Samwise F1 Newsletter
Monday, October 5, 2026
Russell Concedes Title Hopes After Late Power Unit Failure
George Russell retired from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia during a late Safety Car period while on course for third place, with Mercedes confirming a suspected power unit issue. Team-mate Kimi Antonelli finished second behind Max Verstappen and now leads the championship by 84 points. The retirement was Russell’s third non-finish of the campaign. “Another failure, when we were on course for a pretty certain podium. It’s a tough one to take,” the 28-year-old said. Asked whether his title prospects were over, Russell replied, “Yeah, yeah, I’d say so,” adding that the season had been “pretty relentless” with setbacks outside the team’s control.
Sources: Formula1.com
FIA Launches Full Review After Software Bug Stalls Cars at Sepang
The FIA has blamed “an unprecedented combination of low engine speed, low-grip conditions, wet-weather energy management settings, and the Sepang circuit’s sector configuration” for the power loss that hit several cars on the formation lap. Its technical department removed the energy limit constraint in the affected sectors through an updated software release sent to all competitors during the rain delay. The FIA said the issue had not been detected during testing or the laps to the grid, and that it will undertake a full review with the teams and power unit manufacturers. Single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said more testing would probably have caught the bug in time.
Sources: GRANDPRIX247
Hamilton Recovers to Third After Ferrari’s Slick-Tyre Gamble
Lewis Hamilton recovered to third at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia after Ferrari started him and Charles Leclerc on soft slick tyres while 14 of the 22 drivers chose intermediates. Hamilton, who qualified second, dropped as low as 18th and said his “heart sank” when he saw rivals on intermediates. He rejected a call to switch to intermediates on lap five, insisting the team had made “a gamble” it must stick with. A Safety Car brought him back into play as the track dried. Team principal Frederic Vasseur said Ferrari was “on the wrong side” of the tyre choice but called third and fourth a strong result.
Sources: Sky Sports
Red Bull Ford Powertrains Claims First Win in Debut Season
Max Verstappen called Red Bull Ford Powertrains’ first Formula 1 victory “incredible” after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia in the team’s first season as a power unit manufacturer. “To win a race in the first year of being a new power unit manufacturer is honestly just incredible,” Verstappen said. Team principal Laurent Mekies credited everyone who had worked on the project over the past five years. Isack Hadjar recovered from eighth on the grid to finish fifth but said he lost power for two laps after the late restart: “If this hadn’t have happened, I am sure I would have been on the podium.”
Sources: GRANDPRIX247
Norris Reprimanded for Erratic Driving Behind the Safety Car
Lando Norris received a reprimand from the FIA stewards for erratic driving behind the Safety Car at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, and keeps his ninth place and two points. Norris ended up in the gravel after braking heavily to avoid team-mate Oscar Piastri when the cars ahead slowed as George Russell stopped his Mercedes. Norris told the stewards the low sun made it difficult to recognise that the cars ahead had slowed. The stewards ruled visibility was a circumstance he should have accounted for, not an excuse, but chose a reprimand because he reacted promptly and avoided contact. No further action was taken over his rejoin.
Wolff Calls Sepang ‘One of My Worst Experiences’ for Mercedes
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia was “one of my worst experiences” despite Kimi Antonelli finishing second. Wolff said Mercedes lacked the speed it had hoped for at Sepang and that a virtual safety car and two safety cars went against the team. George Russell’s late power unit failure, he said, was “terrible for his championship and not good at all for our constructor points.” Wolff warned that the DNFs “could cost us dearly also for the remaining seven races,” but said the team has “a good action plan” and that James Allison “is really fully on top of it with his leadership team.”
Sainz Asks Who Decided F1’s 2026 Rules Were the Right Direction
Grand Prix Drivers Association director Carlos Sainz has questioned the 2026 regulations after farcical formation-lap scenes delayed the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia by almost an hour. Sainz said Formula 1 “needs to have a hard look at themselves and see how we ended up in this situation.” He added: “It is clear the regs are extremely complicated for the drivers, for the teams, for the power units, for the manufacturers. It is too complicated.” Sainz then asked, “who five years ago decided that this was the direction to go?” Formula 1 confirmed its current engine regulations in 2022.
Sources: Racefans.net
Alonso Gives Aston Martin Its Best Result of the Season
Fernando Alonso finished eighth at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, giving Aston Martin its best result of the season. Alonso was among the drivers who gambled on slick tyres at the start, which he admitted “was not the right decision,” though he said he was initially faster than the Ferraris and pulling away from Lewis Hamilton. The Safety Car regrouped the field and, in Alonso’s words, “started a new race.” The two-time world champion praised the team’s execution: “There are not many weekends where we can score points, and in those weekends, we cannot have any mistake, and we cannot lose the opportunities. So we executed that today.”
Arrivabene Says Horner’s Titles Could Be a Disadvantage at Ferrari
Former Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has warned that Christian Horner’s record could be “more of a disadvantage than an advantage” at Ferrari because it would raise even greater expectations. Horner described Ferrari as a “dream” in an interview and said it is the one team he would join without an ownership stake. “At Ferrari, one man can’t change anything,” Arrivabene told Sky Italia, adding that the Scuderia needs “calm and a leader who can work freely.” The comments follow reports of a possible succession plan for team principal Fred Vasseur, after which Ferrari’s chief communication officer Maria Conti declared the team’s continued confidence in him.
Round 16 of 23 — After the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia
Drivers’ Championship
| Pos | Driver | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Antonelli | 320 |
| 2 | George Russell | 236 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | 214 |
| 4 | Charles Leclerc | 191 |
| 5 | Lando Norris | 188 |
| 6 | Max Verstappen | 188 |
| 7 | Oscar Piastri | 128 |
| 8 | Isack Hadjar | 96 |
| 9 | Liam Lawson | 65 |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly | 41 |
| 11 | Arvid Lindblad | 38 |
| 12 | Franco Colapinto | 27 |
| 13 | Oliver Bearman | 20 |
| 14 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 10 |
| 15 | Nico Hülkenberg | 7 |
| 16 | Esteban Ocon | 7 |
| 17 | Fernando Alonso | 7 |
| 18 | Carlos Sainz | 7 |
| 19 | Alexander Albon | 5 |
| 20 | Yuki Tsunoda | 1 |
| 21 | Lance Stroll | 0 |
| 22 | Valtteri Bottas | 0 |
| 23 | Sergio Pérez | 0 |
Constructors’ Championship
| Pos | Constructor | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercedes | 556 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 405 |
| 3 | McLaren | 316 |
| 4 | Red Bull Racing | 298 |
| 5 | Racing Bulls | 90 |
| 6 | Alpine | 68 |
| 7 | Haas | 27 |
| 8 | Audi | 17 |
| 9 | Williams | 12 |
| 10 | Aston Martin | 7 |
| 11 | Cadillac | 0 |
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