F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia: Max Verstappen dominates…

Max Verstappen took his first pole of the 2026 Formula 1 campaign to deliver on his early weekend promise by dominating qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

The Red Bull driver was fastest in all three sessions after also topping FP1 on Friday to take his first pole since the 2025 Abu Dhabi finale with a 1m35.130s at Sepang.

Verstappen will be joined on the front row by Lewis Hamilton on the weekend Malaysia ends its nine-year hiatus from F1 to host the Bahrain Grand Prix due to conflict in the Middle East.

It comes after the four-time world champion also went fastest in the first runs of Q3, taking the provisional top spot with a 1m35.250s, 0.308s quicker than team-mate Isack Hadjar in second.

Verstappen then failed to improve in the first two sectors of his second lap, before bouncing back with a purple final sector to go 0.120s quicker for the 49th pole of the Dutchman’s career.

His final time was 0.298s faster than Hamilton’s 1m35.428s for Ferrari, which pushed Hadjar down to third after the F1 sophomore failed to improve on his final lap. The Frenchman will drop five places for an ICE change.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli endured a struggle by taking fourth, 0.501s off the pace, after entering Q3 already compromised by what happened in Q2.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes (Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images)

The Mercedes driver had to churn through an extra set of new softs after his first Q2 push lap was deleted for track limits at Turn 6, leading to him doing just one lap in the final session.

Antonelli’s 1m35.631s ultimately sees him start third by virtue of Hadjar's penalty, one spot above Hamilton’s team-mate Charles Leclerc with a 1m35.666s.

Reigning world champion Lando Norris was 0.627s off the pace with the sixth-fastest time on a weekend McLaren has struggled for speed, with team-mate Oscar Piastri taking seventh-fastest with a 1m35.762s - though again, both will be promoted one spot on the grid.

It was even more of a struggle for Antonelli’s team-mate George Russell, who was 0.741s off the pace in eighth, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto completing the top 10.

Liam Lawson missed out on Q3 by two tenths to take 11th on the grid after being pushed into the Q2 elimination zone by Bortoleto right at the end.

The Racing Bulls driver will duly share the sixth row with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, who took his best qualifying result of 2026, while 13th went to Williams driver Carlos Sainz.

Sainz will be joined on the seventh row by Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll in the first double Q2 appearance of 2026 for Aston Martin, who confirmed both drivers for 2027 on Tuesday.

Franco Colapinto took 15th, but the Alpine driver will start Sunday’s race at the back due to a 15-place grid penalty: five for his Baku clash and 10 for changing his Mercedes power unit.

Franco Colapinto, Alpine (Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images)

Rookie Arvid Lindblad took 16th for Racing Bulls, as he is also set for a grid drop, one spot above Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg who paid the price for starting Q1 on the mediums.

Haas driver Oliver Bearman will join him on the ninth row in 18th ahead of his outgoing team-mate Esteban Ocon in 19th - the Frenchman’s first Q1 exit since Spa.

Alex Albon’s frustrations continued with 20th for Williams ahead of the usual suspects: Valtteri Bottas in 21st, three tenths quicker than Cadillac team-mate Sergio Perez at the back.