Max Verstappen delivered a dominant performance to secure his first pole of the 2026 season at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. Starting from the top spot with a time of 1m35.130s, Verstappen edged out Lewis Hamilton by 0.298s. Isack Hadjar qualified third but will start eighth due to a five-place grid penalty for an engine change.
Kimi Antonelli impressed for Mercedes, claiming fourth place. The session saw Charles Leclerc ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, while George Russell rounded out the top ten. Liam Lawson missed Q3 by two tenths.
Franco Colapinto will start from the back after a 15-place penalty. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll secured double Q2 appearances for Aston Martin.
Source: Autosport F1 News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing