three sets of soft tyres. Ferrari and Audi initially opted for medium tyres, while the remaining teams used softs. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) set the early pace before Max Verstappen (Red Bull) moved ahead, with Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) and teammate Charles Leclerc taking second and third on mediums. Bearman's second attempt was compromised by a lock-up at turn 1. During the closing runs, Pierre Gasly (Alpine) gave teammate Franco Colapinto a tow, while Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) moved into eighth after setting the fastest opening sector. Audi switched to soft tyres for its final attempts, but Bortoleto's teammate Nico Hülkenberg was unable to progress. Hülkenberg and Alexander Albon (Williams) both made mistakes at the penultimate corner on their final laps. Hülkenberg was eliminated in 17th, behind Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls), followed by Bearman, Ocon, Albon and the Cadillac drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez. Ocon, the first driver to take the chequered flag, subsequently questioned the timing of his final run. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) reached Q2 for the first time that season, joining teammate Fernando Alonso.
Verstappen set the pace in the second segment (Q2), with Leclerc initially his closest challenger as Ferrari switched to soft tyres. Antonelli's opening lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 6, forcing him to use another set of new softs to secure his progression. His subsequent effort placed him second, behind Verstappen and ahead of Leclerc. Verstappen and Alonso both received black-and-white warning flags for driving unnecessarily slowly. With a grid penalty already consigning him to the back, Lindblad gave teammate Liam Lawson a tow along the back straight. Lawson briefly occupied the final Q3 place, but Bortoleto displaced him on his last attempt. Lawson was eliminated in 11th, followed by Alonso, Carlos Sainz Jr. (Williams), Stroll, Colapinto and Lindblad; the latter two did not record a time in Q2. Alonso's 12th place was his best qualifying result of the season, on the first occasion that year that both Aston Martins had reached Q2. Colapinto's combined 15-place grid penalty—five places for causing a collision at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and ten for exceeding his allocation of power unit elements—left him 21st on the starting grid, ahead of Lindblad, who received a 30-place penalty for power unit changes.
In the final segment (Q3), George Russell (Mercedes) set the initial benchmark before Verstappen and teammate Isack Hadjar took the top two positions on their opening attempts. Having used an additional set of tyres in Q2, Antonelli had only one set of new softs available and made his run between his rivals' two attempts, briefly moving into third. Verstappen improved on his final attempt by setting the fastest final sector, despite failing to improve through the first two sectors. Hamilton's final lap split the Red Bulls, securing second ahead of Hadjar, who matched his career-best qualifying position in third. Verstappen was fastest in all three segments, securing his first pole position of the season and the 49th of his career. It was also the first pole of 2026 for a car not powered by a Mercedes engine and the first for Red Bull Ford as an engine supplier. Verstappen and Hamilton shared the front row for the first time since the 2023 Hungarian Grand Prix. Antonelli qualified fourth ahead of Leclerc, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (McLaren) sixth and seventh; Russell, Gasly and Bortoleto completed the top ten. Hadjar's five-place grid penalty for taking a seventh internal combustion engine relegated him to eighth, promoting Antonelli, Leclerc, Norris, Piastri and Russell by one position each.
Qualifying classification