Verstappen claims first pole of season at Bahrain GP in Malaysia

Max Verstappen made a long-awaited return to the top of the timesheets in Qualifying, beating Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar to take his first pole position of 2026 for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

After setting the pace through Q1 and Q2, Verstappen looked unbeatable and ultimately opened up an advantage of 0.298s over Hamilton, ending the session with a time of 1:35.130s.

Red Bull came close to having the two fastest cars on the day before the Ferrari driver displaced Hadjar, who will receive a five-place grid penalty for the race. He also denied Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli a place in the top three during the final stage of Qualifying, with the Italian settling for P4 ahead of Charles Leclerc.

The McLarens finished P6 and P7 with Lando Norris leading Oscar Piastri, while George Russell could only manage P8. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto ended up P9 and p10, respectively.

Racing Bulls missed out on Q3 despite Arvid Lindblad’s best efforts to give Liam Lawson a tow, with the Briton set to be relegated to the back of the grid after switching out his old power unit.

Lawson in P11 was followed by Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll, with Aston Martin enjoying a marked improvement compared to earlier in the season. Franco Colapinto and Lindblad both chose not to set a time in Q2 due to their own grid penalties, with the Alpine driver losing five places for his collision in Baku, and a further 10 for taking a new engine.

It was a frustrating end to Qualifying for Nico Hulkenberg as he marginally missed out on a Q2 spot, leaving him P17 ahead of the Haas pair of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, who claimed that the team sent him out too early and hampered his chances.

Alex Albon was P20 for Williams as Cadillac brought up the rear with Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, but they will gain some positions with the incoming grid drops.

Q1

Each hour of practice had seen a different team top the times – Red Bull did it with Verstappen in FP1, Ferrari with Leclerc in FP2, and Mercedes with Antonelli in FP3 – so when Qualifying arrived, the battle for pole position looked wide open.

Although no one had qualified at the Sepang International Circuit since 2017, it was a slow start to the session when the light turned green at 16:00 local time, with Haas the first to send their drivers out.

As they completed their opening efforts around the 1:38s mark, they were joined by the majority of their competitors for the remaining 12 minutes. Everyone bar the Ferrari and Audi drivers had opted for the soft tyres, which Antonelli made the most of to set a new benchmark of 1:37.041s.

That time was soon beaten by a flying Verstappen, who went half a second clear before his team mate slotted into P2, marking a strong start for Red Bull. However, the medium compound proved to be competitive for the Scuderia as Hamilton and Leclerc moved into second and third respectively.

With the clock ticking down, both Haas cars – Bearman had suffered a lock-up at Turn 1 that impacted his second lap – Williams’ Albon, Aston Martin’s Stroll and the Cadillac pair of Bottas and Perez were all facing elimination.

The traffic was slightly better in the final minutes as drivers from the top four teams all elected to stay in their garages, giving more space around the circuit. Alpine were eager to capitalise on this, with Gasly offering a tow to Colapinto to ensure their progression to Q2.

Stroll executed a great lap to improve to P11, but Bortoleto caught the eye with a P8-worthy time that included the fastest first sector of the session. Unfortunately for Audi, his team mate Hulkenberg was knocked out in P17, missing out by just 0.087s.

He was joined by Bearman, Ocon, Albon, Bottas and Perez, with the Finn reporting “that’s as fast as she goes” while Ocon expressed his concerns that Haas went out too early.

Knocked out: Hulkenberg, Bearman, Ocon, Albon, Bottas, Perez

Q2

Getting two quick laps on the board was the priority for the remaining teams, and Red Bull once again shot to the top of the timesheets early on as Verstappen posted a 1:35.696s, becoming the first driver to go under the 1m 36s bracket.

Leclerc was the next to tick that achievement off, albeit two tenths down on the Dutchman, while Antonelli’s time was deleted for exceeding track limits. That put him on the back foot heading into the final five minutes and he came straight back out on new soft tyres, giving him limited fresh sets if he were to make it through to Q3.

Although it looked like a more cautious lap, it was enough to send him into P2 behind Verstappen, which put the pressure on midfield teams like Racing Bulls to snag a position in the top 10.

Lindblad, already set for a back-row start due to a power unit change, gave his team mate a tow instead of setting a representative time, helping Lawson to surge into P10. However, another fantastic effort from Bortoleto demoted the New Zealander to P11, with 0.209s separating them.

Lawson was joined by Alonso, Sainz, Stroll, Colapinto – whose result will also be affected by two grid penalties for the Baku incident and new engine – and Lindblad.

Knocked out: Lawson, Alonso, Sainz, Stroll, Colapinto, Lindblad

Q3

As the usual frontrunners from Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull prepared to go up against Bortoleto and Gasly in the top-10 shootout, the question remained as to whether anyone would be able to topple Verstappen.

Amid high track temperatures, Russell could only manage a 1:36.032s, which was rapidly eclipsed by Hadjar before Hamilton and Leclerc moved into second and third. Their efforts were followed by another stellar lap for Verstappen, earning him provisional pole by three tenths over his team mate.

While McLaren’s Piastri separated the Ferraris and Norris took P6, Antonelli waited until everyone else’s first runs had concluded to challenge for pole position – but even he couldn’t get close to Verstappen, with his lap only enough for P3.

The Dutchman decided to go again and cut his time down to 1:35.130s, solidifying his P1 start as Hamilton delivered his best lap of the weekend to secure a place on the front row. Hadjar dropped to third, which will become eighth once his grid penalty is imposed, as Antonelli finished P4.

Leclerc was fifth in the second Ferrari ahead of the McLaren duo of Norris and Piastri, leaving Russell scratching his head at his significant deficit in P8 while Gasly and Bortoleto rounded out the top 10 for Alpine and Audi.

The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia is set to begin at 15:00 local time on Sunday (08:00 GMT). Can Verstappen claim his first win of the season or will his old rival Hamilton add to the win he took in Barcelona earlier this year?