Bahrain 2026 GP preview
Weekend schedule
All timezonesTimes shown in circuit-local time (GMT+8).
- FP1Fri10:00
- FP2Fri14:00
- FP3Sat14:00
- QualifyingSat17:00
- RaceSun15:00
A forecast appears here once the weekend is inside the forecast window.
The circuit
Full circuit guide →Sepang International Circuit · 5.543 km · 15 corners · clockwise
Historic moments
2017 · The last Malaysian Grand Prix
Sepang's farewell went to Max Verstappen, who took the lead off pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton early and drove away with the second win of his career. Sebastian Vettel had started last after an engine failure in qualifying and recovered to fourth, then collided with Lance Stroll on the slow-down lap and had to hitch a lift back to the paddock on another driver's car.
2016 · Hamilton's engine explodes while leading
Lewis Hamilton was cruising to what looked like a certain win, well clear of the field with 16 laps left, when his power unit failed catastrophically with flames pouring from the exhaust. It handed Red Bull a Ricciardo-Verstappen one-two and badly dented Hamilton's title bid against teammate Nico Rosberg.
What makes it different
- Returns to the calendar in 2026 after last hosting a Grand Prix in 2017 - the current grid has very little recent reference data for it.
- Two long straights joined by a hairpin, wrapped around a layout wide enough to take several lines through most corners.
- Tropical afternoon storms are close to a scheduled feature rather than a risk here.
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