For 357 days, Red Bull had not won a race. The drought broke on a wet Sepang circuit on Sunday, and the number it broke on was 72.

Max Verstappen’s win in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was his first of the 2026 season and his 72nd for Red Bull. That ties Michael Schumacher’s run of 72 wins at Ferrari between 1996 and 2006. Only Hamilton has ever won more races for a single team: 84 for Mercedes across 12 seasons.

Over team radio after the chequered flag, Verstappen made the number the headline himself.

“72, mate, 72. What a fantastic weekend,” he said.

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From a 357-day drought to a milestone

Verstappen had not won since the 2025 season finale in Abu Dhabi. Red Bull had entered Sunday’s race without a victory across the opening 15 rounds of 2026, the longest dry spell of his time at the team.

The race took almost three and a half hours to complete after tropical rain and a software issue on the formation lap pushed the start back by around 90 minutes. Verstappen crossed the line 2.307 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli, with Hamilton third after a charge from 18th on the grid following a failed Ferrari slick-tyre gamble.

“It’s a really nice one, you know. After the year we’ve had and the progress we’ve made, I’m incredibly proud of everyone, and it’s just super nice to win here,” Verstappen said.

It was also the first grand prix win for Red Bull’s own engine, built in partnership with Ford.

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“To win our first race in our first year with our own engine is pretty impressive,” Verstappen added.

The Schumacher parallel and the Hamilton target

Schumacher took 72 of his 91 career wins at Ferrari across 11 seasons. Verstappen has reached the same figure while driving only for Red Bull in Formula 1, across a stretch going back to his debut season with the team in 2016. Sunday’s victory also made him only the third driver ever to win a grand prix in 10 consecutive seasons, alongside Schumacher and Hamilton.

Hamilton’s 84 Mercedes wins between 2013 and 2024 still stand as the single-team benchmark. Verstappen, who turned 29 on Wednesday, needs 13 more Red Bull wins to pass it, a jump his long-term contract with the team keeps within reach.

Antonelli pulls clear in the title fight

The record was the sub-plot. Sunday’s championship story was George Russell’s late exit with a suspected engine failure while running third, which left him 84 points behind Antonelli with seven rounds to go.

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Antonelli, in his second Mercedes season, extended his lead at the top of the standings with second place at Sepang.

The next round is Singapore’s night race on 11 October.

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