Gulf Air Bahrain GP fantasy picks & race guide
Round 16 of 2026, the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, is at Sepang on SUN 04 OCT 2026. Official session times are below. Six picks: P1, P2, P3, fastest lap, two DNFs.
Data: calendar and (when classified) finishing order from third-party timing used by the app. Analysis: F1RaceDraft editorial. Fan-made, not affiliated with Formula 1 or the FIA.
Race at a glance
- Date
- SUN 04 OCT 2026
- Circuit
- Sepang International Circuit
- Layout (Formula 1)
- 5.543 km · 56 laps
- Status
- Scheduled
Weekend schedule
These are the Formula 1 session windows for Malaysia (UTC+8). Kuala Lumpur is 8 hours ahead of UTC. The second line is the same window on this device. Formula 1 says the timetable can change.
Practice 1
Fri 2 Oct, 12:30–13:30 · Malaysia (UTC+8)
Your time: …
Practice 2
Fri 2 Oct, 16:00–17:00 · Malaysia (UTC+8)
Your time: …
Practice 3
Sat 3 Oct, 12:30–13:30 · Malaysia (UTC+8)
Your time: …
Qualifying
Sat 3 Oct, 16:00–17:00 · Malaysia (UTC+8)
Your time: …
Race
Sun 4 Oct, 15:00–17:00 · Malaysia (UTC+8)
Your time: …
Lights out is 15:00. Formula 1 lists 56 laps or 120 minutes, through 17:00 local.
Source: Formula 1’s full timetable for the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia 2026. The 2026 calendar lists the weekend as round 16, 2–4 October. Our race feed has those dates and no session clock, so these times are Formula 1’s, not a guess. Picks on this page still lock five minutes before the lights-out time stored on that feed.
Sepang, briefly
The event name is Bahrain. The circuit is Sepang International Circuit. Length, laps and race distance are the figures on Formula 1’s race page. The records are from Formula 1’s pre-weekend notes, published 30 September 2026.
- Circuit
- Sepang International Circuit
- Length
- 5.543 km
- Laps
- 56
- Race distance
- 310.398 km
- First Grand Prix
- 1999
- Lap record
- 1:34.080 — Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 2017
- Most poles here
- Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, five each
- Most wins here
- Sebastian Vettel, four
- Last championship visit
- 2017
Sepang was the first Formula 1 circuit drawn by Hermann Tilke. It opened for the 1999 Malaysian Grand Prix. The lap is wide: a long pit straight, a heavy brake into Turn 1, a fast pair of corners through Turns 5 and 6, and a last-corner hairpin, Turn 15, that dumps you back onto the straight. Heat and humidity sit on the car all afternoon, and a tropical downpour can rewrite a session in a few minutes.
Formula 1’s preview quotes Pirelli calling the surface relatively abrasive, with grip that starts low on Friday and should improve as rubber goes down. The same note talks about thermal load on both axles, almost no relevant data for the current cars, resurfacing between Turns 6 and 12 in 2023, further work around Turn 9, and asphalt levelling from the start of September 2026. Afternoon thunderstorms are described as a regular early-October feature.
Two historical figures from that preview, labelled as history: 73 overtakes in the 2017 race, and a safety car in 20% of the last five Grands Prix at Sepang, with a virtual safety car on the same 20%. The listed pit-stop time loss is 23.7 seconds. None of those is a forecast for Sunday.
Draft card for Sunday
Six calls: P1, P2, P3, fastest lap, two DNFs. This is a fan note for that card, not a predicted result.
- Build the card for Sepang. The recent Bahrain winner list on Formula 1’s preview is the Sakhir race. It describes a different circuit.
- Qualifying is the starting order, and then the race has places to pass. Turn 1 is wide, and the last hairpin is a late-brake corner onto a long straight. Leave P2 and P3 room to move.
- Watch Friday on purpose. The Pirelli note says teams are short of a real reference for this generation of car, so the long runs are doing extra work. Who is managing heat is a better P1 clue than a single qualifying lap.
- Keep a wet version in your head. The preview treats afternoon storms, heat, and sudden rain as part of the place. If the radar is wet, change the card to the race in front of you.
- Fastest lap is usually a points car that still has a fresh tyre late. Vettel’s 1:34.080 is the 2017 circuit record. It is a different car.
- For the two DNFs, the live themes are heat, a crowded brake into Turn 1, and rain. There is no honest number to copy onto the card. The same preview says Franco Colapinto is due a five-place grid penalty for the Baku incident. A penalty moves the start. Read the stewards’ sheet before you lock.
- Official lights out is 15:00 Malaysia time on Sunday 4 October, which is 07:00 UTC.
Longer notes already on the site: reading practice, qualifying and grid penalties, weather, fastest lap, DNF calls, and when to lock.
Sepang International Circuit
Official length, laps and race distance are in the notes above, from Formula 1. Our circuit file does not include a Sepang layout.
Scoring reminder
Exact slots only. Lock five minutes before scheduled lights out. How to play: rules.
Related guides
- How to pick F1 podium predictions that actually score
- Fastest lap in F1 fantasy: who actually takes it
- DNF predictions for F1 fantasy: reliability, first-lap chaos, and the last-two rule
- How to read F1 practice times for fantasy picks
- Qualifying, grid penalties, and last-hour F1 fantasy changes
- How safety cars scramble F1 fantasy — and how to live with it