Verstappen Takes First Pole of 2026 at Sepang, Hamilton Second
Verstappen led every stage of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, while Hadjar’s five-place penalty is set to move Antonelli up to third on the grid.
Max Verstappen took his first pole position of 2026 at Sepang on October 3, beating Lewis Hamilton by 0.298 seconds as Red Bull converted its promising practice pace into the fastest lap of qualifying.
His 1:35.130 put him ahead of Hamilton’s Ferrari and teammate Isack Hadjar. Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth, followed by Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. George Russell was eighth.
Verstappen delivers, Hamilton splits the Red Bulls
Verstappen topped Q1 and Q2 before setting a 1:35.250 on his opening Q3 run. That lap would have been enough for pole, but he improved by another 0.120 seconds on his final attempt.
Hamilton’s late improvement to 1:35.428 denied Red Bull the top two qualifying positions. Hadjar finished third on 1:35.558, giving Red Bull two cars inside the leading three before penalties.
After Friday’s different tire choices and running programs complicated comparisons, Verstappen delivered the clearest statement of Red Bull’s single-lap pace.
Hadjar’s penalty changes the picture
Hadjar carries a five-place grid penalty and is expected to start eighth. That would promote Antonelli to third alongside Leclerc, with Norris and Piastri moving to fifth and sixth and Russell to seventh.
Those are the expected positions after Hadjar’s penalty, rather than the final published starting grid.
Further back, Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad also face grid penalties. Both reached Q2 but did not set times in that session.
Antonelli’s costly Q2 setback
Antonelli’s first Q2 lap was deleted for exceeding track limits, forcing him to use another fresh set of soft tires to advance. That left him with fewer fresh-tire options for Q3, where he finished 0.501 seconds behind Verstappen.
Mercedes ended qualifying fourth and eighth after bringing upgrades to Sepang. Antonelli’s disrupted tire strategy adds context to that result, while the race will provide a separate test of the team’s pace over longer runs.
Pierre Gasly qualified ninth for Alpine and Gabriel Bortoleto tenth for Audi. Liam Lawson narrowly missed Q3 in 11th, ahead of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.
