Nine years after Max Verstappen last triumphed at Malaysia's Sepang circuit, Formula 1 returns to a track that time has made unfamiliar to most of its current competitors. The race, nominally the Bahrain Grand Prix yet held thousands of miles from Bahrain, arrives as a kind of generational audit — more than half the grid will race here for the first time, some of them barely school-aged when Verstappen crossed the finish line in 2017. Sport, like all human endeavor, moves forward on the shoulders of those who came before, and Sepang this weekend offers a rare chance to measure exactly how far
F1 Returns to Malaysia: Where Today's Drivers Were When Sepang Last Hosted in 2017
Nearly two-thirds of the grid will race here for the first time
Mark
So more than half the grid has never raced here before. That's a striking number. How does that even happen?
Mimi
Nine years is a long time in motorsport. The grid turns over constantly. Drivers retire, new ones come up through the junior categories. When Sepang last hosted in 2017, some of today's drivers were still in karting—Lindblad was nine years old.
Luke
But we should be careful about the framing. It's not that the track is unfamiliar to them in some absolute sense. They've studied it, run it in simulators, watched footage. It's unfamiliar in the way that matters most—they've never actually driven it in a race car at this level.
Mark
Right. So what about the drivers who were here in 2017? How many of them are still on the grid?
Mimi
About a third. Hamilton, Alonso, Sainz, Pérez, Bottas, Hülkenberg, Ocon, Stroll, Albon, Gasly. Some have had entire career arcs since then. Hamilton won four more titles. Alonso was struggling with an uncompetitive McLaren-Honda and is now the oldest driver on the grid at 45.
Luke
Though we should note that Gasly's case is unique—he made his debut at that very race in 2017, so he's technically raced here before, but it was his first-ever F1 start. That's a different kind of familiarity.
Mark
What strikes me most is the age spread. Lindblad was nine. Antonelli was 11. Now they're on the same grid.
Mimi
Exactly. Antonelli is 20 now and leading the championship. Lindblad is the youngest on the current grid. They've both compressed their entire junior careers into that nine-year gap. Leclerc was in F2, leading the championship. Russell was in GP3. Norris was in F3. They've all made the leap.
Luke
Though we should note that not all of them made it immediately. Russell didn't debut until 2019, so he missed racing in Malaysia by two years. Norris also debuted in 2019. The timeline varies.
Mark
So this race is almost like a time capsule moment—a chance to see how much has changed.
Mimi
It's more than that. It's a chance to see who's survived and thrived in the sport. Verstappen was 20 and dominant. Now he's a four-time champion. Hamilton was already a three-time champion and is still here. But others from that grid are gone entirely.
Luke
And we should be honest about what we don't know. We don't know how the current drivers will perform at a track they've never raced. Simulation and video can only tell you so much. That's the real story this weekend.
Il Polso
- A race displaced over 4,000 miles from its original venue creates an immediate disorientation — the Bahrain Grand Prix is being held in Malaysia, a logistical anomaly that signals how fluid the sport's calendar has become.
- More than half of the 22 drivers on the current grid have never turned a competitive lap at Sepang, arriving at a legendary circuit as strangers to its heat, its rhythm, and its history.
- The youngest driver on the grid was nine years old in 2017 — a detail that sharpens just how complete the generational turnover has been in a single decade of racing.
- Veterans like Hamilton, Alonso, and Pérez carry lived memory of Sepang's demands, giving them an experiential edge over teammates and rivals who have only studied the track through data and simulators.
- Championship leader Kimi Antonelli, just 20, embodies the new order — a driver who was karting in Europe when the last Malaysian GP was run, now arriving as the man to beat.
Nine years after Max Verstappen last triumphed at Malaysia's Sepang circuit, Formula 1 returns to a track that time has made unfamiliar to most of its current competitors. The race, nominally the Bahrain Grand Prix yet held thousands of miles from Bahrain, arrives as a kind of generational audit — more than half the grid will race here for the first time, some of them barely school-aged when Verstappen crossed the finish line in 2017. Sport, like all human endeavor, moves forward on the shoulders of those who came before, and Sepang this weekend offers a rare chance to measure exactly how far the next generation has traveled.
Formula 1 returns to Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit this weekend under an unusual banner — the event is officially the Bahrain Grand Prix, originally scheduled for April in Bahrain before circumstances redirected it more than 4,000 miles east. The displacement creates an unexpected historical mirror: more than half of the 22 drivers on the current grid will race at Sepang for the first time, having never competed there since the circuit last hosted a round in 2017.
When Max Verstappen won that final Malaysian GP, he was a 20-year-old in his second Red Bull season, passing Lewis Hamilton on lap four and never looking back. Hamilton, already a three-time champion, finished second. It was also the day Pierre Gasly made his Formula 1 debut, crossing the line 14th for Toro Rosso. The grid that afternoon bore little resemblance to the one assembling this weekend.
