F1 Standings | Russell suffers huge title blow after Bahrain GP DNF

After a tricky weekend in Malaysia, championship leader Antonelli has seen his points gap increased to 84 points following his P2 finish, while closest rival George Russell suffered a late DNF. Mercedes have struggled for pace in Sepang, despite delivering their first major upgrade package since the Canadian GP in May.

Lewis Hamilton, the highest-placed non-Mercedes driver in the championship battle this season, arrived to Sepang 103 points down on Antonelli after finishing just behind the Italian at the Azerbaijan GP last week.

Hamilton was the centre of a controversial and heavily delayed start to the Bahrain GP in Malaysia. Under heavy rain, the Briton, Esteban Ocon and Valtteri Bottas - each powered by Ferrari engines - had all stopped on track with suspected power unit troubles. Although Hamilton had been overtaken - and others lapped - amid his issues during the formation lap, the suspended race start eventually got underway with the original grid order.

But the chaos did not end there. Ferrari's gamble to fit soft tyres upon the Grand Prix's eventual start saw Hamilton drop to the back of the grid. The Briton recovered in impressive fashion to take P3, but one has to wonder where he would be had Ferrari not made the tyre blunder.

A late DNF for Russell, suspected to be caused by a power unit failure as he stopped at the side of the track under a late Safety Car, leaves his title hopes in tatters - another stroke of bad luck for the Briton.

As for the Constructors’ Standings, Mercedes maintain their comfortable lead in the title fight having secured 11 wins from the opening 16 rounds of F1 2026, but suffered a significant loss of points in Sepang

It was a strong points haul for Red Bull once again in Sepang after Verstappen's first victory of the season and Isack Hadjar's P4. The Austrian team are now piling the pressure on McLaren for third spot in the Constructors' - the papaya team finished P6 and P9 in Sepang, and now only have an 18-point lead on Red Bull.

Elsewhere, Aston Martin have secured their third points finish of the 2026 season after Fernando Alonso's impressive P8 finish, having started outside of the points positions in P12.