PUBLISHED ONSeptember 28, 2026 6:24 AMUPDATEDSeptember 29, 2026 1:25 AMBYLaili AbdeenFormula 1 fans were left star-struck after spotting Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli and McLaren's Oscar Piastri at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday (Sept 28), ahead of this weekend's race at Sepang International Circuit.
Audi driver Gabriel Bortoleto was also reportedly spotted, along with engineers and staff from teams including McLaren, Red Bull and Audi.
Netizens took to social media to share their excitement, with pictures and videos of the drivers.
"Oscar has landed in Malaysia!" wrote laurogeitabat on Threads, adding that the 25-year-old stopped for pictures and autographs.
The video, posted on Monday, shows the Australian driver posing for a selfie with a fan before heading towards the airport exit with his entourage.
Antonelli was also seen waving at fans and stopping for a photo while manoeuvring his luggage in a separate video posted to Threads by sec_hann28 on Sept 28.
The Italian currently leads the Formula One Drivers' Championship with 302 points, while Mercedes teammate George Russell is in second place, with 236 points.
The drivers flew into Kuala Lumpur from Baku following Saturday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where Russell claimed victory ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar. Antonelli finished fifth.
"We met Gabriel Bortoleto," Threads user nr.suriana wrote on Monday, sharing a video of the Audi driver noticing them and waving in their direction.
Besides the faces of F1, fans also gushed over the engineers and staff members from the various teams.
"It's a beautiful night when you accidentally arrived [at] the same time as McLaren, Williams, Haas, Audi, Red Bull engineers and staff," wrote fionanhy on Threads at 3am on Monday with a video of a throng of people waiting with their luggage.
She added that the race in Malaysia is "getting real".
Threads user f1leaks.my also posted on Sept 28 that engineers and staff from Alpine, Aston Martine and Cadillac were amongst those that had arrived in Kuala Lumpur.
The Formula One race at Sepang International Circuit, scheduled for Oct 2 to 4, marks the championship's return to Malaysia for the first time since 2017.
Although held in Malaysia, the event will officially be known as the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix after Formula One relocated the race from its original venue amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
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