Verstappen Leads Bahrain GP Practice at Sepang as Red Bull Sets Early Pace

Verstappen edges Russell in Sepang return

Max Verstappen set the pace in opening practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang, leading George Russell by 0.383 seconds in an uninterrupted session. The Red Bull driver clocked a 1m37.520s, with Mercedes’ Russell second and Verstappen’s team-mate Isack Hadjar third in 1m38.303s.

Formula 1’s return to Sepang after nine years left teams with little recent circuit data. The Malaysian venue is hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix in place of Sakhir amid the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict; more on the relocation is covered in this guide to why the Bahrain GP is taking place in Malaysia.

Teams wasted little time gathering information, with most opting for medium tyres in the opening half-hour. Russell led that group with a 1m38.932s, 0.522s ahead of Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli. Red Bull, however, started on soft tyres, and Verstappen’s 1m38.883s put him 0.049s clear of Russell in the early order.

Hadjar was initially around seven tenths behind Verstappen and had a moment of understeer at the final hairpin, as drivers adjusted to the low-grip conditions. The heat added another challenge, with temperatures reaching 32C. Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto, 2.631s off the pace in the first half, said: “This is the craziest I’ve ever been in my life with temperatures. Even more than Bahrain in FP1.”

Soft-tyre runs shuffle the order

As more teams switched to softs in the final 30 minutes, Hadjar lowered the benchmark to 1m38.303s. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton moved within 0.064s and 0.287s of that time before Russell went top with a 1m37.903s.

Verstappen answered with the session’s fastest lap, set with 25 minutes remaining. The closing stages were then devoted to testing programmes on harder compounds, leaving the top three unchanged. Leclerc finished fourth, 0.847s back, with championship leader Antonelli fifth in 1m38.580s. Hamilton was sixth, followed by Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, who recorded the fastest first sector.

Liam Lawson, Arvid Lindblad and Nico Hulkenberg completed the top ten. McLaren had a quieter start: Oscar Piastri was 11th, 1.756s off the pace, while reigning world champion Lando Norris finished 12th, just 0.017s behind his team-mate.

The opening times offer an early indication of Red Bull and Mercedes’ speed, but the session’s late shift to longer testing programmes means the order remains only a first reference point for the weekend.