690: Engine Blowouts - 2026 Bahrain GP in Malaysia Review

Well, this was a messy mothertrucker and a half wasn't it? Formula 1 went all in for a return to Sepang for the first Grand Prix in Malaysia since 2017, even with all the Bahrain branding, Gulf Air sponsorship and even 500 Bahraini marshals flown in for the occasion. Weird. And it took us 105 minutes to get this race going after a torrential downpour on Sunday, followed by an embarassing engine software bug that led to the FIA scrambling to fix themselves after their own regulations pigeon-holed's the cars. A genuinely good return to Malaysia, tainted by yet another cock-up by a sport whose power-units are clearly too complicated to function as is. Anyway, Max Verstappen completely dominated the outlier weekend that was, to take his streak of winning seasons up to 11 and score his 72nd win for Red Bull, now the second most of any driver/team combination ever (Only Hamilton's 84 with Mercedes is greater). We talk how he did, how George Russell's late engine blowout effectively ends the title fight, and how Hamilton had to charge through the field on slicks on a damp track just to get back where he started (in spectacular fashion).  Also in the news, more talk about Esteban Ocon leaving Haas at the end of the season for Rafa Camara, and James Vowles at Williams plan to try and update the cost cap.