SEPANG Oct 4, 2026 — Max Verstappen has seized the lead of the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang after a Valtteri Bottas crash triggered a Safety Car and a scramble onto slick tyres.
On lap nine of 56, Bottas beached his car in the gravel, bringing out the Safety Car. While the Mercedes Safety Car circulated, the field poured into the pits for slicks as the track dried enough to abandon intermediates.
Standings after 11 laps still showed Lewis Hamilton yet to pit among the frontrunners, but the race flipped again when the Safety Car peeled off on lap 13. Verstappen snatched the lead on the restart, with George Russell slotting into second and early race leader Kimi Antonelli dropping to third.
By lap 15 the official top 10 read: Verstappen, Russell, Antonelli, Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson, Esteban Ocon, Arvid Lindblad, Oscar Piastri, Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg. Formula 1’s own race feed summed it up simply — there was no stopping Max at the restart.
Source: @F1 Bottas / Safety Car, slick stops, standings, restart, top 10, Verstappen restart
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