Round 16 · 4 Oct 2026

Bahrain Grand Prix

2026-10-04_Race · 55 laps · 22 entries · from the f1 database

Executive summary

Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) won from pole by 2.307 s over Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes), with Lewis Hamilton third— sealing it with the fastest lap (1:38.220 on L55, the final lap, on used softs).

The start was delayed and then suspended under a red flag (original grid kept) after pre-start rain. The damp opening split the field: 10 drivers on intermediates, 8 drivers on softs, ALO/NOR/PIA/STR on mediums. The race was shaped by a lap-9 safety car that stacked 14 cars into the pit lane in one wave and a late VSC→SC (lap 43), with ≈13 laps run under caution.

VER did not lead wire-to-wire: the lead changed hands 5 times, with PIA (lap 2) and ANT (laps 3–12 and lap 44). 3 DNFs: RUS (lap 49, stopped on track), ALB (lap 41, DNF in the pits — brought out the VSC), BOT (lap 7, stopped on track — brought out the safety car). ANT leads the championship on 320 points, 84 clear with 183 points still available in 7 rounds; VER's result pulls them level with NOR on 188.

Official race poster for the Bahrain Grand Prix 2026

Key facts

Winner

VER

+2.307 s

Fastest lap

VER

1:38.220 L55

Lead changes

6 stints in front

Cautions

2 SC · 1 VSC

red flag ×1

DNFs

RUS, ALB, BOT

Championship

ANT

leads by 84 pts

Session timeline

Local	Lap	Event
14:20	1	GREEN LIGHT - PIT EXIT OPEN
14:30	1	PIT EXIT CLOSED
14:34	1	2 Yellow flag
14:42	1	2 Yellow flag
14:42	1	DELAYED START
14:45	1	2 Yellow flag
14:47	1	RISK OF RAIN FOR THE F1 RACE IS 90%
15:09	1	2 Yellow flag
15:30	1	FORMATION LAP WILL START AT 15:40
15:35	1	FORMATION LAP(S) BEHIND SAFETY CAR
15:35	1	2 Yellow flag
15:35	1	2 Yellow flag
15:36	1	2 Yellow flag
15:45	1	STARTING PROCEDURE SUSPENDED
15:45	1	5 Red flag
16:04	1	START ORDER: ORIGINAL GRID
16:18	1	2 Yellow flag
16:22	1	RACE WILL START AT 16:33
16:22	1	2 Yellow flag
16:28	1	SAFETY CAR LIGHTS ON
16:33	1	RACE START
16:36	1	2 Yellow flag
16:36	2	STANDING START
16:46	6	2 Yellow flag
16:49	8	2 Yellow flag
16:52	9	2 Yellow flag
16:52	9	4 Safety car deployed
16:58	12	SAFETY CAR IN THIS LAP
16:59	12	SAFETY CAR LIGHTS OFF
17:01	13	2 Yellow flag
17:01	13	2 Yellow flag
17:05	15	2 Yellow flag
17:52	43	2 Yellow flag
17:52	43	2 Yellow flag
17:52	43	2 Yellow flag
17:53	43	6 VSC deployed
17:58	45	4 Safety car deployed
18:03	48	LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE THE SAFETY CAR: 55, 5, 11
18:11	51	SAFETY CAR IN THIS LAP
18:12	51	SAFETY CAR LIGHTS OFF
18:20	55	CHEQUERED FLAG

Merged from TrackStatus transitions and race control messages · times local (UTC+8) · lap attribution from the winner's lap completions

Lap-time progression

Click legend entries to isolate drivers · scroll/zoom inside the chart · every lap is drawn · y-axis spans fastest lap → fastest +30%, slower laps clip at the top

Race progress

Grid position (lap 0) → final standing · P1 at the top · a driver's line stops where they went out (DNF) · click legend entries to isolate drivers

Tyre strategies & pit stops

Fastest stationary stops

#	Driver	Lap	Stop	Lane	via
1	COL	31	2.1 s	27.6 s	series
2	VER	9	2.2 s	27.6 s	stop feed
3	BOR	9	2.2 s	27.9 s	series
4	COL	9	2.2 s	28.0 s	series
5	ALB	16	2.2 s	27.6 s	stop feed
6	VER	43	2.2 s	27.6 s	stop feed
7	LEC	28	2.3 s	28.0 s	stop feed
8	HAM	31	2.3 s	27.8 s	stop feed

Median stationary stop 2.7 s over 56 timed stops in the feeds. The three pit feeds overlap and miss a few cars — stop counts in the classification table are from live timing and authoritative; timings here are best-effort merges.

