What Happened in F1: Why the Race in Malaysia Was Postponed—The New Schedule
A storm hit the Sepang Circuit shortly before the start of the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix, the 16th round of the World Championship to be held at the Malaysian track.
About forty minutes before the start, rain began to fall, which soon turned into a veritable downpour, forcing spectators to take shelter under umbrellas and race officials to postpone the start of the race. The rain is so heavy that visibility is poor, and some sections of the track are flooded.
The track temperature has plummeted from 44 to 34 degrees: at the moment, the Medical Car is circling the track to assess conditions and determine when the race can finally begin.
The possibility of rain had been widely predicted in the days leading up to the event. Weather forecasts had indicated for several days now a real risk of afternoon showers, and Kimi Antonelli himself, the World Championship leader, had anticipated this scenario: “It often rains here in the afternoon; we’ll see if we end up doing a few laps in the rain during qualifying or the race.” The Bologna-born Mercedes driver had also admitted to enjoying the idea of driving in the wet—a condition Formula 1 hasn’t faced for quite some time this season.
On the grid, with the cars already lined up and awaiting the start, is Max Verstappen in pole position. The Dutch Red Bull driver had dominated qualifying with a time of 1:35.130, beating Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari by 298 thousandths of a second. Starting from the second row will be Antonelli and the other Ferrari driven by Charles Leclerc, who benefited from the five-position grid penalty imposed on Isack Hadjar. Rounding out the top ten are Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in their McLarens, George Russell in the second Mercedes, Hadjar, Pierre Gasly in the Alpine, and Gabriel Bortoleto in the Audi.
