Max Verstappen picks up first victory of the season in Malaysia

Max Verstappen picked up his first win of the season in the Bahrain Grand Prix, which was held at the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia on Sunday. Verstappen finished ahead of Kimi Antonelli, with Lewis Hamilton finishing third, after a dominant race from the Dutch Red Bull driver.

The original Bahrain Grand Prix was scheduled for April 12, Formula 1 and the FIA cancelled the April Bahrain and Saudi Arabian races because of the ongoing security situation in the Middle East, linked to the conflict involving Iran. Rather than lose the Bahrain race entirely, F1 later reached an agreement with Bahrain and Malaysia to stage the race at Sepang International Circuit.

It was a turbulent start to the race. First, it was delayed due to extreme weather, with heavy rainfall, thunder, and lightning occurring near the track. When the race was about to finally get going, another issue caused an even longer delay. individual car and software problems during the formation procedure resulted in the cars standing still and not moving. This resulted in the race starting an hour and a half later than planned.

Verstappen had started on pole, but he made a dreadful start to the race. He started slowly in his Red Bull, resulting in both Mercedes drivers, Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, going past him and taking the first two spots.

However, Verstappen did not stay in third place for long. He passed Russell on the sixth lap to climb to second place behind Antonelli. This led to a great battle between the two, with the Italian doing just about enough to hold on to first place.

The track was beginning to dry, leading to almost all drivers going into the pits to change from their intermediate tires. Verstappen and Red Bull opted for soft tires, an aggressive move and a clear signal of intent.

A safety car was deployed after this, which proved hugely beneficial for Verstappen. He used the opportunity to full advantage, passing Antonelli to regain the top spot. Russell also went past the Italian, who dropped to third.

Red Bull seemed to take a huge risk by pitting Verstappen despite the fact that he had a 12-second lead. However, Antonelli, now second, also went into the pits a lap later, and a safety car, which lasted several laps, was called.

It was the test for the victory for Verstappen, having to defend his first place behind the safety car from Antonelli. Russell had been forced to retire due to mechanical issues during the safety car period.

But Verstappen passed the test with flying colors. He restarted the race very quickly behind the safety car, catching Antonelli by surprise and resulting in a quick second lead. He eventually finished the race 2.3 seconds ahead of the Mercedes driver.