Max Verstappen took his first pole of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign to fulfill his weekend promise by dominating qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The Red Bull driver was fastest in all three sessions after also leading FP1 on Friday to take his first pole since the 2025 Abu Dhabi final with a 1:35.130 at Sepang. Verstappen will be joined on the front row by Lewis Hamilton this weekend. Malaysia ends its nine-year hiatus from F1 to host the Bahrain Grand Prix due to the conflict in the Middle East. This comes after the four-time world champion was also fastest in the opening runs of Q3, taking provisional first place with a time of 1m35.250, 0.308s faster than teammate Isack Hadjar, who came second. Verstappen then failed to improve in the first two sectors of his second lap, before recovering with a purple final sector to go 0.120s faster and take the Dutchman’s 49th career pole. His final time was 0.298s faster than Hamilton’s 1m35.428s for Ferrari, pushing Hadjar into third after the second-year F1 student failed to improve on his final lap. Hadjar will serve a five-place penalty on the starting grid for an engine change that will force him to start the Bahrain GP in Malaysia from eighth place. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images Championship leader Kimi Antonelli endured difficulties by finishing fourth, 0.501 seconds off the pace, after entering Q3 already compromised by what happened in Q2. The Mercedes driver had to use an extra set of new softs after his first push lap in Q2 was wiped out by track limits at Turn 6, leading to him doing just one lap in the final session. Antonelli’s 1m35.631s finally leaves him on the second row, one place above Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc with a 1m35.666s, who will start fourth ahead of Lando Norris. The reigning world champion was 0.627 seconds off the pace on a weekend where McLaren struggled to get up to speed, with Norris’ team-mate Oscar Piastri starting sixth with a time of 1:35.762. It was even tougher for Antonelli’s teammate George Russell, who was 0.741 seconds off the pace in eighth, but will start seventh due to Hadjar’s penalty, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top 10. Liam Lawson missed Q3 by two tenths to take 11th on the grid after being pushed into the Q2 elimination zone by Bortoleto right at the end. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images The Racing Bulls driver will share the sixth row with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who scored his best qualifying result of 2026, while 13th place went to Williams driver Carlos Sainz. Sainz will be joined on the seventh row by Alonso’s teammate Lance Stroll in the first double Q2 appearance of 2026 for Aston Martin, who confirmed both drivers for 2027 on Tuesday. Franco Colapinto finished 15th, but the Alpine driver will start Sunday’s race behind due to a 15-place grid penalty: five for his crash in Baku and 10 for changing his Mercedes power unit. Rookie Arvid Lindblad took 16th for Racing Bulls as he is also expected to drop down the grid, one place above Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, who paid the price for starting Q1 with the media. Haas driver Oliver Bearman will join him on the ninth row in 18th, ahead of outgoing teammate Esteban Ocon in 19th, the Frenchman’s first Q1 start since Spa. Alex Albon’s frustrations continued with 20th place for Williams ahead of the usual suspects: Valtteri Bottas in 21st, three tenths faster than his Cadillac team-mate Sergio Perez behind. Also Read: F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia – Qualifying Results We want to hear from you! Let us know what you would like to see from us in the future. Take our survey: the Autosport.com team
