Verstappen wins a wet, wild Bahrain GP in Malaysia. Max Verstappen's first win of 2026 in a rain-hit chaos race lit up Instagram; Google searches for F1 jumped 700% to confirm.
The spike
Social and search spiked together on Oct 4.Verified: the top posts on the social peak day were hand-checked and are about this trend.
Why it’s trending
After a long wait, fans want to feel the joy of their driver finally winning, and to shout about it together.
What’s happening
Max Verstappen won his first race of 2026 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, run at Sepang in Malaysia. Rain delayed the start, cars lost power and Hamilton fought back to the podium. Fans are posting memes, reaction clips and race recaps, and asking for Sepang back on the calendar.
What content is working
Trending hashtags
The tags people used most on posts about this trend, ranked by number of posts. Generic tags like #fyp and #viral are left out.
- #f1 46 posts
- #formula1 41 posts
- #bahraingp 25 posts
- #maxverstappen 36 posts
- #lewishamilton 21 posts
- #ferrari 15 posts
- #kimiantonelli 4 posts
- #f1reels 4 posts
- #f1memes 3 posts
- #f12026 3 posts
Sentiment
Automatic sentiment labels across 108 posts and 400 comments.
The other side · what’s negative
Real backlashGrumbling is about Malaysia hosting: who pays the RM280 million bill, poor organisation, traffic and water shortages, and whether Sepang should return. The race itself draws little criticism.
The negative videos
Celebrate the race, the rain and Hamilton's comeback; avoid hosting-cost, ticketing or crowd-logistics angles in Malaysia, where locals are sceptical about the spend.
What people are saying in comments
We need Sepang back permanently on the calendar, what a track.
Could not agree morethis is a proper, real, meaningful f1 race
drama after drama! What a race! The best race of the season. Thanks Sepang! Hope to see you again next year!
Man..what a legend. Lewis you Beauty. Watched the entire race using Lewis's Drive Camera. It was so thrilling.
Crazy how the track that wasn't even in the calendar turns out to be the most entertaining race of the year so far
Max V is back to prove why he is still The Best F1 Driver in The World!
Max finally where he belongs: on P1.
Fernando is a true legend and how he keeps himself motivated in a car like Aston Martin is remarkable.
Ferrari is so old school, they just turned off and back on the car to fix the issue hilarious 3:40
Dude really said "Du du du du" on Mercedes's turf and raced to the top
Sepang please come back next year or forever, it's truly the best track.
Half the he field glitching out during the formation laps should not happen.
What a shambles by the FIA. Why is the race suspended for so long?
Very badly organised we need water!!
Nope. We dont need the F1 to comeback to Msia.
As Malaysian, I rather the Government use that amount of money to improve public healthcare and education standards
The content strategy we observed
Short race reactions combine celebration, recaps and fan humour.
Opens on one emotional shot or text line.#1 #2 #4
One post covers every driver's story.#1 #4
#2: A fast montage opens on Verstappen in his Red Bull gear, then cuts to the Bahrain GP branding and his celebration after the race. #4: A short F1 reel announcing that Max wins the Bahrain GP, posted by an F1 fan creator with Red Bull tags.#2 #4
#2: A fast montage opens on Verstappen in his Red Bull gear, then cuts to the Bahrain GP branding and his celebration after the race. #3: A fan creator says Lewis Hamilton's drive in the Bahrain GP in Malaysia was crazy and that he still has something to prove after 20 years.#2 #3
The top videos went up between Oct 4 and Oct 6: all 9 on or after the Google peak (Oct 4). Social views peaked on Oct 4.#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Post one short, emotional reaction within a day of the race.
What can brands do?
The big-screen race night
“Cut from a tiny laptop screen to a TV: 'Rain delay. Red flags. Nobody leaves this couch.'”
- Format
- Short reel: friends reacting to the race on a big TV
- Platform
- Instagram Reels
- Who posts
- TV or soundbar brand with F1 fan creators
- Caption
- Rain, red flags, a win 4 years in the making. Some races deserve the big screen.
- When to post
- Before the next race weekend
- Watch out
- Do not use F1 footage or logos without rights; film your own watch party.