Why F1's return to Sepang could suit Verstappen and Antonelli

A comeback nobody saw coming

Sepang disappeared from the calendar after 2017, a victim of falling attendance and organising costs that no longer added up. It's back for one weekend only, from October 2 to 4, under an unusual arrangement: the race will officially carry the Bahrain Grand Prix name and ticket revenue, even though every car will actually be racing in Malaysia. The fix exists because Bahrain's own race couldn't be rescheduled amid regional tensions, and Sepang stepped in with the infrastructure ready to go.

For most of the current grid, this will be a first: nobody has raced an F1 car around this track in nine years, and several drivers have never driven it at all.

A layout built for drivers who manhandle the car

Former F1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who raced at Sepang himself, argues the track's characteristics play straight into Max Verstappen's hands. Long, demanding corners taken at high commitment, punishing heat and humidity: it's the kind of layout, Montoya says, where manhandling the car is rewarded rather than punished. Verstappen happens to be the last man to have won there, back in 2017 with Red Bull, ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo.

Unknown territory, but real confidence for Antonelli

Montoya didn't stop at Verstappen. He also sees genuine potential for Kimi Antonelli, despite the Mercedes driver never having set a lap there. His reasoning: a driver already handling title pressure at twenty should cope fine with an unfamiliar circuit, and Sepang's brutal climate has a way of levelling the field regardless of experience.

It's an interesting wrinkle for a title fight that's been trending Antonelli's way in recent rounds. A circuit nobody truly knows is precisely the kind of variable that can either cement a points lead or blow it wide open, and Montoya's read suggests this one could go either way rather than simply extending the status quo.

One thing is certain: with a circuit this unfamiliar to the current grid, practice sessions in Malaysia will matter more than they have all season.

Nine years off the calendar have turned Sepang into a genuine wildcard right as the title fight heats up — and for once, even the reigning benchmark isn't sure what to expect.