Max Verstappen claimed his first victory of the season with an imperious drive in chaotic, storm-delayed conditions at the Bahrain GP, which took place in Malaysia on Sunday.
Nine years after the last Formula One race at Sepang, the four-time world champion delivered Red Bull’s first win of the year, his 72nd career victory and first since Abu Dhabi last year.
He finished 2.307 seconds ahead of championship leader Kimi Antonelli.
The race started almost two hours late after a tropical downpour, with half the field on intermediate tyres.
Mercedes made the early call pay, with Antonelli sweeping past Verstappen at turn one with George Russell following through.
Lewis Hamilton, who started on soft slicks, had no grip and tumbled down the order.
A safety car on lap nine after Valtteri Bottas slid into the gravel changed a lot. Most pitted for dry tyres, Verstappen for softs and Antonelli for mediums. Hamilton stayed out, and at the restart Verstappen pounced to reclaim the lead he would not lose.
Hamilton produced a thrilling recovery from more than a minute down to finish third behind Antonelli, passing Isack Hadjar in a final four-lap dash after a late safety car.
Charles Leclerc recovered from last to fourth, ahead of Hadjar, Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson. Antonelli now leads Russell by 84 points after his teammate retired with a power failure.
