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Max Verstappen claimed his first pole of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, with Lewis Hamilton second and Kimi Antonelli set to start third after Isack Hadjar's grid penalty.
Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Saturday. The Red Bull driver set a time of 1 minute 35.130 seconds at Sepang.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton qualified second, three-tenths behind. It is the first time the two rivals have shared the front row since the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2023. Red Bull's Isack Hadjar qualified third but will start eighth after a five-place grid penalty for taking a new engine. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will therefore start third for Mercedes.
Front Row Grid and Sepang History
Charles Leclerc was fifth for Ferrari and defending world champion Lando Norris sixth for McLaren. Verstappen was the last driver to win a Grand Prix in Malaysia in 2017, his second career victory. The race was taken off the calendar after the government said it could not justify the costs. Nine years and four championships later, the Dutchman showed he was still the man to beat in Sepang.
It is fantastic, we have been trying for many Grands Prix to get more, sometimes a bit closer to the others, Verstappen said. But to finally get it from where we started the season pretty incredible. I am happy with today and I am going to try to win tomorrow. When you start first, that is the target.
Hamilton Battles Tyre Degradation
Hamilton, who also has one victory in Sepang, struggled with tyre degradation in practice. The veteran Briton snatched second from Hadjar in the dying stages of the final qualifying session. It is his best qualifying result since the Hungarian GP. It is so hot here, I keep saying it, Hamilton said.
But that has made it a massive challenge for the tyres, for the car, for the mechanics in the garage. We made so many changes through all these practice sessions because the cars are sliding, these tyres are overheating. It was really, really hard to find a good balance. We made one last change going into qualifying and I think we hit the sweet spot.
Hadjar said: It is a bit unfortunate we take the penalty on a track that fast. The Frenchman had been hoping to challenge for a strong grid slot but will now have to fight through the field. Antonelli had an unforced error in Q2, going too wide and having his first time deleted for exceeding track limits. He had to go again, using another set of soft tyres he could not afford.
That left him with only one set of new rubber for Q3 and one attempt at a hot lap. Antonelli said: It is a shame for the mistake, but with a clean qualifying without the track limit, maybe P2, P3 on the road would have been possible. Max did an incredible job and also Ferrari. We have to be happy because it could have been much worse.
Mercedes Gap Raises Pressure
It is going to be interesting but I think Max has the edge on pace. Tomorrow, the tyre deg is going to be huge. The bigger story may be the gulf between Antonelli and his Mercedes teammate George Russell. Russell could manage only eighth.
After his victory at the last round in Baku, Russell had closed the gap to Antonelli to 66 points with eight rounds remaining. He was hopeful of increasing the pressure but could not hook it up in Malaysia. Mercedes were also left perplexed as to why the swathe of upgrades they brought to the race did not deliver.
The team had looked good in the morning, but in qualifying it was a little bit back to what we saw before, just no performance. Antonelli still had a marked advantage over his teammate. The pressure is now on Russell to try to come back at his teammate, who has every opportunity to further extend his lead.
Red Bull Hopes for Race Success
Antonelli also noted that high tyre degradation in Malaysia could play a part in what is likely to be a two or even three-stop race. Red Bull had been hoping to continue to bring their car on in the second half of the season. Verstappen's dissatisfaction with energy management has remained throughout, but he will be buoyed by the advances the team are making.
Perhaps even more importantly, they are coming to terms with their car, which bodes well for next season. On this form in qualifying, Verstappen has every chance to claim his first win of 2026 on a track where he was the last driver to take victory in 2017. Few would bet against him. A jubilant Hamilton will expect to mix it with the Dutchman at the off, setting up a mouthwatering opening to the race.
Malaysia Hosts Bahrain Grand Prix
However, it is in their wake where the title is at stake. The race, branded as the Bahrain GP, is being held in Malaysia to replace the meeting that was cancelled earlier this year because of the war in the Middle East. Sepang was the venue for the Malaysian GP between 1999 and 2017.
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GuardianAus:Verstappen ends pole wait at Bahrain GP in Malaysia but Russell risks losing more groundThis story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Qualifying Kimi Antonelli
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