Several of today's frontrunners were still climbing the junior ladder in 2017. Charles Leclerc was leading the Formula 2 championship with Prema; George Russell was winning the GP3 title with ART; Lando Norris had just claimed the European F3 crown and was entering McLaren's development program; Oscar Piastri was finishing second in British F4. Others were even further from the sport's top tier — Kimi Antonelli, now leading the drivers' championship at 20, was 11 and karting in Europe. Oliver Bearman and Gabriel Bortoleto were both 12. Arvid Lindblad, the grid's youngest driver, was only nine years old.
The drivers who were already in F1 that day carry the weight of a different era. Hamilton has since added four more world titles and holds the Sepang pole position record with five — the last man on the current grid to claim pole there. Fernando Alonso was mired in a difficult McLaren-Honda campaign, finishing 11th in Malaysia and 15th in that year's championship. Sergio Pérez, in his seventh Malaysian start, took sixth for Force India. Valtteri Bottas started and finished fifth for Mercedes. Lance Stroll, a Williams rookie, scored four points with eighth place.
When the lights go out this weekend, the track will be the same one Verstappen mastered nine years ago — but the drivers who race it have lived entire careers in the intervening time, and for most of them, Sepang is not a memory but a discovery.
Formula 1 is returning to Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit this weekend for what the sport is calling the Bahrain Grand Prix—a geographical and logistical oddity that underscores how much has shifted in the nine years since the track last hosted a race. The event was originally scheduled for April in Bahrain, over 4,000 miles away, but circumstances have forced it east to Southeast Asia instead. The timing creates an unusual snapshot: more than half of the 22 drivers currently on the grid will be racing at Sepang for the first time in their careers.
When Max Verstappen won here in 2017, he was 20 years old and in his second season at Red Bull, driving with the confidence of someone who had already proven he belonged at the sport's highest level. He passed Lewis Hamilton on the fourth lap and controlled the race from there. Hamilton, a three-time world champion at the time, finished second. That day also marked Pierre Gasly's Formula 1 debut—he started his career at Toro Rosso and crossed the line in 14th place. The grid that afternoon looked fundamentally different from the one that will line up this weekend.
Some of today's drivers were competing in junior categories when Verstappen crossed the finish line. Charles Leclerc was racing in Formula 2 with Prema, leading the championship that year; he would win the title and graduate to full-time F1 with Sauber the following season. George Russell was in GP3, winning his rookie championship with ART Grand Prix before making his F1 debut two years later. Lando Norris had just clinched the European Formula 3 championship with Carlin and was joining McLaren's development program. Oscar Piastri was competing in the British F4 championship, finishing second. Carlos Sainz had actually raced at Sepang before, but only briefly—he retired from seventh place with a power unit failure while driving for Toro Rosso.
Others were still years away from professional racing. Kimi Antonelli, now 20 and leading the current drivers' championship, was 11 years old and karting in Europe. Oliver Bearman was 12 and karting in the UK, having just won the Kartmasters British Grand Prix in the Honda Cadet category. Gabriel Bortoleto was 12 as well, racing in the OK Junior karting category in Europe after moving from Brazil. Arvid Lindblad, the youngest driver on the current grid, was only nine years old. Isack Hadjar was 13, karting in France. Liam Lawson was 15, competing in the Australian Formula 4 Championship with BRM, finishing second in the season. Franco Colapinto was karting at a high level, having won the Argentine Pre-Junior Championship the year before and moving toward the Buenos Aires Regional Championship.
The drivers who were already in F1 in 2017 carry different stories. Lewis Hamilton has added four more world titles since that Malaysian race, bringing his total to seven. He holds the record for most pole positions at Sepang with five, shared only with Michael Schumacher, and was the last driver on the current grid to claim pole here. Fernando Alonso was driving for McLaren-Honda that year, struggling with an uncompetitive car and finishing 15th in the championship; in Malaysia, he scored no points, finishing 11th. Sergio Pérez has raced in Malaysia seven times during his F1 career and finished sixth in 2017 while driving for Force India. Valtteri Bottas was Hamilton's Mercedes teammate, starting fifth and finishing fifth. Nico Hülkenberg was at Renault, finishing 16th.
Lance Stroll was in his rookie season with Williams and picked up four points with an eighth-place finish. Alex Albon was racing against Leclerc in F2 for ART Grand Prix, finishing his rookie season in 10th place. Esteban Ocon, soon to become an F1 free agent, was at Force India and scored a point in 10th. The span between these drivers—from those making their debuts to those already established, from teenagers in junior formulas to seasoned professionals—captures how much generational turnover has occurred in nine years.
When the lights go out this weekend, nearly two-thirds of the grid will be experiencing Sepang for the first time as Formula 1 drivers. For some, it will be a return to a place they've studied on video or in simulators. For others, it will be entirely new territory. The track itself hasn't changed, but the drivers who will race it have lived entire careers in the time since Verstappen's victory.
Citazioni salienti
Verstappen passed Hamilton on Lap 4 and was in control of the race from there— Race summary from 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix
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