Bahrain Grand Prix
Join the Formula 1 fan discussion from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on TalkingPoints, including all the latest news, opinions, polls and updates from Sepang.
233 comments
Which tracks, if any, would you drop to bring Malaysia back to F1 permanently?
david.comerford5h ago
I'd lose any one of Jeddah, Miami, Baku, Vegas or Qatar to bring Malaysia back. Unfortunately most of those races probably make a lot more money, but this is a great track - the first sector in particular is so good for racing
Watch the moment Russell's race came to an end 🫣 What does Mercedes need to do to ensure he can remain in the title fight?
rebecca.braybrook12h ago
Reliability still seems to be concerning for Mercedes! Let's hope that this wasn't the moment the title fight came to an end!
Hamilton said he "didn't expect" to get back on the podium after the race start. Was he lucky after the Ferrari strategy call?
rebecca.braybrook12h ago
An incredible drive from Lewis! An incredibly rough start which saw him fall to P18 by lap 10! Ferrari made a number of calls that looked questionable today but it paid off!
A DNF for George Russell sees the gap to Kimi Antonelli extended to 84 points 👀 Has the Brit’s title chance gone?
jdmyboy110h ago
Unfortunately it was never on, wish it was but he’s just not good enough, has brilliant weekends like Baku but not consistent enough or an out and out racer, always seems to get done under breaking 🤷🏻♂️ah well.
rebecca.braybrook12h ago
I really hope, for the fans sake that this championship battle is not over yet! But it does look like that's almost an impossible fight for George!
Max Verstappen wins the Bahrain Grand Prix 🦁 Give us your first reaction to that race!
aaditya.krishnamurthy11h ago
A frustrating watch, with all the chaos, but Max winning his first race this season made it somewhat worth it
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jonny13h ago
Really enjoyed that race! Feel for George, have to think that hands Kimi the title now😳
chillout13h ago
Good to see Max back winning a Grand Prix- but this result means nothing in the scheme of things. Good news for the car, though - maybe Red Bull can be competitive again next year.
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RUSSELL STOPS AT TURN 1! He's pulled up at the side of the track as Norris loses grip and finds himself in the gravel slightly further up the track!
david.comerford14h ago
That's the championship done if there was any doubt
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Who gets your vote? Choose your Driver of the Day and tell us what made them stand out in the comments!
deathshood13h ago
Still has the class that got him to his world championships. And his experience has carried Aston Martin through the difficulties that they have been suffering. You never lose your best asset and both lance and Fernando resigning for the team is welcome news to me, I truly believe that lance stroll has been one of f1 unsung hero's.
smartrider.wally4h ago
Liam Lawson
ronsloane4h ago
Louise
The Safety Car is now out to bunch the pack up after a recovery vehicle is brought out onto the track.
Mercedes opted to double stack their drivers on the previous lap, but have they just thrown away a race win?
seanfisher14h ago
It’s taken about 9 laps to get this back underway 😅 from one car pulling up on the side of the track
david.comerford14h ago
Verstappen will still win this, but Hamilton is the one to watch post-restart surely
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Virtual Safety Car is out, with Albon coming to a stop after Turn 3. The Williams driver has reported that his gearbox has broken
Red Bull have brought Verstappen into the pit lane for fresh soft tyres, but has been passed by Antonelli, handing the lead to the Mercedes driver
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Alonso has passed Ocon and moved up into P11. He's now on the back of Lindblad, who's currently running in the last points-place position.
Could a point be on the cards for Aston Martin?
seanfisher14h ago
Give him a new contract every week 😅
Hadjar has admitted he's struggling with his tyres after being told about Hamilton behind. He's currently running 25 and a half seconds behind his teammate who is leading the race
seanfisher14h ago
Do you think Hamilton would be leading this if not for the terrible tyre call at the start?
rebecca.braybrook14h ago
I think we're all asking the same Isack 😂 Good pit stop bringing Hamilton in at the same time!
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Hamilton is closing in on Hadjar, who is running in P4 👀He's still on those soft tyres that he started on! Is he back in podium contention?
david.comerford14h ago
This is a brilliant drive from Lewis, such a shame he couldn't fight for the win. Look how quickly he made progress compared to Piastri, Leclerc, Norris
The Safety Car restart sees Antonelli lose places to both Verstappen and Russell before Turn 5! It means the Red Bull driver is back in front but less than a second separates him from the Mercedes!
david.comerford15h ago
Absolutely brilliant racing. We deserved that
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Hamilton appears to be the only driver who didn't come in to change his tyres during the Safety Car. He is still on the soft tyres he started on and he's reporting that he has no grip
rebecca.braybrook15h ago
Genuinely confused by this call from Ferrari! This is a disaster from his side of the pit wall!
Lap 10: Bottas is in the gravel! Front runners are now being pulled into the pit lane, with the slick tyres finally looking like the tyre to be on!
david.comerford15h ago
Absolutely brutal for the slick tyre gamblers! They've basically just lost their one advantage
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Verstappen catches Russell for P2 at Turn 6, but Antonelli is now almost two and a half seconds ahead of the pair!
david.comerford15h ago
Max looks like he just won't be beaten today. We've seen this before
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The mystery of tyre choices have been unveiled! Verstappen remains on inters but behind him the Ferraris have opted for soft slicks 👀 Which team has made the right call?
rebecca.braybrook15h ago
Well the risk didn't pay off for Gasly there... so I think inters are still the right choice right now...
