Feature
Formula 1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Analysis
The wide world of strategy options expected in F1's Bahrain GP in Malaysia
After recent runs of one-stop races with virtual safety car periods, F1's return to Sepang should upset that particular applecart - and Pirelli expects a mix of two- and three-stop approaches
Jake Boxall-Legge
Edited: Oct 4, 2026, 1:50 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
It wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that Formula 1's strategic options have been slightly limited this season, with only occasional breaks from one-stop encounters throughout 2026 thus far. In recent rounds, those expectations of one-stop strategies were delivered upon - to the point that teams might not have stopped at all in Madrid or Azerbaijan had the situation allowed.
F1's return to Malaysia as a proxy host for the Bahrain Grand Prix has reintroduced degradation, to the point that we're genuinely looking at a heady cocktail of strategy options for Sunday's race. The roughness of the track surface, combined with the load in the high-speed corners, has put the tyres under a lot of mechanical and thermal strain throughout the course of a lap; the slipping, shifting and sliding of Pirelli's mid-range trio of compounds will take the race beyond the realms of a one-stopper.
This should be good for Sunday's spectacle. Once more, the fallacy that 'having tyres that allow drivers to drive flat-out all race would be a good thing' was disproven; this simply creates processions, and only Alex Albon's shunt on lap 30 saved Baku from being a 51-lap parade around the Azerbaijani capital. We now have some variance, and the potential for a scenario that will keep the strategists engaged.
When Pirelli picked the C2, C3, and C4 for Malaysia, it did so knowing that the circuit characteristics would produce at least a two-stop affair. It also believes that a two-stop is the quickest option; some variation of a medium-hard-hard would be quicker than a soft-hard-hard, although only by the order of two seconds of race time. But this option is not available to everyone.
Indeed, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc have already used a set of hards; Verstappen gave one set back after FP2 without it even being used, while Leclerc used his in FP3. This means that both will either have to extend their stints on the soft and the medium to make a two-stop work - or, alternatively, go for a three-stopper and use two sets of soft or medium tyres during the race.
The three-stop is also barely slower than the two, by just five seconds; the time loss from the pitlane will have to be considered here, and that final stop might end up being a decision borne out of circumstance depending on the traffic ahead. In short, there's lots of potential strategies and genuinely very little between them.
Leclerc has been the only driver so far to actually run with the hard tyre
Photo by: Ashwith S Pai
"We think all three compounds will be used tomorrow because of this uncertainty with the pace management and the risk of over-heating, pace degradation," explained Pirelli's head of motorsport Dario Marrafuschi.
"Probably part of the grid will be medium-double-hard, part of the grid will use all the three compounds with the two stoppers, and part of the grid will go to a three-stop using, I think, all the three compounds."
Marrafuschi also reckoned that some might choose to avoid the hard tyre altogether. Although the C2 should last, and eventually see an overlap with the medium in terms of pace (Pirelli estimates this to be around eight to 10 laps where the C2 would begin to outperform the C3), the low-grip situation on-track could count against it.
Pos Driver Hard Medium Soft New Used New Used New Used 1 Verstappen 1 0 1 0 1 3 2 Hamilton 2 0 0 1 1 2 3 Antonelli 2 0 1 0 0 3 4 Leclerc 1 0 0 1 2 2 5 Norris 2 0 1 0 0 3 6 Piastri 2 0 1 0 0 3 7 Russell 2 0 1 0 0 3 8 Hadjar 2 0 1 0 0 3 9 Gasly 2 0 1 0 1 2 10 Bortoleto 2 0 0 1 1 2 11 Lawson 2 0 1 0 1 3 12 Alonso 2 0 1 0 1 3 13 Sainz 2 0 1 0 1 3 14 Stroll 2 0 1 0 1 3 15 Hulkenberg 2 0 0 1 3 1 16 Bearman 2 0 1 0 1 3 17 Ocon 2 0 1 0 1 3 18 Albon 2 0 1 0 2 2 19 Bottas 2 0 1 0 1 2 20 Perez 2 0 2 0 1 2 21 Colapinto 2 0 2 0 1 2 22 Lindblad 2 0 2 0 1 2
As Lando Norris explained, "the hard obviously lasts better but doesn't provide as much grip. Sometimes you slide more on the hard, sometimes therefore the soft that provides more grip, you can drive slower but have more grip and go quicker". It's all a fine balancing act and, if a car is lacking grip, it might just be easiest to circumvent the hard altogether.
