Nine years after its last Formula 1 weekend, the Sepang International Circuit delivered a Friday that felt instantly familiar: heat, humidity, and a stopwatch that refused to settle. Max Verstappen opened the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia with a 1:37.520 in FP1, ahead of George Russell and Isack Hadjar. Four hours later Charles Leclerc answered with a 1:37.528 in FP2 — almost identical to Verstappen’s morning mark — as rain threats pushed soft-tyre runs forward and Red Bull’s championship hunter stayed on mediums.

Hadjar finished second in both hours. Lando Norris recovered from a muted FP1 to third in the afternoon. Lewis Hamilton put the other Ferrari fifth in FP2. The stewards later warned him for impeding Gabriel Bortoleto and fined Ferrari €10,000. Official classifications come from Formula1.com for both practices.

FP1 — Verstappen greets Sepang first

Hot and humid conditions framed the first hour back at a track last used by Formula 1 in 2017. Franco Colapinto led the pack out at 12:30 local time. Tyre strategies split early: Verstappen, Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad and Colapinto initially ran softs, while most of the field started on mediums. Oscar Piastri reported limited grip in the opening phase as drivers rebuilt a Sepang baseline.

Verstappen posted 1:39.400, then 1:38.883. Russell, on mediums, sat just 0.049 seconds off that Red Bull mark as Mercedes rolled out its first major upgrade package since Canada — revised sidepods, an updated floor and diffuser, and rear-suspension changes — plus a special PETRONAS tribute livery.

Soft-tyre qualifying simulations reshuffled the order. Russell briefly led with 1:37.903; Hadjar answered with 1:38.303; Verstappen reclaimed first with 1:37.520. Charles Leclerc was fourth, Kimi Antonelli fifth and Lewis Hamilton sixth. Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson, Lindblad and Nico Hülkenberg completed the top 10. McLaren ended the morning 11th and 12th with Piastri and Norris — a clear concern after Azerbaijan.

“This track is very cool.”

— George Russell on team radio during FP1 (via Formula1.com)

FP2 — Leclerc by a whisker, Verstappen on mediums

Forecast rain — climbing from roughly 70% toward 90% according to Autosport — never arrived, but it shaped the hour. All 22 cars headed out early. Mediums were preferred at first; Verstappen set the early benchmark at 1:37.785 on that compound, with Russell second. Softs usually wait until the closing stages. At Sepang they appeared after about 20 minutes because teams needed representative data on an unfamiliar track before any shower could wipe the afternoon.

Leclerc’s 1:37.528 on softs put Ferrari on top. Norris, after aligning his McLaren setup closer to Piastri’s, slotted second before Hadjar split them with 1:37.627 — only 0.099 seconds off Leclerc. Verstappen never fitted softs: Grand Prix 247 reported seat-position work that kept him in the garage for around 15 minutes early on, after which he went straight into race simulation and still classified fourth, 0.257 seconds off, entirely on mediums. Hamilton was fifth at +0.305; Piastri sixth.

Mercedes spent the session refining the upgrade package, trying around five engine-cover cooling configurations in extreme heat (Grand Prix 247 recorded track temperature near 57°C and air around 33°C early). Both Russell and Antonelli botched their soft runs in the final sector, per Autosport, and finished seventh and eighth — a comedown from Russell’s FP1 second place.

Incidents and stewards

The stewards found that Hamilton unnecessarily impeded Bortoleto on the entry to Turn 9, moving slowly onto the racing line at about 80–85 km/h as the Audi, on an out lap, closed at about 240 km/h. Hamilton received a warning, the standard practice sanction, and no grid penalty. His right-hand mirror was damaged and Ferrari had not warned him by radio; the stewards fined Scuderia Ferrari HP €10,000 for failing to give that warning. RaceFans had reported that Hamilton told his team he could not see out of the mirror. Late in the hour, Norris had a near-miss with Sergio Pérez at pit entry, swerving to avoid the Cadillac.

In the final minutes Bortoleto’s Audi turned itself off and rolled to a stop at the exit of Turn 8, bringing a Virtual Safety Car. Formula1.com still lists him 12th with a 1:39.051 (+1.523, 25 laps); RaceFans’ table showed “No time” after the stop, but the official results confirm the lap. Earlier, Lawson and Bortoleto went wheel-to-wheel across all three sectors — one of the afternoon’s highlights.