Max Verstappen ended his wait for a victory this season with a strong drive in difficult conditions at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Sunday.
The four time world champion guided his Red Bull to victory at the Sepang International Circuit after a race hit by rain, crashes and changing tyre plans.
It was Verstappen’s 72nd Formula One victory and his first since Abu Dhabi last year. He also won the previous F1 race held at Sepang nine years ago.
The Dutchman finished 2.307 seconds ahead of Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli. Lewis Hamilton completed the podium after fighting his way back through the field.
Charles Leclerc finished fourth after dropping to last place early in the race. Isack Hadjar took fifth, followed by Oscar Piastri and Liam Lawson.
Fernando Alonso finished eighth for Aston Martin. World champion Lando Norris came ninth, while Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.
Antonelli’s second place increased his championship lead to 84 points over Mercedes teammate George Russell. Russell retired late in the race because of a power problem.
“It is really nice to win after the year we’ve had and all the progression we’ve made,” Verstappen said.
“It is super-nice to win here. It was very hectic with a lot of different things, but we made the right call with the inters (intermediate tyres).”
Antonelli was pleased to finish second.
“It was the maximum we could have done. We struggled, but I am happy to come away with P2.”
Heavy rain delayed the start by 100 minutes. Half of the drivers began the race on intermediate tyres.
The two Mercedes cars quickly passed Verstappen. Antonelli moved into the lead at the first corner, with Russell following him.
Hamilton started on soft tyres but struggled for grip. He quickly dropped down the order after starting second on the grid.
The race changed on lap nine when Valtteri Bottas went into the gravel. The safety car came out and most drivers switched to dry tyres.
Antonelli chose medium tyres, while Verstappen moved onto softs.
Verstappen attacked after the restart and passed Antonelli to regain the lead. He stayed in front for the rest of the race.
Hamilton also started moving back through the field. He reached fifth by lap 23 after passing Lawson.
“What a tough race that was,” Hamilton said.
“I was more than a minute back after we made the wrong call on tyres at the start and everyone was pulling away.”
Another late safety car gave the drivers the chance to switch to fresh soft tyres.
Russell’s retirement opened the door for Hamilton. The Ferrari driver passed Hadjar during the final four lap run to secure third place.
Verstappen eventually crossed the line first to give himself and Red Bull their first victory of the season.
