Max Verstappen returned to the top step of the podium with victory in the 2026 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, bringing an end to his winless run after a dramatic race shaped by rain, changing track conditions and several late twists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victory marked Verstappen’s first success of the 2026 season and Red Bull’s first win of the campaign. The Dutchman had not stood on the top step since the previous season finale in Abu Dhabi, but in Malaysia he made the most of an unpredictable race to return to winning ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The difficult weather conditions made the opening stages particularly challenging, with drivers having to deal with a constantly evolving track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verstappen made his decisive move on lap 13, when he managed to pass Kimi Antonelli and take the lead of the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once in front, the Red Bull driver controlled proceedings effectively, adapting to the changing conditions and maintaining his advantage all the way to the chequered flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Antonelli, however, had plenty of reasons to be satisfied with second place. The Mercedes driver secured another important result and, crucially, strengthened his position at the top of the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
George Russell endured a much more difficult afternoon. The British driver arrived at Sepang needing to reduce the gap to his Mercedes teammate in the championship battle, but his race ended prematurely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russell’s Mercedes W17 stopped during the closing stages due to an engine problem, forcing him into retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a costly result for Russell, who lost further ground to Antonelli at a crucial stage of the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The outcome therefore strengthens Antonelli’s position within Mercedes and in the championship fight, with the Italian converting a difficult Malaysian weekend into another valuable result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russell’s retirement promoted Lewis Hamilton to third place, completing an impressive recovery for the Ferrari driver after a difficult start to the race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ferrari had opted to start on slick tyres despite the track still being wet. The aggressive strategy initially proved costly, dropping Hamilton down the order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As conditions improved, however, the seven-time world champion began working his way back through the field and eventually secured the final place on the podium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles Leclerc also delivered a strong result for Ferrari, finishing fourth. The Monegasque crossed the line ahead of Isack Hadjar’s Red Bull and Oscar Piastri’s McLaren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liam Lawson finished seventh for Racing Bulls, while Fernando Alonso crossed the line in eighth place to secure Aston Martin’s best result of the 2026 season so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a more difficult afternoon for Lando Norris. The reigning world champion ended up in the gravel during a Safety Car period in the closing stages, costing him several positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The McLaren driver was nevertheless able to recover to ninth place before the chequered flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arvid Lindblad completed the points-paying positions in tenth after fighting his way through the field from the back of the grid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sepang victory represents an important return to form for Verstappen and Red Bull after a winless opening part of the 2026 Formula 1 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a championship perspective, however, Antonelli could emerge as the biggest winner from the Malaysian weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His second-place finish, combined with Russell’s retirement, allows the Italian to further increase his advantage in the Drivers’ Championship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a Malaysian Grand Prix filled with rain, strategic uncertainty and late drama, Verstappen leaves Sepang with the victory, while Antonelli takes another significant step towards the Formula 1 world title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Max Verstappen returned to the top step of the podium with victory in the 2026 Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, bringing an end to his winless run after a dramatic race shaped by rain, changing track conditions and several late twists. The victory marked Verstappen’s first success of the 2026 season and Red Bull’s first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2124,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-f1"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2123"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2125,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2123\/revisions\/2125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giornalemotori.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}