Dominant Verstappen & superb Hamilton recovery - driver ratings — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Max Verstappen won the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang — his first victory of the 2026 season — earning a 9.5/10 driver rating after dominating qualifying but recovering from a poor start to control a chaotic race.
- Kimi Antonelli finished second to stretch his advantage over Mercedes teammate George Russell to 84 points at the top of the championship, rated 9/10 for an excellent start that delivered second place despite Mercedes never looking entirely comfortable.
- Lewis Hamilton recovered from 18th to third place after Ferrari's decision to start on slick tires dropped him from the front row, passing Isack Hadjar after the final safety car for a 9.5/10 rating.
- George Russell retired from third place with five laps remaining due to a power unit failure, robbing him of a podium after running inside the top three for virtually the entire afternoon.
- Charles Leclerc also suffered the same slick-tire strategy mistake as Hamilton but recovered impressively to fourth, salvaging a strong result for Ferrari that initially looked lost.
- The race was marred by multiple safety cars, including one triggered on lap nine when Valtteri Bottas spun into the gravel after gambling on slicks during the formation procedure.
Why it matters: Ferrari's slick-tire gamble wrecked both cars (Hamilton P18→P3, Leclerc P4), handing Mercedes a one-two and pushing Antonelli's championship advantage to a dominant 84 points — while Russell's late power-unit retirement from P3 prevented a Mercedes 1-2-3 and tightened the title picture's internal cost.
Ask SkimNews
