Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli at centre of Montoya Malaysia prediction
Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli have been tipped to shine at Sepang
Formula 1 will be returning to Malaysia’s Sepang Circuit for the first time since 2017. It is a race weekend with a twist.
Sepang will host the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix, with Juan Pablo Montoya predicting championship leader Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen, the most recent F1 winner at the venue, will shine.
Max Verstappen and Kimi Antonelli tipped to shine at Sepang
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The Bahrain Grand Prix will run as Round 16 of the F1 2026 campaign. But, instead of taking place at the Bahrain International Circuit, it will be held at Sepang, due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Montoya raced at Sepang across his stints with Williams and McLaren. He twice finished P2, and described it as his “favourite track,” when reacting to the news on F1 TV.
Montoya earmarked the two drivers who he believes will excel at this wildly popular venue.
“You need to be extra brave to be fast there,” Montoya continued.
“It’s not because the high-speed corners are not flat, but they’re just about flat if you think you’re brave enough or stupid enough to try them. A lot of times I made it through and a lot of times I went off there.
“It was one of those tracks [for] hustling the car. I think it’s an amazing track for a guy like Max, who likes hustling the car. I think Antonelli is going to succeed there as well.”
Antonelli has romped into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship. He holds a buffer of 50 points over Lewis Hamilton at the F1 2026 summer break.
Verstappen, meanwhile, won the most recent Grand Prix to take place at Sepang, that being the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix.
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Sky F1’s Martin Brundle praised all the parties involved for ensuring that the Bahrain Grand Prix still goes ahead this season, in Malaysia.
“I really like the lateral thinking and the flexibility,” he said.
“It is the Bahrain Grand Prix. We can’t go to that part of the world at the moment. I hope we can very soon. The Bahrainis are great friends of Formula 1 since the first race back in 2004, and I like this lateral thinking of, ‘Well, let’s find a different way.’
“This is a sport that put on 34 Grands Prix during the pandemic, somehow. And let’s get racing. Let’s give the fans, a good and as full a championship as we can.
“So it’s great that Malaysia have allowed this to happen. Great that Bahrain wants it to happen. Formula 1 and the FIA had to sanction it as well, and here we go. What it does mean is six races in seven weekends.”
Sepang has slotted in between F1’s trips to Baku and Singapore, creating a triple-header.
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