"One point that makes us think that there could be someone on a two-stop with just medium and soft, is that if you run a kind of a gentle run-in on the soft tyre, then you can make it much more consistent than a first push lap and then you get high degradation. So this is something that could be considered kind of a scrubbed tyre," Marrafuschi added.
"They could scrub the tyres, for example, in the out-lap, in the formation lap tomorrow, and this makes us think that someone could go for longer stints also with the soft. Actually, soft and medium, in terms of degradation, are not much different from each other. The soft, which is the C4, is performing really well and this is due, in this case in a positive sense, to the tarmac roughness.
Managing the soft early will be key to any attempts to use it in a two-stopper
Photo by: Srinivasa Krishnan
"Of course, the pace [on the C2] is definitely slower. We expect it to be 0.8 slower than the medium. Anyhow, in our calculations, with these performances, slower in the first lap, and its degradation, medium double hard is the fastest option, actually.
"The pitstop window would open at lap 12, and the second window would open at lap 32. It means you can get at least 20 performance laps on the hard choice, which is good enough."
And that's not even considering the impact of weather. Rain has, so far, steered clear of the Sepang circuit (at least, during F1 hours) - although a short downpour might necessitate a scramble for the wet compounds of tyre, the circuit tends to dry up quickly. This would still require teams to manage their degradation, as the crossover between intermediates and slicks would be vital given the fragility of the green-walled tyre.
Either way, the tyre degradation should yield a fascinating battle of wits on the pitwall - winning in Malaysia won't be possible without a game-winning strategy.
Read Also:
Formula 1How Verstappen’s two subtly different laps beat Hamilton in Bahrain GP in Malaysia qualifying
Formula 1"The FIA needs to step in" - Russell's cooling vest comments explained
Formula 1From "paper car" to pole – What changed for Verstappen and Red Bull?
We want to hear from you!
Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future.
Take our survey
- The Autosport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Author Jake Boxall-Legge
Jake studied engineering at university, as his original ambition was to design racing cars. He was bad at that, and thus decided to write about them instead with an equally limited skillset. The above article is a demonstration of that. In his spare time, Jake enjoys people, places, and things.
Read more
Previous article How Verstappen’s two subtly different laps beat Hamilton in Bahrain GP in Malaysia qualifying
Next article You Ask The Questions: Emerson Fittipaldi
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from Jake Boxall-Legge
Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
1 d
Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027
Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 3 d
Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine
Why Mercedes' latest 2026 F1 update is no downgrade
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
4 d
Why Mercedes' latest 2026 F1 update is no downgrade
Singapore Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2026
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
5 d
Singapore Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2026
What we learned from the 2026 F1 Singapore GP sprint race and qualifying
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
7 d
What we learned from the 2026 F1 Singapore GP sprint race and qualifying
The political minefield set out by F1’s recent cost-cap grievances
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
8 d
The political minefield set out by F1’s recent cost-cap grievances
What caused Mercedes' pace deficit at Sepang despite upgraded W17?
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
11 d
What caused Mercedes' pace deficit at Sepang despite upgraded W17?
Three kings: F1's generational stars shone at Sepang
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
11 d
Three kings: F1's generational stars shone at Sepang
Latest news
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
9 h
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
What drives Bortoleto as his junior rivals hit new heights in F1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 11 h
What drives Bortoleto as his junior rivals hit new heights in F1
How the M8B became the most dominant car in McLaren’s history
General
MISC General 14 h
How the M8B became the most dominant car in McLaren’s history
What Verstappen knew about Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new F1 deal
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
16 h
What Verstappen knew about Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new F1 deal
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe