Could Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia be a good-luck charm? History backs it up

The world’s top drivers will finally be racing in the Sepang International Circuit again, as the track near Kuala Lumpur hosts a Formula 1 race for the first time after nine years.

The last time Sepang held the Malaysian Grand Prix in 2017, a 20-year-old Max Verstappen prevailed for Red Bull. This time, it will be staging the Oct 4 race in place of Bahrain, which was supposed to host the grand prix in April before it was cancelled due to the Middle East conflict.

While it is not exactly a common occurrence, there have been some instances in the past when F1 grands prix were hosted by a different country from the one stated in their names.

And more often than not, drivers who won those races went on to claim the world title that year.

Rosberg’s pivotal win

The Swiss Grand Prix was held as an F1 race on home soil from 1950 to 1954, but screeched to a halt after the country’s government imposed a ban on motor racing following the 1955 Le Mans disaster in France, which killed a driver and over 80 spectators.

As the ban persisted, organisers opted to hold a non-championship race under the same name in 1975 in Dijon, where Switzerland’s Clay Regazzoni triumphed, becoming the only driver from his nation to win his “home” grand prix.

The French city hosted the Swiss Grand Prix again in 1982, this time as part of the F1 championship, which saw Finland’s Keke Rosberg – father of 2016 world champion Nico – claim his only victory of the season.

The win allowed him to take the lead in the drivers’ standings in a campaign that saw no driver win more than two races and he held on to claim the only world title of his career at the age of 33.

Luxembourg delight

The Nurburgring in Germany is one of the world’s most renowned circuits, which has played host to plenty of events across various motor racing disciplines over the years.

The Luxembourg Grand Prix was one of them, held at the famed track in 1997 and 1998 after the small Western European nation was selected as the titular country for the F1 race, since there had already been a German Grand Prix set for those years.

As the race was scheduled towards the end of the season, emerging victorious turned out to be a significant boost, with the winners duly going on to secure their drivers’ titles in the respective years.

Canadian Jacques Villeneuve clinched his first and only championship in just his second F1 campaign in 1997 after his Luxembourg Grand Prix triumph, which also ended up being the last race win of his career after he retired in 2006.

Mika Hakkinen’s victory over Germany’s Michael Schumacher in 1998 put him in pole position in the drivers’ standings, and the Finnish ace sealed the first of his two world titles in the subsequent final race of that season.

San Marino comes up big

When sports fans think of San Marino, one of the first things that comes to mind may be its football team, who are renowned for being one of the lowest-ranked sides in the world and falling to heavy defeats against traditional powerhouses.

But in F1 history, the small country in southern Europe made a name for itself with the San Marino Grand Prix. Held at the Imola circuit in Italy from 1981 to 2006, it boasted an impressive list of winners, some of whom went on to establish themselves as the sport’s greats.

Nelson Piquet claimed the very first edition, before seven-time world champion Schumacher won the race a record seven times from 1994 to 2006, four wins ahead of fellow legends Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, who tragically died after a crash at the 1994 event.

Brazilians Piquet and Senna won three world titles each, while France’s Prost clinched the drivers’ championship four times.

Fernando Alonso, who still features on the grid today, also won the San Marino Grand Prix in 2005 and went on to become the youngest driver at the time to be crowned world champion at 24.

The road ahead

With eight races remaining in 2026, Mercedes’ young Italian ace Kimi Antonelli is sitting pretty atop the drivers’ championship as he holds a 66-point advantage over teammate George Russell.

The 20-year-old finished fifth at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sept 26, but remains in prime position to become the youngest F1 world champion.

Victory in Sepang on Oct 4 could well be the good-luck charm he needs to get himself over the line, as history has shown.