F1 Returns to Sepang After Nine Years, and Verstappen Is Fastest From the Opening Friday

Some comebacks feel like no time has passed at all, and this is one of them. Formula 1 returned to the Sepang International Circuit for the first time since 2017, under fairly unusual circumstances: this was meant to be the Bahrain Grand Prix, but the conflict in the Middle East forced it to be relocated to Malaysia, keeping the event’s original name.

What played out on track was exactly what everyone expected from Sepang: brutal heat, a demanding layout, and Max Verstappen reminding everyone why he won the last time the sport raced here, back in 2017.

Verstappen leads, but it’s Red Bull’s whole lineup that shines

The Dutchman closed FP1 with a 1:37.520, using soft tyres from early in the session to set the pace. The more interesting part wasn’t just his lap time, it was that Red Bull put both its cars inside the top three: Isack Hadjar, the team’s junior driver, finished third just 0.783 seconds back, confirming that his strong podium in Baku was no fluke.

Sitting in between them was George Russell, who steadily closed the gap as Mercedes got more comfortable with the track. Late in the session, the Briton had a conversation with his race engineer about whether Mercedes was the “outlier” when it comes to tyre degradation, a question that is likely to shape a big part of this weekend’s strategy.

Ferrari and Mercedes a step behind

Charles Leclerc finished fourth, 0.847 seconds off Verstappen, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli ended up fifth. Lewis Hamilton rounded out the top six, just a hundredth of a second behind his Mercedes counterpart Antonelli.

Mercedes arrived in Sepang with a new floor and sidepod package, looking to claw back some of the advantage it had earlier in the season. For now, at least in FP1, the upgrade hasn’t translated into the performance jump the team was hoping for.

The other story of the day: Colapinto’s penalty

While the cars were still out on track, news broke that already complicates Franco Colapinto’s weekend. The Argentine was already carrying a five place grid penalty for the collision he caused in Baku with Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris. Now, the FIA has confirmed that Alpine fitted his car with a fifth internal combustion engine of the season, exceeding the four-unit allocation permitted under the regulations. That adds a further ten-place penalty on top.

In total, Colapinto will start the race with a 15 place grid penalty. The thinking in the paddock is that Alpine’s decision to introduce the new engine now is no coincidence: since he was already set to start near the back because of the Baku sanction anyway, the team chose to get the engine change out of the way at the same time, minimizing the overall damage.

What the opening Friday leaves behind

Between the historic return to a circuit F1 hadn’t visited in nearly a decade, Red Bull’s dominance across both cars, and a penalty that has already wrecked Colapinto’s grid before qualifying even begins, Friday in Sepang left plenty of storylines to follow closely. FP2 is still to come to confirm who really has the pace to fight for the weekend.

PRACTICE 1 – RESULTS

Do you think Red Bull can sustain this kind of pace from Hadjar all season, or was this just one standout Friday? Let us know your take in the comments and share this piece if you enjoyed F1’s return to Malaysia.

Source: grandepremio.com, autosport.com, f1-fansite.com, total-motorsport.com, speedweek.com, planetf1.com, en.wikipedia.org