BahrainGP in Malaysia: Verstappen Storms First Pole in 2026

Max Verstappen ended a long wait for pole position, topping qualifying for the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia to beat Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar on a historic afternoon that marked Formula 1's first qualifying session at the Sepang International Circuit since 2017.

After setting the pace through both Q1 and Q2, Verstappen looked unbeatable in the top-10 shootout, ultimately opening up an advantage of 0.298 seconds over Hamilton with a session-best lap of 1:35.130, his first pole of the 2026 season.

Each hour of practice at Sepang had thrown up a different pacesetter — Red Bull with Verstappen in FP1, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in FP2, and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli in FP3 — leaving the battle for pole wide open heading into qualifying.

It was a slow start to the session when the lights went green at 1600 local time, with Haas the first team to send their drivers out. As the field completed opening efforts around the 1:38s mark, most of the grid followed suit over the next 12 minutes. With the exception of the Ferrari and Audi drivers, the entire field opted for soft tyres, Antonelli making the most of the strategy to set an early benchmark of 1:37.041.

That mark was soon eclipsed by a flying Verstappen, who went half a second clear before teammate Hadjar slotted into second, marking a strong opening for Red Bull. The medium compound proved competitive for Ferrari, however, as Hamilton and Leclerc moved into second and third respectively.

With the clock ticking down, both Haas cars — Oliver Bearman having suffered a Turn 1 lock-up that compromised his second lap — along with Williams' Alexander Albon, Aston Martin's Lance Stroll and the Cadillac pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez all faced elimination. Traffic eased slightly in the closing minutes as the top four teams stayed in their garages, with Alpine capitalizing on the clearer track as Pierre Gasly offered a tow to Franco Colapinto to secure their progression.

Stroll produced a strong lap to climb to 11th, but it was Gabriel Bortoleto who caught the eye, setting a time worthy of eighth position that included the fastest first sector of the session. His Audi teammate Nico Hulkenberg was not so fortunate, eliminated in 17th by just 0.087 seconds.

Knocked out in Q1: Nico Hulkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Alexander Albon, Valtteri Bottas, Sergio Perez.

With two representative laps the priority for the remaining 16 drivers, Red Bull again shot to the top of the timesheets early, Verstappen posting a 1:35.696 to become the first driver to break into the 1:35s bracket. Leclerc was the next to achieve the feat, albeit two-tenths adrift of the Dutchman, while Antonelli's time was deleted for exceeding track limits, forcing the Mercedes driver back out on fresh soft tyres with limited sets in reserve for Q3.

Despite a more cautious lap, Antonelli's response was enough to send him into second behind Verstappen, piling pressure onto midfield outfits like Racing Bulls to secure a top-10 spot.

Arvid Lindblad, already facing a back-of-grid start due to a power unit change, elected to give teammate Liam Lawson a tow rather than set his own representative time — a tactic that briefly propelled Lawson into 10th. However, another superb effort from Bortoleto demoted the New Zealander to 11th, with just 0.209 seconds separating the pair.

Knocked out in Q2: Liam Lawson, Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Franco Colapinto (also facing grid penalties from the Baku collision and a new engine), Arvid Lindblad.

With the usual frontrunners from Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull lining up against surprise package Bortoleto and Gasly in the top-10 shootout, the question remained whether anyone could topple Verstappen.

Amid high track temperatures, George Russell could only manage a 1:36.032, rapidly eclipsed by Hadjar before Hamilton and Leclerc moved into second and third. Verstappen then delivered another stellar lap to claim provisional pole by three-tenths over his teammate. While McLaren's Oscar Piastri split the Ferraris and Lando Norris took sixth, Antonelli waited until the rest of the field had completed their first runs before launching his own assault on pole — but even the Italian couldn't get close, his lap only good enough for third.

Verstappen wasn't finished, however, going again to cut his time down to a final 1:35.130 and lock in P1 as Hamilton delivered his best lap of the weekend to secure a front-row start. Hadjar dropped to third on the road — a position that would become eighth once his grid penalty was applied — with Antonelli classified fourth.

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

KEY QUOTE: VERSTAPPEN ON ENDING THE DROUGHT

"It's fantastic," Verstappen said after securing his first pole of the 2026 campaign. "We've been trying many Grands Prix to get pole, sometimes a bit closer than others, but to finally get it from where we started the season, it's pretty incredible."

FULL QUALIFYING CLASSIFICATION

Pole Position & Fastest Lap: Max Verstappen, 1:35.130 (209.763 km/h)

GRID PENALTIES RESHAPE THE STARTING ORDER

Several penalties will shuffle Sunday's provisional grid. Hadjar's brilliant third-place qualifying lap will count for little, with the Red Bull driver dropping five places for using an additional power unit element, demoting him to eighth on the grid. Colapinto faces a double sanction — five places for causing a collision at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and a further 10 for an additional power unit element — pushing the Argentine down to 21st. Lindblad's situation is the most severe, with a 30-place grid penalty for additional power unit elements confirming his back-row start.

PROVISIONAL STARTING GRID

*Hadjar: 5-place grid penalty for an additional power unit element. Colapinto: 5-place penalty for causing a collision at the 2026 Azerbaijan Grand Prix plus a 10-place penalty for an additional power unit element. Lindblad: 30-place penalty for additional power unit elements.

The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia is set to begin at 1500 local time on Sunday, with Verstappen looking to convert his hard-earned pole into victory on a circuit hosting Formula 1 for the first time since 2017, while Hadjar's penalty opens the door for Antonelli, Leclerc and the McLaren duo to capitalize from higher up the eventual grid.

Credit Photo : Red Bull Racing