The Bahrain Grand Prix is being run in Malaysia this weekend, and that is not a typo.

Formula 1 lands at Sepang for round 16 of 23, with Fox Sports 506 showing every session live and Kayo Sports and Foxtel Go streaming it.

Lights out is 6:00pm AEDT on Sunday 4 October, which is 5:00pm in Queensland and 3:00pm in Perth. Qualifying is 6:00pm AEST on Saturday 3 October.

Daylight saving starts at 2am on race morning in NSW, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, so those states are on AEDT by the time the cars roll out and the start sits an hour later on the clock than it does in Brisbane.

A Sunday evening race and a Saturday evening qualifying session means no alarms, which Australian fans rarely get from a Grand Prix.

Bahrain Grand Prix 2026: The Details

The basics first, then the detail on where to watch.

Event: Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia 2026, round 16 of 23

Circuit: Sepang International Circuit, 5.543km, 56 laps

Race date: Sunday 4 October 2026

Lights out: 3:00pm local time, which is 6:00pm AEDT

Qualifying: Saturday 3 October, 4:00pm local time, which is 6:00pm AEST

Format: Standard weekend, three practice sessions and no sprint

Broadcast in Australia: Fox Sports 506, Kayo Sports and Foxtel Go

Free-to-air: None

Sepang slots in between Baku last weekend and Singapore next. Full dates for the rest of the season are in our F1 2026 calendar.

Why the Bahrain Grand Prix Is in Malaysia

The venue swap explains the odd name on the broadcast.

The race was meant to run at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir on 12 April, but it was cancelled after the outbreak of the Iran war, along with the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, which has stayed off the calendar.

On 26 July, Formula 1, the FIA and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia confirmed the Bahrain race would be held at Sepang instead, with Bahrain keeping the name, the ticket pricing and the race proceeds.

That makes this the 22nd Bahrain Grand Prix and the first one staged away from Sakhir.

For Sepang it is the 20th Formula 1 race and the first since 2017, when Max Verstappen won ahead of Lewis Hamilton.

How to Watch the Bahrain Grand Prix in Australia

Fox Sports holds the Australian rights, so the paywall decides the options.

Fox Sports 506 carries every practice session, qualifying and the race live, and the coverage streams through Kayo Sports and Foxtel Go. Foxtel's race build-up starts at 4:30pm AEDT on Sunday, with the race broadcast itself from 5:55pm AEDT.

Foxtel customers with a set-top box can also switch to the alternative F1 TV commentary feed. Kayo subscribers only get that feed during Sunday's race.

There is no free-to-air coverage, live or highlights. Network 10's free-to-air rights cover the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne only, so Sepang sits behind the paywall like every other round bar Melbourne.

Full Sepang Session Times in AEST and AEDT

Malaysia is two hours behind eastern Australia until the clocks change, and three hours behind once they do, so Friday and Saturday are in AEST and Sunday is in AEDT.

Practice 1: 2:30pm AEST, Friday 2 October

Practice 2: 6:00pm AEST, Friday 2 October

Practice 3: 2:30pm AEST, Saturday 3 October

Qualifying: 6:00pm AEST, Saturday 3 October

Race: 6:00pm AEDT, Sunday 4 October

The race is 56 laps, but it is also capped at two hours of racing, with an overall limit of three hours if a red flag stops it. That matters at a circuit where a storm can stop everything, because it puts a ceiling on how late the evening can run.

Start Times Across Australia

Daylight saving splits the country on race day, so check your state before locking in the couch.

Race, Sunday 4 October:

AEDT (NSW, VIC, ACT, TAS): 6:00pm

AEST (QLD): 5:00pm

ACDT (SA): 5:30pm

ACST (NT): 4:30pm

AWST (WA): 3:00pm

Qualifying, Saturday 3 October:

AEST (NSW, VIC, QLD, ACT, TAS): 6:00pm

ACST (SA, NT): 5:30pm

AWST (WA): 4:00pm

Queenslanders get the race an hour earlier on the clock than Sydney and Melbourne, which catches people out every October. Perth has the best of it with a 3:00pm Sunday start and a 4:00pm qualifying session on Saturday.

What's at Stake at Sepang

Eight rounds remain, and this is the first of them.

Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers' championship on 302 points after the opening 15 rounds.

His Mercedes teammate George Russell cut the gap to 66 points by converting pole into a win in Baku, where Antonelli recovered from 16th on the grid to finish fifth. The gap was 81 points before that race, so the lead is not as comfortable as the points total suggests.

Lewis Hamilton is third on 199 for Ferrari, with Lando Norris on 186, Charles Leclerc on 179 and Verstappen on 163.

Oscar Piastri is the one the home crowd will be watching. He won this race last year at Sakhir for McLaren, so he arrives as the defending Bahrain Grand Prix winner, but he is still chasing his first win of 2026 and sits seventh on 120 points.

His last podium came in Miami, and a late lock-up in Baku dropped him outside the points.

Experience is thin on the grid. Only ten drivers have raced at Sepang before, and just three have won here: Fernando Alonso three times, with Hamilton and Verstappen once each.

Red Bull won five of the last eight races staged at the circuit and arrive off their first double podium in more than two years, with Verstappen missing victory in Baku by a tenth of a second. Mercedes dominated the era when Sepang was last on the calendar, yet only won once, with Hamilton in 2014.

The weather is the other wildcard. Rain is in the forecast for all three days, the sources disagree on the timing and how heavy it gets, and Sepang is known for sudden downpours.

The track has not been resurfaced since 2017, so tyre wear is a genuine question. Pirelli has brought the C2, C3 and C4 compounds, a step harder than at Baku, and the 2026 cars have never raced here.

Our Bahrain Grand Prix predictions look at where the markets sit for Sunday.

If you are new to the sport, our guide on how to bet on Formula 1 walks through the main markets, and for the latest Bahrain Grand Prix odds and markets, check out our dedicated F1 odds page here at Sportsbet.