Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped Friday Practice for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia with the fastest overall lap time.
Verstappen emerged fastest overall with his session-topping lap time in first practice after he opted against a soft-tyre attempt in the second practice session on F1’s return to Sepang, Malaysia, which stepped in to host the Bahrain GP on behalf of Bahrain due to the Middle East conflict.
FP1
Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was the first driver to hit the Sepang International Circuit in F1 machinery since 2017 as the pit exit light turned green, but it was Haas’ Esteban Ocon who set the initial benchmark of 1m 41.287 on the medium tyres as he prepares to depart the team at the end of the season.
Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad on the soft tyre lowered the benchmark moments later to 1m 40.568 before Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli displaced him in the sixth minute briefly, before Verstappen set 1m 39.400 just seconds later to go fastest.
Verstappen then lowered the benchmark to 1m 38.883 on his next flying lap which stood at the halfway mark as he headed Russell by 0.049 seconds, whilst Lindblad found himself 0.314s adrift.
The soft-tyre qualifying simulations began on the half-hour mark as Isack Hadjar set 1m 38.303 which Russell soon beat by 0.400s on his second attempt, having initially aborted his first flying lap after a wide moment at Turn Four.
Verstappen – who had won F1’s last visit in 2017 – however wasn’t to be denied top spot in the 35th minute as he posted 1m 37.520 to top the opening practice session.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1m 37.520 |
| 2 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.383 |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | + 0.783 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.847 |
| 5 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 1.060 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 1.070 |
| 7 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.195 |
| 8 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 1.586 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 1.677 |
| 10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 1.691 |
| 11 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 1.756 |
| 12 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 1.773 |
| 13 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 2.028 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 2.163 |
| 15 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 2.638 |
| 16 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 2.791 |
| 17 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 2.801 |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.893 |
| 19 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 3.011 |
| 20 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 3.085 |
| 21 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadilac | + 3.280 |
| 22 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 3.300 |
FP2
With a threat of heavy rain at the start of the session, Ocon was first out on track and laid 1m 38.361 as the initial benchmark, as everyone but Norris, Piastri, Bottas and Perez opted for the medium tyre whilst the latter quartet ran their opening stints on the soft tyre.
Verstappen soon set the fastest lap time of the opening stints in the sixth minute as he posted 1m 37.785 which nobody beat before a switch to soft-tyre qualifying simulations, as the rain began to break up on the outskirts of the circuit and left the track dry for the entire session.
Unlike FP1 not everyone was able to extract maximum time from their soft tyres as Russell suffered oversteer through the final corner, which forced the Brit to pit after he slid wide mid-corner and aborted his soft-tyre attempt.
Antonelli, Gasly, Lindblad and Ocon also failed to improve on the soft tyre, whilst Verstappen and Colapinto didn’t attempt to even set a soft-tyre lap time in this session.
Leclerc consequently topped the session with 1m 37.528 ahead of Hadjar by 0.099s amongst those who improved their lap times on the soft tyre, but Verstappen ultimately topped Friday Practice overall with his FP1 time from Leclerc by 0.008 seconds.
The session however ended under a Virtual Safety Car after Bortoleto stopped out of Turn Eight with a suspected gearbox issue.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m 37.528 |
| 2 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull | + 0.099 |
| 3 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.137 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.257 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | + 0.305 |
| 6 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.371 |
| 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.492 |
| 8 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | + 0.532 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | + 0.968 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 1.060 |
| 11 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | + 1.352 |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | + 1.523 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | + 1.581 |
| 14 | Esteban Ocon | Haas | + 1.833 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.950 |
| 16 | Oliver Bearman | Haas | + 2.178 |
| 17 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | + 2.402 |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 2.622 |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | + 2.658 |
| 20 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 2.693 |
| 21 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | + 3.410 |
| 22 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | + 5.863 |
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