10 drivers started on intermediates in the damp; the biggest pit wave came on lap 9 (14 cars) — the simultaneous compound switch is visible across the field.

Corner analysis

Average speed by position around the lap — VER vs HAD, laps 13–22 (shared clean window), car positions normalised per lap from the start/finish line; C-labels are auto-detected apexes.

VER is quicker through 65 of 120 track segments vs HAD (46 to HAD); biggest edges: VER +41 km/h at 84% distance, HAD +16 km/h at 94%.

Penalties & steward decisions

Lap	Car	Decision / message
6	10 GAS	CAR 10 (GAS) TIME 2:21.833 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 12 LAP 3 16:41:19
6	16 LEC	CAR 16 (LEC) LAP DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 12 LAP 3 16:41:20 (PIT)
6	1 NOR	CAR 1 (NOR) TIME 2:06.772 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 12 LAP 4 16:43:25
7	16 LEC+27 HUL	TURN 9 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 16 (LEC) AND 27 (HUL) NOTED - CAUSING A COLLISION (16:40:50)
8	43 COL	CAR 43 (COL) TIME 2:04.830 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 12 LAP 6 16:47:51
8	16 LEC+27 HUL	FIA STEWARDS: TURN 9 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 16 (LEC) AND 27 (HUL) REVIEWED NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION - CAUSING A COLLISION (16:40:50)
10	27 HUL	CAR 27 (HUL) LAP DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 12 LAP 8 16:50:34 (PIT)
13	14 ALO	INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 14 (ALO) NOTED - FALSE START - MOVING BEFORE SIGNAL (16:39:27)
14	5 BOR+55 SAI	TURN 2 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 5 (BOR) AND 55 (SAI) NOTED - CAUSING A COLLISION (17:01:01)
16	14 ALO	FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 14 (ALO) REVIEWED NO FURTHER INVESTIGATION - FALSE START - MOVING BEFORE SIGNAL (16:39:27)
17	23 ALB	INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 23 (ALB) NOTED - DRIVING ERRATICALLY (16:53:01)
17	5 BOR+55 SAI	FIA STEWARDS: TURN 2 INCIDENT INVOLVING CARS 5 (BOR) AND 55 (SAI) UNDER INVESTIGATION - CAUSING A COLLISION (17:01:01)
21	5 BOR	PenaltyFIA STEWARDS: 10 SECOND TIME PENALTY FOR CAR 5 (BOR) - CAUSING A COLLISION (17:01:01)
23	23 ALB	FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 23 (ALB) WILL BE INVESTIGATED AFTER THE RACE - DRIVING ERRATICALLY (16:53:01)
23	87 BEA	CAR 87 (BEA) TIME 1:44.025 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 14 LAP 22 17:18:07
25	12 ANT	CAR 12 (ANT) TIME 1:43.354 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 15 LAP 24 17:21:02
28	10 GAS	CAR 10 (GAS) TIME 1:42.727 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 1 LAP 27 17:25:58
35	27 HUL	INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 27 (HUL) NOTED - UNSAFE RELEASE (17:35:56)
36	12 ANT	CAR 12 (ANT) TIME 1:40.338 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 14 LAP 35 17:39:58
38	27 HUL	FIA STEWARDS: INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 27 (HUL) WILL BE INVESTIGATED AFTER THE RACE - UNSAFE RELEASE (17:35:56)
38	87 BEA	CAR 87 (BEA) TIME 1:43.362 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 14 LAP 36 17:42:35
39	5 BOR	FIA STEWARDS: PENALTY SERVED - 10 SECOND TIME PENALTY FOR CAR 5 (BOR) - CAUSING A COLLISION (17:01:01)
53	1 NOR	TURN 1 INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 1 (NOR) NOTED - DRIVING ERRATICALLY (18:08:52)
54	1 NOR	CAR 1 (NOR) TIME 2:28.854 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 1 LAP 50 18:09:00
55	87 BEA	CAR 87 (BEA) TIME 1:42.615 DELETED - TRACK LIMITS AT TURN 6 LAP 55 18:19:37
55	1 NOR	FIA STEWARDS: TURN 1 INCIDENT INVOLVING CAR 1 (NOR) WILL BE INVESTIGATED AFTER THE RACE - DRIVING ERRATICALLY (18:08:52)
55	87 BEA	BLACK AND WHITE FLAG FOR CAR 87 (BEA) - TRACK LIMITS

Championship state

ANT leads the championship on 320 points, 84 clear with 183 points still available in 7 rounds. The live in-race projection had their title model peaking at 327 points before settling at 320.

