Bahrain GP Moves to Sepang Amid Middle East Conflict

The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix will take place at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit from October 2-4, more than 6,000 kilometres from its original Sakhir venue. The race was postponed from April after the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were cancelled due to US and Israeli military campaigns across the Middle East, though it retains Bahraini government funding and branding.

Qualifying occurs Saturday at 9:00 BST, with the race on Sunday at 8:00 BST. Free-to-air streams are available via Servus TV in Austria, RTL Play in Luxembourg, and RTBF Auvio in Belgium. Mexican viewers face a 02:00 local start on Sky Sports and F1 TV.

“Everything is fine.”

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli holds a 66-point advantage over Mercedes teammate George Russell, who won the previous round in Azerbaijan. Russell cut the deficit from 81 points with a dominant pole-to-win performance, while Antonelli recovered from 16th to fifth after a qualifying crash.

Twelve current drivers have never raced at Sepang, which last hosted Formula 1 in 2017 when a 20-year-old Max Verstappen claimed his second career victory. The circuit features long straights, heavy braking zones, high humidity, and a high probability of rain. Mercedes brings an updated package, while Red Bull seeks its first win of the season.

McLaren aims to recover from a disastrous Azerbaijan weekend where Lando Norris and Pierre Gasly collided on a safety car restart, and Oscar Piastri locked up from a podium position. Ferrari has scored only one top-four finish since Charles Leclerc's Spa podium.