F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Kimi Antonelli recovers…

Kimi Antonelli topped final practice at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to recover from a disappointing Friday for the championship-leading Mercedes outfit.

The Silver Arrows brought a heavily upgraded W17 to Sepang, but only managed second and fifth in FP1 and seventh and eighth in FP2 with other teams looking stronger.

But the dominant outfit of 2026 responded perfectly on Saturday with Antonelli going quickest on a 1m36.302s, two tenths quicker than Max Verstappen who set the pace in first practice.

This comes on the weekend that Sepang is returning to F1 for the first time since 2017, which was the final race of an 18-year stint where mixed weather conditions were characteristic.

Yet F1 is still waiting to see that from the Malaysian track in 2026 as FP3, like FP1 and 2, was dry throughout but did have the first running of the expected main race tyre, the hard.

That’s because tyre degradation played a huge role in Friday practice on the hot, low-grip surface and Charles Leclerc set a 1m37.772s on the white-stripped rubber early on.

It put the Ferrari driver in third, respectively 0.611s and 0.289s behind McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who used the mediums with all three compounds shown.

Lando Norris, McLaren (Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images)

The softs were used by those in the midfield downwards meaning Leclerc was still the only driver to have the hards, but he was set to be joined by George Russell until the 25th-minute red flag.

That came after debris flew off Oliver Bearman’s Haas at Turn 10 and when the session resumed eight minutes later, with various drivers still yet to set a time, more soft tyre runs instead kicked in.

Championship leader Antonelli vaulted to the top with his first push lap, a 1m36.924s, giving him a 0.129s advantage over team-mate Russell in second.

Leclerc subsequently split the pair with a 1m37.016s to kickstart the final six-minute rush, with Isack Hadjar going top moments later on a 1m36.860s aboard his highly competitive Red Bull.

His lead only lasted for a short while though because, just after Russell had improved to a 1m36.912s, Antonelli displayed his dominance once more by setting a 1m36.302s.

That put the 20-year-old five tenths above Hadjar and both drivers were soon split by the Frenchman’s team-mate Verstappen, who set a 1m36.580s at the end of the qualifying runs.

So Red Bull had both of its cars inside the top three for the second time this weekend after FP1, while Russell took fourth for Mercedes with Leclerc in fifth, 0.714s off Antonelli.

Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton took sixth with a 1m37.041s ahead of seventh-placed Norris, whose best time (1m37.161s) came on the mediums with team-mate Piastri in eighth.

The Australian set a 1m37.366s that put him 1.064s off Antonelli, continuing McLaren’s struggles at Sepang after it finished 11th and 12th in opening practice.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad, meanwhile, completed the top 10 in FP3 and were respectively 1.618s and 1.782s off the pace.