Drivers

Pos	Driver	Team	Points	This race	Model
1	ANT	Mercedes	320	+18	320
2	RUS	Mercedes	236	+0	236
3	HAM	Ferrari	214	+15	214
4	LEC	Ferrari	191	+12	191
5	NOR	McLaren	188	+2	188
6	VER	Red Bull Racing	188	+25	188
7	PIA	McLaren	128	+8	128
8	HAD	Red Bull Racing	96	+10	96
9	LAW	Racing Bulls	65	+6	65
10	GAS	Alpine	41	+0	41
11	LIN	Racing Bulls	38	+1	38
12	COL	Alpine	27	+0	27
13	BEA	Haas F1 Team	20	+0	20
14	BOR	Audi	10	+0	10
15	HUL	Audi	7	+0	7
16	OCO	Haas F1 Team	7	+0	7
17	ALO	Aston Martin	7	+4	7
18	SAI	Williams	7	+0	7
19	ALB	Williams	5	+0	5
21	STR	Aston Martin	0	+0	0
22	BOT	Cadillac	0	+0	0
23	PER	Cadillac	0	+0	0

Constructors

Pos	Team	Drivers	Points	This race	Model
1	Mercedes	ANT · RUS	556	+18	556
2	Ferrari	HAM · LEC	405	+27	405
3	McLaren	NOR · PIA	316	+10	316
4	Red Bull Racing	HAD · VER	298	+35	298
5	Racing Bulls	LAW · LIN	90	+7	90
6	Alpine	COL · GAS	68	+0	68
7	Haas F1 Team	BEA · OCO	27	+0	27
8	Audi	BOR · HUL	17	+0	17
9	Williams	ALB · SAI	12	+0	12
10	Aston Martin	ALO · STR	7	+4	7
11	Cadillac	BOT · PER	0	+0	0

Standings snapshots at this round from the feed (constructors = driver points summed per team they scored them for) · Model = live projection's final predicted points

Weather conditions

Classification

Pos	Driver	Team	Grid	Gap	Stops	Best lap	Tyre	Pts
1	VER	Red Bull Racing	1	—	3	1:38.220 L55	SSoft	25
2	ANT	Mercedes	3	+2.307	3	1:38.589 L52	SSoft	18
3	HAM	Ferrari	2	+4.919	2	1:38.610 L53	SSoft	15
4	LEC	Ferrari	4	+7.258	4	1:39.336 L54	SSoft	12
5	HAD	Red Bull Racing	8	+8.571	3	1:39.792 L52	SSoft	10
6	PIA	McLaren	6	+9.454	4	1:39.485 L53	MMedium	8
7	LAW	Racing Bulls	11	+12.753	3	1:40.254 L53	SSoft	6
8	ALO	Aston Martin	12	+13.372	3	1:40.353 L54	SSoft	4
9	NOR	McLaren	5	+13.993	3	1:39.970 L54	SSoft	2
10	LIN	Racing Bulls	22	+15.928	3	1:40.315 L55	SSoft	1
11	HUL	Audi	15	+17.404	4	1:41.394 L54	SSoft	0
12	STR	Aston Martin	14	+18.052	4	1:41.248 L53	SSoft	0
13	COL	Alpine	21	+18.997	3	1:40.988 L33	MMedium	0
14	BEA	Haas F1 Team	16	+22.305	3	1:40.366 L40	HHard	0
15	OCO	Haas F1 Team	17	+22.532	3	1:42.062 L53	SSoft	0
16	GAS	Alpine	9	+23.315	4	1:41.514 L40	SSoft	0
17	SAI	Williams	13	+25.431	3	1:41.738 L28	SSoft	0
18	BOR	Audi	10	+28.233	5	1:41.382 L36	SSoft	0
19	PER	Cadillac	20	+29.310	7	1:42.688 L20	SSoft	0
DNF	RUS	Mercedes	7	6L	3	1:40.715 L34	SSoft	0
DNF	ALB	Williams	18	14L	3	1:42.284 L31	SSoft	0
DNF	BOT	Cadillac	19	48L	-	1:59.953 L7	SSoft	0