Verstappen Skips the Soft and Sets the Pace in Bahrain Grand Prix 2026 Malaysia Practice

Max Verstappen set the fastest lap of Bahrain Grand Prix 2026 Malaysia practice, a 1:37.520 in FP1 that Charles Leclerc’s FP2 benchmark missed by 0.008s. Leclerc topped the second session with a 1:37.528 from Isack Hadjar and Lando Norris. Verstappen was fourth in FP2, with his time coming on his first timed lap on the Medium. He never fitted the Soft, going long instead with a 13-lap run averaging 1:44.808, the longest Medium run of the session. Three drivers now carry grid penalties into Sunday after new power unit elements: Arvid Lindblad 30 places, Franco Colapinto 15 in total and Hadjar five.

Key Points: Bahrain Grand Prix 2026 Malaysia Practice

• Verstappen tops FP1 with a 1:37.520, still the fastest lap of Friday at Sepang
• Leclerc leads FP2 with a 1:37.528 from Hadjar and Norris, with a 90% rain risk that never arrived
• Verstappen skips the Soft in FP2 and runs 13 laps on the Medium at an average of 1:44.808
• Grid penalties: Lindblad 30 places, Colapinto 15 in total, Hadjar five
• Mercedes P7 and P8 in FP2 on their upgrade debut, both times from their opening timed laps
• Hamilton under investigation for impeding Bortoleto at Turn 9, and Bortoleto stops late to bring out the VSC

FP1: Verstappen Sets Friday’s Benchmark

F1 last raced at Sepang in 2017, and plenty of this grid had never driven it. Colapinto led the field out at 12:30 local on the Soft. Lindblad and both Red Bulls also started on it. Most of the field went with the Medium.

Verstappen was on top by the 15 minute mark. The order started moving once more of the field went to the Soft, Hadjar going fastest before Russell took over. Then Verstappen came back with a 1:37.520 on his ninth lap, 0.383s clear of Russell. Nobody beat it for the rest of the hour.

Gasly set the fastest first sector of the session on his way to seventh. McLaren ran a different rear wing on each car and finished 11th and 12th, Piastri ahead of Norris. Late on, Russell and Kimi Antonelli went back to the Medium, and the championship leader had a wide moment while pushing.

Turn 14 claimed early laps from both McLarens for track limits. Liam Lawson and Valtteri Bottas were both shown the black and white flag for not keeping to the correct side of the bollard.

FP1 Classification

Verstappen made the difference in the final sector. His 39.721 was the only final sector in the top 10 under 39.9, 0.267s quicker than Russell’s. Russell had the fastest middle sector of the top 10 with a 32.496, and Gasly the fastest first sector with a 25.132, though he lost more than half a second to Russell through the middle of the lap.

FP1 Sector Splits: Top 10

Bold indicates fastest sector across the top 10.

FP2: Leclerc on Top as the Rain Holds Off

Race Control put the risk of rain at 90% before FP2, with dark cloud over the circuit. When the pit exit opened at 16:00, all 22 cars queued to get laps in before it came. Most went out on the Medium. The two McLarens, the two Cadillacs and Gasly started on the Soft.

Verstappen set the early mark, a 1:37.785 on his first timed lap, 0.235s ahead of Russell. Around 15 minutes in, Mercedes went to the Soft. Antonelli’s 1:38.125 was deleted for track limits at Turn 14 and Russell abandoned his lap in the final sector. Both Mercedes stayed on the Medium times they’d set at 16:05.

The rain didn’t come. Leclerc went 1:37.528 on his ninth lap at 16:24, and Norris followed with a 1:37.665. Hadjar slotted into second at 16:30 with a 1:37.627, 0.099s off Leclerc. That’s how the top three finished.

At 16:24 Gabriel Bortoleto came up on a slow Lewis Hamilton on the racing line at Turn 9 and had to take avoiding action. The stewards noted it, then confirmed an impeding investigation after the session. Bortoleto later ran wide fighting Lindblad, a battle that went on for several laps, and asked Audi to check his floor. In the final minutes he stopped on track. The Virtual Safety Car came out at 16:57 with marshals at Turn 8, and the track was clear at 16:59.

Antonelli was shown the black and white flag after the chequered flag for not keeping to the correct side of the bollard. Colapinto finished 22nd, 5.863s off, but his fastest lap was his first. He spent the rest of the session on longer runs.

FP2 Classification

Verstappen had the fastest first sector of the top 10, Hadjar the middle and Leclerc the last, his 39.891 the only final sector under 39.9. Hadjar’s 32.229 was the quickest middle sector of the day. Leclerc was only eighth quickest of the top 10 through the first sector on his fastest lap. His best sectors across the session add up to a 1:37.453, 0.067s quicker than anything set on Friday.

FP2 Sector Splits: Top 10

Bold indicates fastest sector across the top 10.

The Long Runs and the Medium

Verstappen was the only driver who didn’t use the Soft in FP2. Colapinto was the other one still on the Medium in the final third, and he switched late. Verstappen stayed on the same tyre all session.

After his early laps he sat in the garage for 15 minutes, then went back out on the same Medium, five laps old, and didn’t stop for 13 laps. His first two laps were 1:43.559 and 1:43.513. The final two were 1:45.531 and 1:45.662. The average was 1:44.808, and the times climbed by around two seconds from start to finish. He pitted after the 13th lap and stayed in the garage for the closing stages.

