Verstappen secures Red Bull's first pole of 2026 ahead of Hamilton

Max Verstappen secured pole for the Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying in Malaysia on 3 October 2026, giving him and Red Bull their first pole position of 2026. He was 0.298 seconds quicker than Lewis Hamilton after topping all three qualifying sessions.

Verstappen is a four-time F1 world champion whose last pole and victory came at the season finale in Abu Dhabi in 2026. Red Bull's Isack Hadjar was third fastest but carries a five-place grid penalty that will promote championship leader Kimi Antonelli to third on the starting grid; George Russell could manage only eighth. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fifth, with McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri sixth and seventh respectively. The race at Sepang had been postponed earlier in the year because of the war in the Middle East and returned to Malaysia for this weekend.

Hadjar set the third-quickest time but the imposed penalty alters the grid order and elevates Antonelli to third. Antonelli went into qualifying with only four new sets of soft tyres rather than the usual five, had his first lap in the second session deleted for exceeding track limits, used another set and entered the final shootout with only one fresh set remaining. He finished 0.501 seconds off pole and said: "It's a shame because with only one set, big pressure. I did what I could but with another set we could have fought for front row. Not P1, because Max was too quick today." He still outqualified team-mate Russell, who was 0.240secs further back.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton took the second place on the timesheet as Mercedes introduced their first major upgrade since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, although the team said it had not delivered the hoped-for step forward. Hamilton described the conditions and set-up challenge, saying: "It's so hot here. That's made it a massive challenge for the cars, the tyres, the mechanics in the garage. "Because the tyres are sliding, it's so hard to find a good balance and we made one change and we finally hit the sweet spot."

McLaren struggled for pace across the weekend, with Norris 0.627secs off the fastest time and Piastri 0.632secs adrift. Fernando Alonso, having confirmed he will stay in F1 for at least another year in 2027, delivered Aston Martin's best qualifying of the year in 12th place, 1.524secs off the top time and behind Alpine's Pierre Gasly, Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson. Alonso said: "It was definitely one the best qualifying of the year. "1.5secs to top of Q2, so smallest margin. It seems this circuit is a little better for our package and let's see tomorrow if we can take advantage of this."

Gabriel Bortoleto put his Audi into the top-10 shootout, while his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg exited in the first session. Pierre Gasly was ninth, +2.080 from pole, with Bortoleto tenth, +2.543. The second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll was 14th, split from Alonso by Williams' Carlos Sainz.

Red Bull brought an aerodynamic upgrade that was introduced at the last race in Azerbaijan and which the team said proved a major step forward on the demanding Sepang track. Verstappen, who the report said had struggled for pace and balance for much of the year before a run of improved results following steady car developments, described the pole as: "Fantastic. "We have 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, pretty incredible."

Verstappen will start Sunday’s grand prix from pole with Hamilton alongside on the front row, and Hadjar’s five-place penalty means Kimi Antonelli moves up to third on the grid for the race.