F1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia: Max Verstappen wins first race of season in day of chaos

Max Verstappen held off Kimi Antonelli to win the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia — his first victory of this F1 season — on a chaotic day that began with the race delayed 90 minutes by rain and software issues with some drivers' cars.

Antonelli, the season's points leader, took second while Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton completed a remarkable comeback from more than a minute down to finish third.

Verstappen leaped into his teammates' arms after exiting the car following his 72nd career victory. He was able to keep Antonelli at bay without a true challenge, despite a race restart with only about four laps to go.

"It's a really nice one after the year that we've had and the progression we made," Verstappen said.

George Russell, Antonelli's Mercedes teammate and a preseason favorite, dropped out of the race when his car had mechanical issues around lap 49 while the safety car was out.

"What the f*** happened?" Antonelli said after Russell's car came to a halt.

Antonelli leads the season with 320 points to Russell's 236. Hamilton is in third with 214. Verstappen has 188 after his victory, which followed a pair of second-place podiums.

Verstappen came into the day having won his first pole of the season a week after he lost the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by less than two-tenths of a second to Russell.

Heavy rain in Malaysia, however, delayed the start of Sunday's race, and then when the drivers did get going … some of them didn't get going. Hamilton, among others, quickly reported a loss of power in their cars during the formation lap.

"I'm pressing the throttle, and nothing is happening," Hamilton said before his car came to a stop on the back straight.

The race was red-flagged while teams attended to the software issues. The original grid was then used — even though some cars had been out of place at the time of the red flag — when the race restarted.

"It was a very hectic start with a number of different things," Verstappen said. "No power — we had to wait for the power to kick in."

Drivers also faced challenges with their tires due to the day's conditions. When Verstappen and Antonelli both pitted at the end of lap 33, the Red Bull driver had more than a 10-second lead.

After a virtual safety car — eventually updated to a full safety car — later came out, Verstappen then pitted again. Mercedes left its cars out on the track for another lap before pitting, allowing Antonelli to briefly have the lead before they pitted. Antonelli's subsequent pit put Verstappen back in front.

"What a tough race that was," Hamilton said, summing up the day's events.