It was the longest Medium run of the session. The closest runs to it on pace came on the Soft. Norris did ten laps on a used Soft, all between 1:44.283 and 1:45.512, for an average of 1:44.989. His times barely moved from start to finish. Leclerc opened his run on new Softs with a 1:43.055 and averaged 1:44.995 over nine laps. Take out one 1:48.296 and his other eight averaged 1:44.583. For reference, over his first eight laps on the Medium, Verstappen averaged 1:44.463.

Russell stayed out longer, 15 laps without stopping, and that was on the Soft too. Six laps between 1:44.315 and 1:44.960, one slow lap of 1:53.067, then eight more between 1:45.269 and 1:45.827. Piastri averaged 1:45.110 over eight laps on the Soft.

On the Medium, the closest comparison is Antonelli. His late run on a used Medium was five laps averaging 1:44.340. Verstappen’s first five averaged 1:44.002. Hadjar averaged 1:45.549 over nine laps on a new Medium. Colapinto’s late run on new Softs averaged 1:44.592 across six laps, a different picture from his 22nd place on the timesheet.

FP1 told a different story. The McLarens had the quickest runs of the opening hour, Norris averaging 1:44.231 over six laps on the Soft and Piastri 1:44.412 over six on the Medium. Verstappen’s ten-lap FP1 run on the Soft averaged 1:45.204.

Fuel loads aren’t published, and run lengths and plans varied across the field. FP3 should give a clearer picture.

New Parts on Track

Seven teams declared 14 updates to the FIA for Sepang, and Mercedes account for seven of them, all on the floor and rear of the car. I went through the full list in my Bahrain Grand Prix 2026 Malaysia upgrades piece. Friday’s times can’t isolate what any one part is worth, with teams running different programmes.

Mercedes also ran a special livery in tribute to title partner PETRONAS. FP1 put Russell second and Antonelli fifth. FP2 is harder to read. Both cars were classified on their first timed laps, set at 16:05 on the Medium, before the Soft laps were deleted and aborted. P7 and P8 isn’t a clean read on the upgraded car.

McLaren ran a different rear wing on each car in FP1 and went from 11th and 12th to third and sixth in FP2. Norris also ran set-up changes after a difficult opening hour.

Grid Penalties and the Rest of the Field

The stewards confirmed three power unit grid penalties from FP1, each applying to Sunday’s race. Hadjar takes a five-place drop for a seventh engine. He was third in FP1, second in FP2 and quickest through the middle sector in the afternoon, while reporting oscillations on the RB22.

Lindblad has the biggest penalty. A fifth engine, a fifth turbocharger and a fifth exhaust set, each carrying a 10-place penalty. That’s 30 places. He did 27 laps in FP1 but couldn’t find a clear lap on his fresh Softs, then ran 33 in FP2, more than anyone. Colapinto takes a 10-place drop for a fifth engine, on top of a five-place penalty carried over from his incident in Baku, 15 places in total.

Ferrari had both cars in the top six in both sessions, Hamilton sixth then fifth, with the impeding investigation still to come. Gasly was seventh and tenth for Alpine. Lawson was eighth and ninth, though three of his FP2 laps were deleted for track limits at Turn 6. Hülkenberg put the Audi tenth in FP1 and was 13th in FP2, one place behind Bortoleto.

Aston Martin were 14th and 18th in FP1, then 15th and 18th. Haas were 15th and 16th in FP1, Ocon 14th and Bearman 16th in FP2. Williams finished 17th and 20th in both sessions, Sainz moving up from 20th to 17th while Albon went the other way. Cadillac were 21st and 22nd in FP1, then 19th and 21st.

Conditions and the Tyre Picture

FP2 ran from 16:00 local, the same slot as Saturday’s qualifying, making it the closest conditions reference teams have. Air held between 34.4°C and 36.0°C, the track peaked at 59.5°C and humidity sat between 46.5% and 50.2%.

FP1 ran from 12:30 local, FP3’s slot, with a 0% rain risk. Across the FIA weather report for that session, air ran from 30.8°C to 35.6°C, the track peaked at 58.1°C and humidity ranged between 49.1% and 70.3%. Most of the field opened both sessions on the Medium.

Coffee Corner Take

Leclerc topped FP2. Verstappen’s Friday matters more.

Fastest lap of the day, set in FP1. Then an afternoon where the Soft never came out of the blanket. The rest of the front chased a lap with a 90% rain risk hanging over the session. Verstappen did 13 straight laps on a used Medium, the longest Medium run of the session, with his opening pace comparing well against Norris and Leclerc’s Soft runs.

There’s a warning in it too. Around two seconds lost from the start of the run to the end, on a track that peaked at 59.5°C. Norris lost almost nothing over ten laps on a used Soft. If that holds on Sunday, McLaren have something to work with.

Ferrari have the one-lap number. Leclerc’s best sectors add up to a 1:37.453, quicker than anything set on Friday, and both cars were top six in both sessions.

Red Bull’s second car complicates it. Hadjar was top three twice and quickest through the middle sector, and he’s lost five places before qualifying starts. Even if Hadjar qualifies on pole, the penalty drops him to sixth at best.

Mercedes’ FP2 classification doesn’t say much. P7 and P8 came from 16:05 laps on the Medium. The upgrade hasn’t shown its hand on a single lap yet.

Verstappen was the last man to win here, back in 2017. Nine years later, he ended Friday with the fastest lap of the day and the longest Medium run of FP2.