FORMULA 1 RETURNS TO SEPANG FOR THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX IN MALAYSIA
Formula 1 returns to Asia this weekend, but this time the destination is Sepang, which will host the Bahrain Grand Prix. Nine years after its last Formula 1 race, the Malaysian circuit is back on the calendar, although the event will officially remain the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
The change was made after the Bahrain Grand Prix, originally scheduled for April, could not take place because of the situation in the Middle East. Formula 1 and the FIA later confirmed that the race would be moved to Sepang from October 2 to 4, allowing the championship to keep the event on the 2026 calendar.
It is a very unusual situation for Formula 1, with a Grand Prix carrying the name of one country being held in another. Sepang will also become the second stop of the triple-header involving Azerbaijan, Bahrain and Singapore, with the Singapore Grand Prix following one week later. The Malaysian event is the 16th round of the 2026 season.
The main target for the rest of the field remains Kimi Antonelli. The Mercedes driver leads the championship after 15 rounds, but his advantage over team-mate George Russell has been reduced to 66 points following the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Antonelli had a difficult weekend in Baku, starting from the back after his crash in qualifying before recovering to fifth place.
Russell, meanwhile, arrives in Malaysia after one of his strongest weekends of the season. The Briton took pole position and then controlled the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, holding off Max Verstappen by just 0.196 seconds to claim his third victory of the year. The result allowed him to cut 15 points from Antonelli’s championship lead.
Russell now needs to show that Baku was not an isolated result. He has said that he feels more comfortable with the current generation of Formula 1 cars, but Sepang will provide a very different test. He has never raced at the Malaysian circuit in real life, despite having driven it extensively on the PlayStation as a child. Only 10 of the current 22 drivers have previously raced at Sepang, making experience another interesting factor this weekend.
Mercedes will also bring an important aerodynamic upgrade to Sepang. The team had already confirmed that a new package would arrive in Malaysia after several races without taking pole position. The objective is to improve the car’s qualifying performance and give Mercedes a stronger overall package across different types of circuits.
Behind Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari remain involved in the fight for the positions behind the leading team. Red Bull showed strong form in Baku, with Max Verstappen finishing second and Isack Hadjar taking third after returning from his wrist injury. Verstappen is still searching for his first victory of the 2026 season, despite finishing on the podium several times.
Ferrari, meanwhile, will be looking to recover after another difficult weekend. Charles Leclerc finished fourth in Baku, while Lewis Hamilton took sixth. The team has now gone five races without a podium, and Sepang could provide a different opportunity because of its long straights, high-speed corners and heavy tyre demands.
McLaren will also want a response after missing a strong result in Azerbaijan. Oscar Piastri crashed at Turn 1 while running near the front, while Lando Norris was eliminated in the incident involving Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly. Colapinto was later given a five-place grid penalty for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
The circuit first hosted Formula 1 in 1999 and remained on the calendar until 2017. The 2026 event will therefore be the 20th Formula 1 Grand Prix held at Sepang. Sebastian Vettel is the most successful driver at the circuit with four victories, while Ferrari has won seven times, more than any other team. The last Formula 1 winner at Sepang was Max Verstappen in 2017.
What does Pirelli bring to Sepang
One of the biggest challenges will be the lack of recent data. The last Formula 1 race at Sepang was held in 2017, when the cars, tyres and technical regulations were very different. The teams therefore have no truly relevant data from this generation of cars, making the first practice sessions especially important. McLaren has already highlighted the uncertainty around its simulator models and the behaviour of the current tyres on the Malaysian asphalt.
Pirelli has selected the C2, C3 and C4 compounds for the weekend, with C2 as the Hard, C3 as the Medium and C4 as the Soft. The choice is intended to create a wider range of strategies and reduce the difference between one-stop and two-stop races. The Malaysian track places medium levels of stress on the tyres, but its abrasive surface can produce significant thermal degradation.
The track map
The asphalt has also changed in some areas since Formula 1 last visited. Sections between Turns 6 and 12 were resurfaced in 2023, while further work was carried out around Turn 9. More recent levelling and cleaning work was completed ahead of this year’s race, although Pirelli says the overall characteristics of the surface remain similar to those recorded in 2017.
The circuit’s long straights and fast corners will also put particular importance on the new active-aerodynamics systems introduced for 2026. The Straight Mode reduces drag on the long straights and is available to all drivers, while the Overtake Mode provides additional electrical energy to a driver within the required gap to the car ahead. This should create another important battle between the final corner, the long start-finish straight and the braking zone for Turn 1.
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