Russell brings Baku grand slam momentum to Malaysia as relocated Bahrain GP revives Sepang

A grand prix reborn in Sepang

Formula One fans will be rising early, with qualifying live from 9am on Saturday — Billy Munday at the wheel of the live blog — and the race itself from 8am on Sunday, where Yara El-Shaboury provides lap-by-lap updates. The championship battle takes an intriguing twist as Mercedes teammates Kimi Antonelli and George Russell renew their rivalry at an unlikely venue.

Sepang remains a permanent fixture on the MotoGP calendar but has not hosted a grand prix since 2017, after the Malaysian government said it could no longer justify the hosting costs given the declining returns. The Mercedes duo will now fight for supremacy there after the original Bahrain race was relocated from Sakhir due to the Iran war and tensions elsewhere in the Middle East.

With Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton trailing Kimi Antonelli by 103 points in third, the title fight has effectively become a straight duel at the top — and Russell arrives in Malaysia brimming with momentum. Baku was the Briton's weekend as he became only the seventh driver on the grid to achieve a grand slam — pole position, leading every lap, the fastest lap and the victory — his third win of the season. A championship fight that once seemed to be slipping away from the Mercedes driver has suddenly become a realistic proposition.

The question remains whether Russell can turn one extraordinary weekend into a sustained challenge, or whether Antonelli will respond immediately, with eight rounds remaining in the 23-race season. With Red Bull's four-time world champion Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc charging hard in practice, a crackling race beckons.