Halis Sunnetci
03 October 2026•Update: 03 October 2026
Max Verstappen claimed his first pole of the 2026 Formula 1 season on Saturday, beating Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Verstappen topped all three qualifying segments at the Sepang International Circuit, setting a 1 minute, 35.130 second lap in Q3 to finish 0.298 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Hamilton.
The result gave Red Bull its first pole of the season and Verstappen his first of the 2026 campaign.
"It's fantastic," Verstappen said. "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."
Hamilton produced a strong final lap to take second and will start alongside Verstappen on the front row.
The seven-time world champion said he had not expected to qualify on the front row but described his final lap as one of his best of the season.
"But that was one of my most enjoyable laps of the year, I have to say. I think it was probably my best lap of the year," Hamilton said.
"I wasn't expecting to be on the front row, but it's really just a great showing to the mechanics."
Antonelli starts 3rd as Russell lines up 7th
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start third, while Mercedes teammate and title rival George Russell will line up seventh.
Antonelli leads Russell by 66 points, with 302 points to the Briton's 236, after Russell cut the gap from 81 points by winning the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend.
Mercedes' qualifying performance marked a notable drop from its pace earlier Saturday.
Antonelli topped final practice, but he and Russell qualified only fourth and eighth before Hadjar's five-place grid penalty promoted them to third and seventh.
Hadjar, who qualified third, will start eighth, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc moves up to fourth.
The Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm local time (0700GMT) Sunday at the Sepang International Circuit.
- Qualifying results
- Max Verstappen
- Lewis Hamilton
- Isack Hadjar
- Kimi Antonelli
- Charles Leclerc
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- George Russell
- Pierre Gasly
- Gabriel Bortoleto
- Liam Lawson
- Fernando Alonso
- Carlos Sainz
- Lance Stroll
- Franco Colapinto
- Arvid Lindblad
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Oliver Bearman
- Esteban Ocon
- Alex Albon
- Valtteri Bottas
- Sergio Perez
