Max Verstappen wins chaotic Bahrain Grand Prix as George Russell's title bid dashed

Max Verstappen won a rain-hit Bahrain Grand Prix which was farcically delayed by one hour and 33 minutes after multiple cars broke down in the wet conditions before George Russell’s outside world championship bid was derailed by a late engine failure.Verstappen navigated his way through the chaos to claim his first triumph of the year. Kimi Antonelli took second with Lewis Hamilton completing a fine comeback drive from 18th to take the final spot on the podium. Russell had been running in third when he retired with just five laps left to leave his title dream all but over.But the race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia was overshadowed by embarrassing scenes when this season’s new cars – which had already faced stern criticism – effectively failed to work in the wet.Forty minutes after the initial getaway was pushed back following a deluge of rain, Formula One bosses had to abandon the start when a number of drivers, including Verstappen and Hamilton, were struck by software gremlins – directly linked to the controversial 50-50 split between combustion and battery power – and could not get their cars to operate.Chaos: The heavy rain in Malaysia caused delays and confusion before Sunday’s raceGettyThe grid limped back to the pit-lane, and although the rain had long since stopped, a further 53 minutes passed before the green light was given by the sport’s chiefs to try again. An explanation for the lengthy delay was not offered. And by now, the track was largely dry.Two laps followed behind the safety car before a standing start. Verstappen slipped to third but cleared Antonelli after another safety car period on the 13th lap and took the chequered flag 2.3 seconds clear of the championship leader. Russell’s failure to finish leaves him 84 points behind Antonelli with only seven scheduled races, and a possible 183 points remaining.The rearranged round in Malaysia, because of the conflict in the Middle East, marked the first meaningful wet-weather running this year and it unravelled in spectacular fashion.Pole-sitter Verstappen was the first to complain that he could not accelerate. That meant the following pack were virtually crawling around the Sepang circuit before Hamilton, second on the grid, then hit trouble in his Ferrari.“I am pressing the throttle, and nothing is happening,” he complained before stopping at the side of the track. And behind, a whole host of other drivers were also struggling to keep their engines running.Attempting to explain the unprecedented scenes, Mercedes test driver Anthony Davidson said on Sky Sports: “What’s effectively happening is if you are off throttle for too long, the turbo spools down and when the driver puts their foot back down, it uses all the engine juice.Title hopes over? George Russell was forced to retire late in a hammer blowGetty“As soon as the battery goes flat, you are down to internal combustion engine power only. It’s incredibly complicated and you fall into this horrible trap where the engine can’t reaccelerate because you are being penalised by this regulation.”Read MoreVerstappen, the leading critic of this season’s rules, was eventually able to get up to speed. He laughed and shook his head upon seeing some of the cars parked at the side of the track.“Look at this,” he said over the radio.Double world champion Fernando Alonso criticised the decision to abandon the start.“Why did they put out the red flag?” he said. “This is racing.”The grid hobbled back to the pit-lane and an almost one hour-long delay ensued despite no further rain, and the track initially declared fit for racing.At 4.33pm local time – the fixture had been due to begin at 3pm – Verstappen peeled out of the pit-lane. Red Bull and Mercedes elected for the intermediate tyres, while Ferrari and McLaren punted for slicks. It backfired for Ferrari and McLaren.Back on top: Max Verstappen celebrated his first race win of the seasonGettyRussell leapt from seventh to second at the start with Antonelli assuming the lead, while Hamilton, desperately struggling on the dry tyres, fell back to as far as 18th and 80 seconds behind.Valtteri Bottas beached his Cadillac on the ninth lap and a safety car was deployed. In came the leaders to change from inters to dry tyres, with Verstappen now ahead of Russell and in second.The Dutchman then mastered the restart to swat Antonelli aside. Russell also moved ahead of his team-mate only for Antonelli to move back past for second on lap 21.A lengthy safety car followed late in the fixture when Alex Albon stopped and his car, stuck in gear, could not be moved by the marshals. Then, Russell’s afternoon, and quite possibly his title bid, came to an end as his power unit expired.But there were no such dramas for Verstappen, while Hamilton completed a fine afternoon by passing Hadjar at the end to take his first podium since the British Grand Prix in July.