02–04 Oct · Sepang · Round 16
Weekend previewFormula 1 last raced at Sepang in 2017. The 2026 cars have never run here, and this year’s Bahrain Grand Prix is being held in Malaysia.
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F1 returns to Sepang after almost 10 years away, and more than half the grid has never raced there. That includes both Mercedes drivers, both McLaren drivers and Leclerc, plus Hadjar, Lawson, Lindblad, Colapinto, Bearman, Bortoleto and Albon.
Pirelli picked the middle of its range for Sepang, a step harder than the C3 to C5 used in Baku and Singapore. The track has not been resurfaced since F1 last raced there in 2017 and is particularly abrasive. Pirelli says leaving out the hardest compounds should narrow the gap between a one-stop and a two-stop race.
Mercedes brought little new to Baku and saves its next updates for Sepang onwards. Andrew Shovlin does not expect them to put the team out front by miles, but hopes they get Mercedes back to fighting for pole.
Colapinto drops five places on the Sepang grid for the Baku restart collision that took out Gasly and Norris. He had already retired, so his 10-second penalty became a grid drop at the next race.
Practice 1 is Friday at 12:30 and Practice 2 at 16:00. Practice 3 is Saturday at 12:30 and qualifying at 16:00. The race starts Sunday 4 October at 15:00. All times are Malaysian local time (UTC+8).
Formula 1 and the FIA confirmed that Malaysia will host the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit on 2-4 October. It falls between Azerbaijan and Singapore and is the first F1 race at Sepang since 2017, after the Bahrain International Circuit became unavailable.
Grid penalties don’t change qualifying results. How scoring works
The Bahrain Grand Prix was the fourth round of the season, due at Sakhir from 10 to 12 April. It was called off on safety grounds following the outbreak of conflict in the region, as was the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix the week after.
Formula 1, the FIA and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia then agreed to reinstate the race at Sepang in October. It keeps the Bahrain Grand Prix name, and Bahrain keeps the ticket pricing rights and the ticket revenue because it is paying the hosting fee. Bernama on how the race is funded (opens in a new tab). Sky Sports on the calendar change (opens in a new tab).
Sepang held the Malaysian Grand Prix from 1999 to 2017. Nine years of regulation changes sit between that race and this one, and the 2026 cars are new this season, so no driver on the grid has a lap here in anything resembling the car they will drive.
Pirelli is working from 2017 data for the same reason. Its motorsport director has said the 2017 tyre sizes are reasonably close to the current ones, which is the closest thing to a reference anyone has. How Pirelli is using 2017 data (opens in a new tab).
The asphalt has changed since those 2017 laps were set. Dromo resurfaced the circuit in 2016 and relaid Turns 7 to 12 in 2023, so the middle sector is seven years newer than the rest of the lap. Dromo on the work it did (opens in a new tab).
Sepang is 5.543 km long with 15 corners, and the Grand Prix runs for 56 laps. The track is wide, with long straights, heavy braking zones and fast, flowing corners, so drivers can attack from different lines. Its best-known corners are the long sweep through Turns 5 and 6 and the final hairpin at Turn 15, which leads onto the main straight.
The heat and humidity are high, and a tropical downpour can change conditions quickly. Vettel’s 1:34.080 from 2017 is still the lap record. Formula 1’s circuit guide (opens in a new tab).
C1
Not used at Sepang
C2
Hard
C3
Medium
C4
Soft
C5
Not used at Sepang
Pirelli brings C2, C3 and C4, one step harder than the C3, C4 and C5 going to Baku and Singapore either side of this weekend. It left out the hardest compounds to narrow the gap between a one-stop and a two-stop race, so teams have more strategies to choose from. Pirelli’s compound selection (opens in a new tab).
Sepang was slotted between Azerbaijan and Singapore, so the teams race three weekends in a row and travel from Baku to Malaysia to Singapore. Singapore is a sprint weekend.
Round 15
Round 16
Round 17
After 15 rounds, Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers’ table by 66 points from George Russell.
View full 2026 standingsScored through round 15, updated 27 Sept 2026. Source (opens in a new tab)
The round was due to run at Sakhir in April and was called off on safety grounds, along with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Formula 1, the FIA and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia agreed to reinstate it at Sepang in October. It keeps the Bahrain Grand Prix name, and Bahrain sets the ticket prices and receives the ticket revenue.
The weekend runs from 2 to 4 October 2026 at Sepang. Qualifying is on Saturday and the 56-lap Grand Prix starts at 15:00 Malaysian time on Sunday.
In 2017. Sepang held the Malaysian Grand Prix from 1999 to 2017, and this is the first Formula 1 race there since. The track has changed in that time: Dromo resurfaced it in 2016, the year before that last race, and relaid Turns 7 to 12 in 2023.
No. Formula 1 last held a Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang in 2017. This round keeps the Bahrain Grand Prix name and is being held at Sepang after the Sakhir race was called off.
Choose your Top 5 for qualifying and the race. You can change each set until that session locks.