Formula 1’s return to Malaysia will restore the 2026 calendar to 23 races, but the additional round could make Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s championship task more difficult. With another weekend available for Mercedes to exploit its overall performance advantage, the longer season appears to favour the team currently leading both title battles.
Sepang International Circuit will host the event from 2–4 October, placing it between the Azerbaijan and Singapore Grands Prix. Although the race will take place in Malaysia, it will officially be named the Bahrain Grand Prix at Sepang International Circuit, subject to approval from the FIA World Motor Sport Council.
F1 Malaysia Grand Prix return restores 23-race calendar
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix were unable to proceed in April because of the conflict in the Middle East. Formula 1 initially hoped to reschedule the Bahrain event at Sakhir later in the season, but those plans ultimately proved unworkable.
Malaysia has therefore been selected to return the championship to 23 rounds. However, some uncertainty remains over the concluding races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, while Imola is being considered as a contingency option should Formula 1 require an alternative venue. For now, the addition of Sepang gives the championship another full race weekend and another significant allocation of points.
Why the extra Malaysia race may favour Mercedes
The expanded schedule inevitably changes the dynamics of the drivers’ and constructors’ championship battle. On the competitive picture before the 2026 Hungarian Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli held a 45-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton, while Mercedes led Ferrari by 73 points in the teams’ standings.
Those margins could have been considerably larger without the reliability problems suffered by Mercedes. Kimi Antonelli retired while running second in Barcelona following a battery failure, while a broken wheel shield ended another potential victory challenge at Silverstone.
George Russell also retired from the lead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Depending on whether victory or second place is used as the likely finishing outcome, the Mercedes driver lost either 25 or 18 points. Either total would have been sufficient to place George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings at that stage of the season.
A longer season reduces the unpredictability Ferrari need
Ferrari may have been better suited to the high-downforce demands of the Hungaroring, but Mercedes still appeared to possess the stronger overall package. That distinction is important when assessing the effect of adding another race to the championship.
A shorter season gives reliability failures, unusual results and circuit-specific strengths greater influence over the final standings. Adding another round creates a larger competitive sample, making it more likely that the advantage of the faster and more consistent package will become evident over time. In mathematical terms, that reduces the element of unpredictability Ferrari may need to overcome Mercedes.
Winning the championship exclusively through performance already appeared difficult for Ferrari. The Italian team had used most of its available upgrade budget, limiting the scale of the development work it could still introduce during the remainder of the campaign.
Mercedes, by comparison, had delivered only one major upgrade package and was therefore expected to have more performance available through future development. The Sepang weekend now gives Mercedes an additional opportunity to convert that potential into championship points.
The extra race also offers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell another chance to recover points lost through mechanical problems. For Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari, the challenge is the opposite: the longer the season becomes, the more frequently they must outperform a Mercedes package that has generally held the advantage.
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