In this article we take you through the F1 news of Monday 5 October 2026 so you are up to speed again after a Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia that produced more storylines than most teams can handle in a single Sunday. Verstappen’s name dominates the headlines, but the real tension sits elsewhere: a McLaren driver admitting his car isn’t fast enough, an Aston Martin points finish built on other people’s misfortune, and a steward’s room that let two different teams off lightly for two very different reasons.
Verstappen matches Schumacher’s Ferrari haul
Max Verstappen’s win in Sepang was his 72nd for Red Bull, matching Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari tally and extending his run of race wins to ten consecutive seasons, a company shared only with Schumacher and Hamilton. The number that actually matters for this season sits elsewhere: Verstappen trails Antonelli by 132 points with seven races left, so this is a career milestone rather than a title swing. Hamilton still sits above both of them on the all-time list for a single team, which keeps Verstappen’s achievement firmly in second place rather than outright ownership of the record.
Baku’s floor fix explains the Sepang result
Red Bull’s final major upgrade of the year, introduced at the Azerbaijan weekend, is the reason Verstappen’s car could convert a smart tyre call into a win rather than just a good result. A compromised qualifying in Baku masked what the new floor and diffuser were actually doing, and Sepang’s mixed conditions gave the package its first proper test. One dominant weekend built on rain and a favourable strategy call does not prove the RB22 is suddenly quick everywhere, which leaves Red Bull needing the next few races to confirm what Sepang only suggested.
Piastri says McLaren have fallen behind
Oscar Piastri finished sixth in Sepang and then admitted McLaren are no longer fighting at the front, placing his own team in the same bracket as Ferrari rather than among the race winners. That is a striking thing for a driver to say about his own car in public, and it lines up with the standings: McLaren are static in third in the constructors’ table while Red Bull close in from behind. The admission puts pressure on McLaren to find pace rather than just better strategy, because Piastri made clear the car itself is the limiting factor.
Albon cleared, Piastri the one who nearly paid for it
Alex Albon was investigated for erratic driving after a sharp slowdown at pit entry forced Piastri into late evasive action, but the stewards accepted his delta time explanation and closed the case without penalty. Piastri himself told the stewards he understood Albon’s reasoning, which did as much as anything to settle the matter. Albon still retired from the race with a gearbox failure, so the net result of his weekend was a clean steward’s file and no points to show for it.
Alonso’s points finish comes with a complaint attached
Fernando Alonso brought Aston Martin home eighth, the team’s first points since August, after a wrong tyre call was bailed out by two Safety Cars. Aston Martin’s own Chief Trackside Officer admitted the strategy was a mistake rather than a masterstroke, and Alonso used the same weekend to question why a red flag reset the grid for others when his own retirements this season have never stopped a race. The result flatters a team that was, by its own admission, nowhere just weeks earlier.
Audi fined after a pit lane near-miss
A mechanic was still beside Nico Hulkenberg’s car when the light briefly turned green, and the FIA fined Audi 30,000 euros, two-thirds of it suspended. The car was never classed as released under the rules, which kept the punishment light despite the stewards themselves calling the situation unsafe.
The Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix follows, and Alonso has already flagged it as a weekend Aston Martin hope to carry momentum into, while Red Bull will want Sepang’s pace to prove itself somewhere less chaotic. Full details of the Marina Bay weekend are on the F1 calendar.
