That’s right – Russell wins the Azerbaijan Grand Prix – holding off Verstappen to take his 8th career F1 victory. Well done, Mr. Russell!! This was George’s 8th win, in 167 races, while in his 8th F1 season. His teammate, Kimi Antoneli, also has 8 wins, but in just 39 races, and he is only in his 2nd F1 year of competition. Quite a stark comparison, right? Well, George didn’t get to start his career with one of the best teams in the line-up as Kimi did, but he did certainly deserve this great win in Azerbaijan – Nice, solid, controlled drive…….
Red Bull continued to show some promise too – bagging both the 2nd position for Max, and Isack Hadjar’s return to the grid following his boxing wrist injury paid off – he finished on the podium in 3rd. Nice showing for the Red Bull Team.
So where are we now? Russell moves to within 66 points behind our still-current leader, Mr. Antonelli. And taking a quick look at the top 6 Driver positions shows that it’s really all up for grabs. From 2nd place (Driver’s Championship) to 6th – the total point spread is just 73 points, and between 1st and 6th – just 139 points. Bottom line: Really, they all have a shot – no has been eliminated since we still have 208 points available for any 1 driver (8 events and still 1 Sprint Race to go in Singapore) – Game On!
Here are the standings:
Constructor’s Challenge? Mercedes is now 160 points in front of Ferrari, but the 2nd through 4th teams are only 115 points apart (Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull). Then it drops off the map – Racing Bulls, currently in 5th is trailing its parent team, the Red Bull team, by 180 points (For any 1 team, there are total of 359 points still available). Remember again – only the Constructor’s points matter – that’s where all the payout is determined – the Driver’s get ZERO greenbacks from the FIA for scoring any points – they “earn” simply bragger’s rights, and of course the means to re-negotiate their salary for the on-coming years…
Here’s the Constructor’s Board:
Off to Sepang for the rescheduled Bahrain GP – Remember?
Number 16 of 23:
FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX IN MALAYSIA 2026
OK – Well, this is weird – I mean, I’m all in when it comes to expanding the schedule – but to hold the Official “Bahrain Grand Prix” in Malaysia kind of messes with the statistics for this event. Since the official name of the event is the Bahrain GP – the stats with that title carry over, but the circuit is totally different. Sooo – you will find that I included both sets of relevant statistics for the Bahrain Grand Prix and those pertinent to the Sepang International circuit (where we are this weekend), so you don’t get too messed up when the actual race is run – Your welcome.. 😊.
No real need in my mind to hit the country’s selling points because we are actually “guests” here this weekend. But – I’ll give you a little on location though, because this country is set up pretty uniquely.
Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 127,720 square miles – crazy enough – separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions (both in orange), Peninsular Malaysia (left above) and East Malaysia or Malaysian Borneo (right above). Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. With a population of 36.4 million (2026), Malaysia is the 45th most populous country.
This weekend – we are headed just south of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur (about 45 km) – to Sepang, Selangor where our facility awaits our return – and it is a beauty.
In the mid-1990s, Malaysia was undergoing a huge change. It was a goal of Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, at that time to almost literally put Malaysia on the map – one way to do it – Of Course – Bring in F1. The nation’s number one oil company, Petronas, began investing heavily in Formula One with Sauber (which is now Audi F1), and Malaysia’s national car company – Proton, bought Lotus Engineering. Mahathir then ordered that a Grand Prix track be constructed too – although he went to the traditional source for such (the circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke), the circuit certainly did not disappoint in its debut in 1999. The FIA has sanctioned racing in Malaysian since the 60’s – but only since 2011 has the race been officially known as the Malaysia Grand Prix – and the last time we were here was 9 years ago – back in 2017.
This is one of the more technical tracks on the current calendar – it has vast and very long and wide straights, as well as tight twisting complexes that make car set-up ….. well – “complicated”. It is also home to some pretty unpredictable and potentially aggressive weather – it can be boiling hot here, extremely humid, and has spawned up some notable tropical rainstorms. Spoiler Alert: Looking at the weather forecast for this weekend – we could get a little of both – Heat, and Rain….
The one Sepang event that comes to mind is the 2001 Malaysian Grand Prix – where both Ferraris piloted by Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello spun off the course almost simultaneously at the same corner – both recovering to finish 1-2. How did they recover and win? (under the radar – traction control my friend). Both cars were up to 5 seconds faster per lap than any other car out there – in the wet. It’s a great story on how technology beat out cost savings initiatives by beating the minimums when shifting gears – buy me a beer, and I’ll tell you about someday….
The signature high points of this circuit are certainly the 2-straights between turns 14 and 15, and then the front straight into turn 1 (turns 15-1). These are long and very wide – the former coming off a somewhat tight right hander (turn 14 – right above) and the latter – turn 1-2 complex, being a true to form, hairpin (left above). Look for passing opportunities here and some great speeds – if we get a dry patch during the race and/or qualifying, we will probably break the track record – but, thus far – that may not be in the cards.
OK – Nothing But The Stats:
As I mentioned earlier – I included the relevant stats for the Sepang circuit since we will be holding the official “Bahrain Grand Prix” actually in Malaysia – so both records are listed for the “Bahrain GP” and our circuit this weekend in Malaysia….
Circuit Name: Sepang International Circuit
Location: Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia
Circuit Length: 3.444 miles (5.543 km)
Race Length: 192.879 miles (310.408 km)
Number of Turns: 15
Rotation: Clockwise
Number of Laps: 56
Last Year’s Pole: Bahrain GP: (2025) Oscar Piastri
Malaysia GP: (2017) Lewis Hamilton w/Mercedes
Last Year’s Winner: Bahrain GP: (2025) Oscar Piastri
Malaysia GP: (2017) Max Verstappen
Fastest Lap: Sebastian Vettel set this record in 2017 with a 1:34.080
Most Wins Driver: Bahrain GP: Lewis Hamilton with 5 wins, Vettel is 2nd with 4
Malaysia GP: Tie – John MacDonald & Sebastian with 4 wins
Most Wins Constructor: Bahrain GP: Ferrari with 7 wins, Mercedes is 2nd with 6
Malaysia GP: Ferrari with 7 wins, Red Bull is second here with 5
Weather Forecast: Saturday: WET and WARM! 83 Degrees and a 91% chance of rain
Sunday: 84 Degrees, and an 82% chance of rain
Race Sponsor: Gulf Air
As mentioned earlier and above (our weekend forecast), it looks like we are going to have a sloppy (wet) qualifying and race weekend. This will be interesting, because we really haven’t had a wet race yet this season – so the performance of the cars could be easily equalized. Who’s great in the wet – of course, Max Verstappen – BUT – we really don’t have any indicator of how Kimi may perform in these conditions thus far. With our season winding down, and the competition between drivers and teams tightening up a tad – this will be a venue where many may feel they can make-up some ground. There will be those that are going to take some additional “risks” if under totally wet conditions – watch for it….
AND -What best to try while in Malaysia? Of course, their Nasi lemak – which is considered the dish most commonly noted as Malaysia’s signature or national dish. Its fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk, typically served with spicy sambal, fried anchovies, peanuts, cucumber, and egg. Often eaten for breakfast, it’s enjoyed throughout the day too – Dig In!
So let’s head back to Sepang, a circuit we haven’t seen since 2017 and onto the Bahrain Grand Prix. Keep your seats warm and reserved now – because we are in a triple back-to-back series of events with the under the lights, Singapore Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit next weekend – Perfect! Let’s Do This!
GodSpeed My Friends –
Jim….
