Kimi Antonelli reveals the lesson he learnt from Max Verstappen at the Bahrain GP

At the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, Kimi Antonelli finished in second place in his first Formula 1 race at the Sepang International Circuit.

The Italian driver joined Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton on the podium, both of whom have previously won at the Malaysian circuit.

Antonelli still leads the 2026 Formula 1 championship over his teammate George Russell, who failed to finish the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia due to a power unit issue.

However, after losing out on victory in Malaysia to Verstappen, who took his first win of the 2026 season, Antonelli revealed that he had learned a lot whilst racing with Verstappen and Hamilton.

The major lesson the Italian was able to take away from Sepang was how Verstappen ‘handled’ his Red Bull during the safety car restart during the latter stages of the race.

During the post-race press conference, Antonelli said, "It’s always great to, first of all, be able to share the track, in this case with Max and Lewis, because they’re definitely rewriting... Well, Lewis basically did the history of the sport, and Max is doing the same.

"So on my side, I try to learn as much as possible whenever I drive closely to them.

"Today was a really good showcase of how Max handled the restart on slick tyres and the slippery track.

"He just knew much better how to position the car and had a better feeling for the grip in those first two corners and overtook me.

"So that was really good. Even though it was not nice to get overtaken, I was very annoyed with that, it was still a good way to learn from that and to use it in the future.

"And then with Lewis, I think we’ve seen many, many times, many years, that even when things go badly, he always keeps his head down and tries to do his best to achieve the best result possible."