Nine years after Max Verstappen scored his second grand prix win on this circuit, he is back at Sepang still searching for his first win of 2026.

The Dutchman sits sixth in the drivers’ championship on 163 points, 139 behind Mercedes leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli, after the Azerbaijan round. Eight races remain. The practical fight for the title is a two-car Mercedes affair between Antonelli and teammate George Russell, who trails by 66 points.

Verstappen has made no secret of what he wants from the balance of the season.

“My aim is to win at least one more race this year. But it won’t be easy,” he told reporters ahead of the weekend.

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0.196 seconds short in Baku

Last Sunday in Azerbaijan was as close as he has come. Verstappen finished second to Russell by 0.196 seconds, having started eighth on the grid, and left the circuit convinced the opportunity had been thrown away.

“They are obviously getting an upgrade next week in Malaysia, so this was the chance to win. And we’ve certainly done a great job messing up that chance,” he said after the race.

“I’m genuinely frustrated by it, and that means I still care a lot. Of course I could also say, who cares about this season, I’m not fighting for the championship anyway. But yeah, I still care a lot.”

The last Malaysian winner returns

Sepang is not an obvious hunting ground on paper for the current Red Bull, but the venue is personal for Verstappen. The last F1 race in Malaysia was staged on 1 October 2017, when the then-20-year-old crossed the line first for the second grand prix victory of his career.

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“Malaysia is an exciting track to drive and it is good to be back and have it on the calendar again,” Verstappen said in Red Bull’s preview.

“The last time we raced here was in 2017, when I won my second Grand Prix, so there are a lot of good memories and we can now see how these generation of cars will fare on this track.”

He is clear-eyed, though, on where the Red Bull is likely to sit against the works Mercedes.

“Mercedes have brought an update here in Malaysia, and that should allow them to extend their lead. And secondly, the track layout at Baku suits our car better than that of the Sepang International Circuit,” Verstappen told SPEEDWEEK.

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Sepang’s tropical afternoons routinely dump heavy rain on the race, and Verstappen expects the weather to be a factor.

“The circuit is quite challenging but nice to drive, with a mix of high-speed straights and sharp hairpins and the weather looks quite unpredictable too, so it will be interesting to see what the week will bring,” Verstappen said.

The Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, staged at Sepang in place of the cancelled Bahrain round, runs from 2 to 4 October.

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