> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Verstappen beats upgraded Mercedes in Sepang practice one - URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/bahrain-grand-prix-practice-one-2026/ - Published: 2026-10-02T05:38:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-02T05:43:55.000Z - Description: Max Verstappen repeatedly overshadowed George Russell and his massively upgraded Mercedes in first Sepang practice - Author: Jack Benyon - Tags: Formula 1, #max-verstappen, #red-bull, #bahrain-grand-prix, #primary_homepage_feature Max Verstappen repeatedly overshadowed Baku Formula 1 winner George Russell and his massively upgraded Mercedes to lead the first practice session for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, with both McLarens outside the top 10. Grip levels were even worse than teams expected with cars sliding around as the world's most expensive road sweepers, as track temperatures of 57 degrees Celsius contributed to the difficulty level. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/dd/af/ddafbd99-2ccd-468c-b622-4b3cccf80b49/content/images/2026/10/f1_2026_R16_FP1.png) It will come as no surprise to anyone that the regular sim racer and GT driver Verstappen adapted to the track extremely quickly on Sepang's return after nine years, but overshadowing the upgraded Mercedes - which is the talk of the paddock given the team’s performance advantage even before adding this package - was a surprise. The Mercedes, complete with teal livery in honour of long-time sponsor Petronas being back in action at its home track, has a more angular sidepod with new cooling louvres, new bargeboards extending behind the front wheels, new floor elements in front of the rear tyres, altered flick wings at the corner of the diffuser, and that's just what we can see. It's a massive upgrade package which The Race’s sources reckon is worth 0.3s, and whatever happened in FP1, we can't be sure of its relative pace without knowing its runplan and fuel loads. But that takes nothing away from Verstappen starring, initially two tenths faster than Russell in the first runs, which he extended to seven tenths, and then Russell's fightback reduced the gap to just 0.049s. That was with Verstappen on the soft and Russell on the medium. Isack Hadjar complained of having no front grip, before going fastest! But he was quickly beaten by Russell who, after having a lap deleted for track limits, was the first car into the 1m37.9s to go four-tenths clear. Verstappen then responded again to defeat Russell by 0.383s, which wouldn't be bettered, ahead of Hadjar who was a further 0.783s back. Russell and Mercedes discussed on the radio that they think they are suffering a higher tyre drop-off compared to the opposition. It was a somewhat low-key session for Ferrari, with Leclerc fourth and Lewis Hamilton fifth, sandwiching Kimi Antonelli. Antonelli was fourth fastest after the first tranche of performance runs and fifth-fastest in the second, perhaps mirroring the Baku trend of Russell looking like the quicker Mercedes driver currently. Pierre Gasly led the midfield in seventh, despite a massive snap of oversteer at Turn 3 on that lap which, up until that point, had owned the fastest first sector of the entire session! The Racing Bulls of Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad took eighth and ninth, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who did well to finish out the top 10, and provided the most bizarre moment of the session when he almost spun at snail-speed entering Turn 1 and could only wave his hand in amazement. There's been one glaring omission so far in this report. The McLarens only ran 11th and 12th with Oscar Piastri ahead of Lando Norris. While we don't know the run-plans for the car which got a significant upgrade in Baku, McLaren's straight-line speed disadvantage doesn't appear to be negated by its high-speed corner prowess so far. Being only four tenths quicker than the best Aston Martin is somewhat of a surprise. Although that does do a disservice to fresh-contract signee Fernando Alonso, up in 14th for Aston Martin despite Honda's speed disadvantage and a good seven tenths clear of team-mate Lance Stroll. Under-fire Alpine driver Franco Colapinto was another surprise in the session, only 19th fastest, ahead of only Carlos Sainz and the Cadillacs. ## Results 1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 2 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.383s 3 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.783s 4 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.847s 5 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +1.060s 6 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +1.070s 7 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1.195s 8 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +1.586s 9 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.677s 10 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.691s 11 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.756s 12 Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.773s 13 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +2.028s 14 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +2.163s 15 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +2.638s 16 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +2.791s 17 Alex Albon (Williams) +2.801s 18 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +2.893s 19 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +3.011s 20 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +3.085s 21 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +3.280s 22 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +3.300s