The original starting grid order has been confirmed for the start, which means Hamilton will move back to the front row!
g74c5hp25g4h ago
I listened to Bernie but found myself disagreeing because of the unique circumstances of stewards found themselves in. The safety car was in the middle of the pack for a start. It was a formation lap not the race and let’s not forget the fans. They had an expectation a race grid set up by quali not by a set of rules and they’d paid top dollar to see it.
david.comerford16h ago
Right decision, but this delay is embarrassing for F1. Pinnacle of motorsport etc etc.
rebecca.braybrook16h ago
This seems fair given that so many cars had issues on the formation lap. However it's just causing even more delay to this race start!
Antonelli is reporting that the track is already drying 👀 Every car pulled out of the pit lane on inters, but with another delay, how likely is a dry start?
david.comerford16h ago
What are we waiting for now? This is getting farcical, just start the race in the original order!
seanfisher16h ago
Could be 22 cars piling into the pits on lap 1 to change to dry tyres 😂👀
rebecca.braybrook16h ago
I appreciate that they needed to be safe with lightning in the air at the race start time. But I think they left it far too long and I was quite disappointed to see the entire grid on inters for the formation lap. Such a shame because we could have had a really exciting race start
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Not a good start for the race! Several cars are coming to a halt on the track or driving incredibly slowly. Unsurprisingly, the session has been red-flagged
david.comerford16h ago
They just need to reset and pretend that never happened
seanfisher16h ago
Will be lucky to have 12 cars finish the race today going by this 😅
kyle.archer16h ago
What a mess… First Verstappen has an issue, and then almost every Ferrari-engined car has to go CTRL-ALT-Delete
10-minute warning 🚨 The waiting is over, and we're finally going to get underway at 8:40!
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If you’re just joining us, the Marshals are keeping us entertained while we wait for a confirmed start time! A great way to pass the time while we wait for the rain to ease…
rebecca.braybrook16h ago
It's reassuring to see the marshals and sweepers now on track! Hopefully we will be running soon!
The Bahrain Grand Prix has been delayed as a clap of thunder roars through the sky ⛈️ No start time confirmed yet
david.comerford17h ago
The positive is that once the rain stops, it will dry very, very quickly. Doesn't sound like it will last too much longer, but equally the storm itself has come as a surprise!
rebecca.braybrook17h ago
A sensible shout from the stewards with the thunder/lightning now appearing. Would have loved to have seen a race start in this heavy rain, but the thunder had to dampen our fun!
An interesting radio message from Norris after his reconnaissance laps 👀 The rain is still bucketing it down in Sepang, with more due in 20 minutes.
david.comerford17h ago
Seven stopper loading ⏳
rebecca.braybrook17h ago
Wet/Inter tyres not even lasting the reconnaissance laps... more rain due at the start of the race... this could get good!
Rain is in the air 🌧️👀 The fans are already prepared, with ponchos on and brollies up! ☔️ Could we be in for another wet one? Take a look back at one of the wettest races in F1 history, when we raced here in 2009…
david.comerford17h ago
Watch this miraculously dry up before lights out
rebecca.braybrook17h ago
Such a chaotic race! Would quite like to see some wet weather action, so I'm hoping there's no delay!
Nine years! That’s how long it’s been since Formula 1 last raced in Malaysia! And if you need a reminder of just how much has changed since 2017, VCARB has delivered the perfect throwback 👀
kyle.archer17h ago
Whoever did the photoshop for this could have at least shrunk ‘Arvid’s hand
rebecca.braybrook18h ago
This is a genuinely terrifying post from VCARB 😂 Arvid was only 10 🫣
T-minus 1 hour until lights out! Last chance to weigh in: who's winning the Bahrain Grand Prix?
david.comerford17h ago
Normally the polesitter wouldn't want rain, but Verstappen should be the favourite whatever the conditions
rebecca.braybrook18h ago
It's hard to look past Max for the win here today! But I really think tyre strategy is going to make or break this one today!
The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia has been declared a 'heat-hazard' race, with temperatures set to reach 32°C in the next couple of hours.
kyle.archer17h ago
Declare it a heat-hazard race… and we could finally have a wet race again!
rebecca.braybrook18h ago
These are going to be incredibly tough conditions for the drivers today with the humidity in the air! I'm hoping those who opt not to run the cooling vest don't suffer too badly
Lewis Hamilton has credited Drive to Survive and the F1 movie for a boom in popularity in Malaysia 👀 Is it time for F1 bosses to consider bringing it back to the calendar?
kyle.archer17h ago
It was always a shame that Sepang could not draw a big crowd for F1, so the cost to host the race became too much… so it is great to see the support at Sepang this year, but it will likely be a one-off given that Bahrain is paying the hosting fee
rebecca.braybrook18h ago
All weekend there's been talk about how cheap the tickets for the race has been, and I think that's a great tactic to pull fans in. But F1 bosses can't look past how popular this race is and how much both drivers and fans are calling out for its return!