F1 – Formula One’s star drivers must “get comfortable with the uncomfortable” at this weekend’s F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia 2026, with the 16th round of this year’s F1 season having been declared a heat-hazard race by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA).
This was stressed yesterday by F1’s four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who was speaking during the F1 drivers’ Thursday Press conference held ahead of today’s start of racing.
A heat hazard is an official status for an event where it is forecast that temperatures will exceed 31 degrees Celsius at some point during the race.
The kingdom’s grand prix – which marks the return of F1 to Malaysia after nearly a decade – is to be held from today to Sunday at Sepang International Circuit (SIC).
“I think I had four or five months of very intense preparation – deep mental preparation,” said Verstappen when asked how he has trained to be able to deal with the harsh conditions.
“Just rock up,” he added. “It’s hot, but it’s also hot in Monaco, and it gets very humid there as well. If you really want it hot, you go in the sauna or a steam room. I do that sometimes.
“You just need to get comfortable with the uncomfortable – so that’s the case for everyone. It’s hot, sweaty, and you need a few more underwears, I guess. Just go with the flow.”
Haas ace Oliver Bearman teased that he too had brought “a few extra underwears” to be able to cope with the heat.
Bearman later added while also taking into account the likeliness of rain at SIC this weekend: “The climate is a bit up and down around here, but it also dries very quickly, so I think it will be the first opportunity this weekend – at some stage I’m sure – that we’re going to properly run on the inters and the wets, because we haven’t really done that yet this year,” he said.
“And this is a unique one because it’s probably going to be wet but it’s also generally warm, so maybe we get an easier time with the tyres.
“But I’ve heard that they’re challenging tyres to drive. So, I think we’re going to see the first experience using those tyres this weekend. So that’s a question mark for everybody.”
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly is also expecting a tough challenge in managing what he describes as “very unpredictable” conditions.
“The weather is going to play a big part,” Gasly said. “Obviously, here we know it’s very unpredictable and very stormy, which I see as a big chance, big opportunities for all of us. And the humidity is a physical challenge for all of us. Mainly, we’ll have to be on top of our game with the change of conditions throughout the weekend.”
Both Verstappen and Gasly were part of the grid the last time F1 raced at SIC in 2017, when Bearman was only 12 and competing in karting. But many years on, plenty has changed in the sport, and both Verstappen and Gasly acknowledged a different feeling in their return to SIC earlier this week.
“I walked into the paddock and I had no idea where I had to go, so it’s been a long time,” explained Verstappen. “I always enjoyed racing here because I think I really liked the track layout.”
“It was not very straightforward because there was always high degradation, hot in general, so quite uncomfortable in a way to drive, physically. They are great, great memories but, yeah, had to get into the paddock, I had to get used again. It’s been a bit too long.”
Gasly, who made his F1 debut in Malaysia in 2017 when he was competing with Toro Rosso, shared the same sentiments.
“It’s quite a long time ago, but I must say, coming in this morning, entering the paddock, I’ve had all these flashbacks from the first ever time I entered the paddock as an official F1 driver,” he said.
“It definitely felt slightly different this morning. A lot has happened since then, but I must say it’s a track I really love. I remember as a kid, when I was younger, I used to play it on my PlayStation and, out of any other tracks, I used to do a lot of laps in Sepang, just from the flow of the track. And yeah, obviously the fact I started here makes Sepang very unique.”
With the heat-hazard race being declared, F1’s drivers will be permitted to utilise an in-car cooling system that flows cooled liquid through a system of pipes in a fireproof top, worm under their racing overalls.
This weekend’s race is the third heat hazard this F1 campaign, following the Australian and Italian grands prix.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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