Lewis Hamilton BATTLES Ferrari's strategy for podium | Wrong tyre, RIGHT driver | 2026 Bahrain GP

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

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Soumil Arora (0:30)

Well, as if Kunal Shah wasn't tired of speaking after a three and a half hour plus broadcast, we've gotten here back on the Inside Line F1 Podcast to dissect the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia because he was a lucky one. Commentating, I was away for a US visa appointment and I only got to see the entire race. I thought I'd miss it, Kunal, because the race was starting around 12.3 India time and my appointment was on 30 I was like, hmm, this is not going to go down too well. But I got to catch the whole race because Formula 1 just couldn't start on time.

Kunal Shah (1:01)

Now I know why the FIA delayed the race in the first place. Soumil, I should have known your scheming ways.

Because yes, it was a max attack, a max Verstappen master class. But my goodness, it was a disaster class for the FIA. Where do we begin?

Soumil Arora (1:21)

I really want to start with the positives. I think we'll get to the FIA nitpick on all the small things. But the big thing is, Max Verstappen is back, guys. Max Verstappen is back. I am very overwhelmed with emotions after a weekend like this, because we've all seen him struggle so much throughout the season. In a way, it's great to see him back. Although deep down, I will admit, I enjoyed him fighting through the midfield throughout the entire season, because we got to see the class and the quality of the man.

But he's back, Kunal. He's back and how. Never in doubt of losing his win, even though he had that terrible getaway, even though Antonelli and Russell were behind him, he was amazing.

Kunal Shah (2:01)

Even though Red Bull took the second pit stop, gave up track position to Andrea, Kimi, Antonelli. They were like, we've got the car, but crucially, we've got the driver to pull off those overtakes, should we need them? Actually, at that moment, for that brief lap, they did need it. But let's remember, Max Verstappen also pulled the first non-Mercedes powered pole position at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, at Sepang. That was another masterclass of Max Verstappen. And we saw it to be coming from many, many, many races. Wasn't it? Seven podiums in the last nine races. The maximum podiums in something, something, something has happened. Red Bull started off the season extremely poorly. Max was complaining, almost wanted to leave Formula 1

And here he is with a commanding drive. Doesn't matter what the era is, what power unit there is, whether it's Adrian Newey, Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, Pierre Varsha. It doesn't matter if it's Hamilton, if it's Antonelli, if it's Russell, it's McLaren, it's Norris, it's Piastri. Max Verstappen did what he always does, which is go on, Max attack.

Soumil Arora (3:12)

He's just so good. He's just so good. The one moment that stands out for me the most from the entire weekend was Verstappen passing Antonelli around the outside of turn 1, 2 and 3

That was beautiful for more reasons than one. Firstly, the overtake in itself was amazing because it came immediately after the safety car restart. But to top it off, Kunal, it felt like a statement. It felt like Max Verstappen announcing to the world that I may not be champion-elect this year, which Kimi is, but I'm still the champion. I've still got it in me. And for Kimi Antonelli, I'm now thinking he will become world champion. But there's a level above that as well, which is beating Max Verstappen head-to-head. He couldn't do that today. He could not do that.

Kunal Shah (3:56)

We'll get to that. He could not do that. He didn't have the car for that, but he still settled for whatever was possible, given that Ferrari had a disaster class themselves. But why don't we put down Max's 72nd win into perspective? There was a reason why he and GP exchanged 72nd win on the radio.

Michael Schumacher scored 72 wins with Ferrari during his dominant era in red. And now today in Sepang, Max Verstappen scored his 72nd win with Red Bull Racing. So, I don't know what color you associate Red Bull with. It's purple and yellow and red or whatever. But Max Verstappen has achieved that level of greatness within Red Bull Racing. 72 wins for Schumacher and Ferrari and 72 wins for Max Verstappen with Red Bull Racing.