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 opening win of the 2026 season. The Dutch driver was in commanding form, expertly navigating the mixed‑weather track and the safety‑car restarts to out‑pace championship leader Kimi Antonelli, extending his impressive streak of scoring at least one victory each year 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 new contract that keeps him with the team at least until the end of 2030, and the Malaysian performance underscored why he continues to place his trust in the Milton Keynes outfit.
After coming within two points of a fifth world title last season, it became evident that the 2026 campaign would be the first since 2020 in which he could not realistically fight for the championship. Red Bull, in partnership with Ford, introduced a brand‑new power unit for the season, yet the car's chassis proved to be the primary weakness at the start of the year. In fact, the FIA’s first ADUO (Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities) assessment declared the Red Bull‑Ford engine the benchmark on the grid, leaving the aerodynamics and overall balance of the RB22 as the main issues to solve.
Verstappen is renowned for extracting maximum performance from any machine, but even he admitted that the unpredictable handling of the RB22 left him uneasy, resulting in just a single podium finish in the opening seven races. The team responded with a substantial upgrade package for the Austrian Grand Prix in June, shedding excess weight and revising the aerodynamic layout. The changes produced an immediate impact: Verstappen finished a close second, less than two seconds behind race‑winner George Russell, and a week later at Silverstone he was on course for a podium before a rear‑wing failure ended his run. He then added two more podiums in Belgium and Hungary before the summer hiatus.
A rare error at his home event in Zandvoort saw him crash out on the first lap, but he quickly rebounded with podium finishes in Monza and Madrid. Further upgrades delivered a spectacular result in Baku, where Verstappen was only two‑tenths of a second behind Russell in the closest finish in Formula 1 since 2002. Excluding 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 come as a surprise, given Red Bull's upward trajectory throughout the season. "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 worked incredibly hard to understand our issues, bring meaningful performance upgrades, and make the car more drivable. Step by step we have gotten closer and closer, and this weekend we finally found ourselves in great form – it feels amazing." He added, "Winning here is especially enjoyable because it marks our first victory with our own engine.
It’s an incredible project with many partners and countless people dedicated to getting us to this point – a fantastic feeling." Much of the credit goes to former team principal Christian Horner, whose leadership helped the Red Bull‑Ford powertrain exceed expectations in its debut season as an engine supplier. Nonetheless, Horner’s final years at the team were marked by internal turbulence after co‑founder Dietrich Mateschitz passed away in 2022. Key personnel such as legendary designer Adrian Newey, chief engineering officer Rob Marshall, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, advisor Helmut Marko, and eventually Horner himself departed, raising questions about Verstappen’s future with the squad in 2024‑25, especially after a public spat between his father Jos Verstappen and Horner. In July 2025, Laurent Mekies replaced Horner as team principal.
The relationship between the Dutch driver and the new boss appears far more harmonious, with Verstappen appreciating Mekies’ engineering background. Over the past twelve months Red Bull has uncovered a surge of performance that propelled Verstappen to eight consecutive podiums, including four wins, unexpectedly pushing Lando Norris into title contention. While it is difficult to isolate Mekies’ exact contribution, the rapid development this year can certainly be linked to his leadership. After the Malaysian win, Mekies said, "The credit belongs to everyone who has worked tirelessly on this project over the past five years.
Everyone in Milton Keynes and at the circuit deserves this moment, and we should celebrate it as a step toward many more victories." He continued, "This result confirms the progress we have been making in recent months. We were close several times, and today we finally converted that pace. The team has been working relentlessly 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 is the right decision, a judgment that can only be fully assessed by 2027.
What is clear, however, is that the combination of Mekies as team principal, the technical direction of Pierre Wache, and chief performance engineer Ben Waterhouse—both long‑time Red Bull veterans—forms a crucial core for 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 strong car development, and this season appears to be another chapter in that tradition. There is no reason to doubt that Verstappen will continue adding to his 72 career victories during the remaining seven rounds.
Malaysia served as a reminder that the Red Bull‑Verstappen partnership remains a formidable force, one that may have been briefly dormant but is now fully reawakened. Formula 1 moves on to Singapore for the final sprint weekend of the year, with live action beginning on Friday on Sky Sports F1. Viewers can stream Sky Sports via NOW with no contract and the option to cancel at any time.