Max Verstappen described his triumph at the Malaysian round of the Bahrain Grand Prix as a "truly special and emotional moment" after Red Bull secured their inaugural win of the 2026 campaign. The Dutch driver was in imperious form, expertly navigating the mixed‑weather track and the safety‑car restarts to out‑pace championship leader Kimi Antonelli, extending his streak of at least one victory per season since he joined Red Bull in 2016. Just two months earlier, Verstappen's future had been the subject of intense speculation. During the summer break he signed a fresh contract that will keep him with the Milton‑Keynes outfit until at least the close of 2030, and his performance in Malaysia underscored why the multiple‑world‑champion has such confidence in the team.
Having come within two points of a fifth world title last year, Verstappen entered the 2026 season knowing that, for the first time since 2020, a championship fight would be out of reach. Red Bull, working in partnership with Ford, had introduced a brand‑new power unit, but the chassis proved the weak link at the start of the year. In fact, after the first ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) review, the FIA declared the Red Bull‑Ford engine the benchmark on the grid, while the car's aerodynamics and weight distribution lagged behind rivals.
Verstappen is renowned for extracting maximum performance from any machine, yet even he admitted that the unpredictable handling of the RB22 left him with only a single podium in the opening seven races. The team responded by delivering a major upgrade package at the Austrian Grand Prix in June, shedding excess mass and revising the aerodynamic package.
The impact was immediate. In Austria Verstappen finished a close second, just under two seconds shy of race‑winner George Russell. A week later at Silverstone he was on course for a third‑place finish before a rear‑wing failure forced his retirement, and he subsequently added podiums in Belgium and Hungary before the summer hiatus. A rare error at his home event in Zandvoort saw him crash out on the opening lap, but he quickly rebounded with podium finishes at Monza and the newly added Madrid Grand Prix.
Further upgrades were introduced for the Baku round, where Verstappen was edged out by Russell by a mere two‑tenths of a second – the closest finish in Formula 1 since 2002. Aside from the two retirements at the British and Dutch Grands Prix, Verstappen has stood on the podium in the remaining seven races since the Austrian upgrades.
In many ways his dominant weekend in Malaysia should not have been a surprise; Red Bull has been on a clear upward trajectory throughout the year. "We had a very complicated and tough start to the year with all sorts of problems and just not being competitive enough," Verstappen reflected. "But throughout the year, the team has been working very hard to understand our issues and bring good performance upgrades to the car and make it more driveable. Step by step, we've been getting closer and closer, and Sunday, and of course especially this whole weekend, we've been really in good form, so it's amazing." He added, "Very enjoyable to win here and also have our first victory for our own engine.
It's an incredible project with a lot of partners and a lot of people that are dedicated to be where we are now, so a fantastic feeling." Much of the credit goes to former team principal Christian Horner, whose stewardship of the Red Bull‑Ford powertrain project delivered results far beyond expectations in its debut season as an engine supplier. Yet Horner's final years at the team were marked by internal turbulence after the death of co‑founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022, prompting a power struggle that saw several key figures depart – legendary designer Adrian Newey, chief engineering officer Rob Marshall, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, advisor Helmut Marko and eventually Horner himself.
These departures fueled speculation about Verstappen's own future for 2024‑25, especially after a public fallout between his father Jos Verstappen and Horner. In July 2025, Laurent Mekies took over as team principal, and the relationship between the Dutch driver and the Frenchman appears markedly more harmonious, with Verstappen appreciating Mekies' engineering pedigree.
A year after Mekies' arrival, Red Bull found a surge of performance that enabled Verstappen to claim eight consecutive podiums, including four wins, thrusting Lando Norris into a surprising title contention. While it is difficult to isolate Mekies' exact contribution, the rapid progress this season can certainly be linked to his leadership. After the Malaysian victory, Mekies said, "The credit goes to all the people involved who have been working incredibly hard on this project over the past five years.
Everyone in Milton Keynes and at the track deserves this moment and should celebrate it as an important step towards many more victories in the future. This result confirms the progress we have been making in recent months.
We were already close several times, and today we converted that pace. The team has been working tirelessly to improve our package, and weekends like this are the reward for that effort." It is still early to declare whether Verstappen's long‑term commitment to Red Bull will prove decisive, a question that will only be fully answered by 2027. What is clear, however, is that the combination of Mekies as team principal, the steady guidance of technical director Pierre Wache and chief performance engineer Ben Waterhouse – both long‑time Red Bull veterans – forms a crucial part of the puzzle in rebuilding a new Red Bull era centered on Verstappen.
"Everyone is contributing a lot and always trying to find performance, upgrades and push the team forward," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1. "In Baku we were quick in the corners but not on the straights compared to Mercedes. In Malaysia, we were decent in the corners and quick on the straights.
Sometimes we just need to understand the whole package – why we are quick, why we were not so quick and take it step by step." Red Bull has a storied history of developing strong cars, and this season they appear to be recapturing that momentum. With seven races still to run, there is no reason to doubt that Verstappen will add to his 72 career victories. The Malaysian win served as a reminder that the Red Bull‑Verstappen partnership remains a formidable force, one that may have been dormant for a short spell but is now fully awake again.
Formula 1 heads next to Singapore for the final sprint weekend of the season, with live coverage beginning Friday on Sky Sports F1. Viewers can stream Sky Sports via NOW – no contract required, cancel anytime.