The best Bahrain Grand Prix ever… and it wasn't even in Bahrain. Sepang's return delivered mixed conditions, wild strategy and Verstappen's first win of 2026 – once F1 had plugged laptops into the cars to get them moving.

In this episode, Tom and Chris break down a chaotic, rain-hit race at Sepang – the formation-lap power failures and mid-race software fix, Max Verstappen's first win of the season and Red Bull Powertrains' first victory, George Russell's late retirement leaving Kimi Antonelli 84 points clear, and Lewis Hamilton's recovery from a minute down to the podium. Plus Fred Vasseur's "vote of confidence", the 500 marshals flown in from Bahrain, driver and move of the day, and our Singapore GP preview and predictions ahead of the first Marina Bay sprint.

0:00 Intro 0:17 F1 returns to Sepang 5:11 Formation-lap power failures & the mid-race software fix 10:47 Verstappen's first win of 2026 & Red Bull Powertrains 17:15 Russell retires – is the title fight over? 21:02 Ferrari's tyre gamble & Hamilton's recovery 25:41 Vasseur's vote of confidence 28:29 McLaren struggles & Norris's reprimand 31:16 Racing Bulls, Aston Martin & Williams 34:47 Driver & move of the day 40:12 Organisation, 500 marshals & the "Bahrain" GP 46:15 Predictions & fantasy league results 48:59 Singapore GP preview 54:41 Singapore predictions 58:06 Inbox

🏁 Singapore is a sprint weekend – predictions close Friday 9 October at 1:30pm UK (sprint qualifying). Get yours in at https://backofthegrid.com, where you'll also find our Grid Rival fantasy leagues and the season standings.

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Back of the Grid is a weekly F1 podcast by fans, for fans – race reviews, previews, predictions and plenty of opinions.

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