Max Verstappen secured his first pole of the season after beating Lewis Hamilton by just under three tenths to take pole for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The four-time champion produced a brilliant final sector at the end of Q3, going ahead of his former title rival.
Verstappen took provisional pole with his first run in Q3, but on the final run Hamilton looked to have the edge before a brilliant final sector plus marginally faster combined first two, saw him go fastest. With Hamilton mathematically the closest to the Mercedes duo in the championship, this could be a huge boost in his challenge.
The Red Bull driver has looked strong all weekend as he was near the top throughout practice, taking Ford’s first pole since Magny-Cours in 1999. Verstappen looked to have the edge through qualifying as he topped all three sessions, as Hamilton managed to split the Red Bulls as he went almost a quarter of a second faster than Isack Hadjar.
Red Bull introduced an aerodynamic upgrade at the last race in Azerbaijan, and it has proved to be a major step forward at the demanding Sepang track, hosting this race after it was postponed earlier in the year because of the war in the Middle East. The team has struggled for much of the season, but the improvements since the summer break have seen strong results for Verstappen.
Hamilton’s position on the front row revives memories of their bitter title battle in 2021, which began in the opening race in Bahrain, when the seven-time champion was at Mercedes, and whets appetites for the Grand Prix on Sunday with them on the front row together for the first time since Budapest 2023.
Verstappen is searching for his first victory since the season finale in Abu Dhabi last year, while seven-time title winner Hamilton is looking for his second Ferrari win and his sixth win at the ‘Bahrain GP’, while both want a second win at Sepang.
However, the French-Algerian has a five-place grid penalty, meaning he starts eighth following a power unit change. Hadjar put himself just under three-quarters of a tenth faster than championship leader Kimi Antonelli, to equal his best-ever qualifying.
Verstappen said, “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.”
Hamilton said: “It’s so hot here. That’s made it a massive challenge for the cars, the tyres, the mechanics in the garage. 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. “We made so many changes throughout all these practice sessions and because the cars are sliding, these tyres are overheating, it’s really hard to find the balance.”
Hadjar, who qualified third but will take a five-place grid penalty and drop to eighth: “The car has been very good since last week. It is good to come back at such a time, and I am enjoying it, fighting for top three, even though it was not my finest qualifying session; it is a good feeling.”
Antonelli will start behind title rival Hamilton, while his nearest rival and teammate George Russell could only manage eighth, over two tenths behind.
The British driver was unable to unlock the same pace as Antonelli in final practice and qualifying, so faces an uphill battle on Sunday to gain some serious title momentum over his teammate. That is despite claiming after his win last time out in Baku, where he said his “confidence is back”
Despite this being title and circuit sponsor Petronas’ home race, it has been a tough weekend for Mercedes, which does not bode well for Singapore, a historically weak circuit for the team. Antonelli was placed on the back foot by a mistake in Q2, forcing him to use an extra set of softs, which usually would have been used for the second run in Q3.
Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari nearly a tenth faster than the two McLarens, with Lando Norris half a hundredth ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri. McLaren are another team that has struggled to unlock speed from the Mercedes power unit this weekend, though this season lower speed and more technical circuits have been more favourable.
That’s also a big surprise given the run they have had since Norris took victory in Budapest, but could also point to a power unit performance problem given Mercedes were also off the pace.
They were over a tenth faster than George Russell, the Englishman nearly three-quarters of a second off Verstappen’s pole time. He put his Mercedes three tenths faster than Pierre Gasly, the Alpine driver nearly half a second faster than Gabriel Bortoleto as they completed the top ten.
Liam Lawson missed out on Q3 by two tenths, going two tenths faster than Fernando Alonso. If Mercedes were surprisingly struggling, the same couldn’t be said for Honda and Aston Martin, though Sepang has long straights and fast flowing corners; it’s not as sensitive on power as Monza and Baku.
Aston Martin was slowest in terms of data at those races, suggesting the gains are being made by the teams’ chassis and aerodynamics, perhaps the significant step needed to build from for 2027. Alonso was, however, still a second and a half off the pace set by Verstappen in Q1, but it was the teams and both drivers best qualifying of the season.
Carlos Sainz managed to split the Aston Martins, the Williams driver two tenths behind his fellow Spaniard and ahead of Lance Stroll by four hundredths. With grid penalties, Franco Colapinto, for causing a collision in Baku, and Liam Lawson for a power unit change, neither set a time in Q2; instead, they were used to give their teammates tows along the straights.
Nico Hulkenberg was fastest of those knocked out in Q1, missing out by nine hundredths, after he locked up at the critical Turn Fourteen, which leads onto the long back straight. That put the Audi a hundredth ahead of the Haas duo, Ollie Bearman going three and a half tenths faster than teammate Esteban Ocon.
Alex Albon put his Williams a hundredth ahead of the Cadillac’s, as Valtteri Bottas outqualified teammate Sergio Perez by four tenths
