SEPANG, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen described his opening day at the 2026 Formula 1 (F1) Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia as positive despite challenging conditions during the second practice session at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) here today.
The four-time world champion made a strong start by topping the opening free practice session with a time of 1 minute 37.520 seconds (s), before finishing fourth in the second practice session in 1:37.785s.
Verstappen, who won the last Malaysian GP at SIC in 2017, said the hot track and high tyre degradation were among the major challenges he faced during both sessions.
“I think we had a decent start, but it's tricky. The track is really hot and a lot of degradation, so a lot of things to figure out, but it's been positive,” he said in an interview with F1 after the free practice session.
The Dutchman said it was difficult to assess progress between the two sessions as the second one was held in warmer conditions and teams were running different programmes.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team driver George Russell, who was experiencing SIC for the first time, said the high tyre degradation made conditions particularly challenging for all teams.
“I think as a team, we just haven't got the car quite where we need it to be and we need to make some setup adjustments because we’re a bit off the pace,” he said.
The Briton finished second fastest in the opening free practice session with a time of 1:37.903s before ending second free practice session in seventh with 1:38.020s.
The third and final free practice session is scheduled to begin at 12:30 pm tomorrow before the qualifying session later in the day.
In July, Formula 1 confirmed Malaysia as the host of the Gulf Air Bahrain GP from Oct 2 to 4, following an agreement between Formula 1, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the governments of Malaysia and Bahrain.
The agreement keeps the Bahrain GP on the 2026 F1 calendar after the race was cancelled earlier this season due to geopolitical tensions in West Asia.
Malaysia previously hosted the Malaysian GP at SIC from 1999 to 2017 before the race was dropped from the F1 calendar.
-- BERNAMA