en.malanginspirasi.com – Max Verstappen has finally broken his qualifying drought, securing his first pole position of the 2026 season ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
The Red Bull driver was in a league of his own at the Sepang International Circuit, topping every single segment of the session and ultimately setting an unbeatable benchmark of 1m 35.130s.
Following his commanding performance, the Red Bull driver was thrilled to be back at the front of the grid.
“It’s fantastic,” said Verstappen. “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.”
Lewis Hamilton delivered a superb final lap to claim second on the grid, finishing 0.298s behind Verstappen.
Ferrari’s Isack Hadjar originally qualified third, but a five-place grid penalty will drop him down the order. This promotes Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli—who fended off Charles Leclerc for fourth—into the top three.
Q1: Early Exits and Traffic Struggles
With Sepang hosting its first qualifying session since 2017, the battle for pole seemed unpredictable after three different teams topped the practice sessions.
Haas was the first out of the garage, but Verstappen quickly established his dominance at the top of the timesheets.
As the clock wound down, traffic congestion eased for the final runs.
While Lance Stroll managed to secure a spot in Q2 and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto impressed by setting the fastest first sector, several big names were eliminated.
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Nico Hulkenberg missed the cut by a heartbreaking 0.087s. He was joined in the drop zone by Ollie Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Sergio Perez, and Valtteri Bottas.
Ocon, meanwhile, was left frustrated, believing his team sent him out too early.
Q2: Breaking Barriers and Penalty Shuffles
The second segment saw Verstappen turn up the heat, becoming the first driver of the day to break the 1m 36s barrier.
Antonelli faced a tense moment when his initial time was deleted for track limits, but the young Italian recovered on a fresh set of soft tires to take second behind the Dutchman.
In the midfield scramble, Racing Bulls attempted to use teamwork to get Liam Lawson into Q3, with Arvid Lindblad providing a tow.
However, a brilliant lap from Bortoleto pushed Lawson out by just 0.209s. Joining Lawson in elimination were Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Stroll, Franco Colapinto, and Lindblad. Colapinto, Lindblad, and Lawson will all face significant grid drops on Sunday due to engine changes and prior incidents.
Q3: Verstappen Seals the Deal
In the final top-10 shootout, the question was whether anyone could match Red Bull’s pace. Verstappen laid down an early provisional pole, leaving the rest of the field to play catch-up.
Antonelli tried an off-sequence run while the track was clear but couldn’t challenge for the top spot.
On the final flying laps, Verstappen improved his time even further to lock in P1. Hamilton extracted the maximum from his Mercedes to grab a front-row start.
Behind Hadjar, Antonelli, and Leclerc, the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri secured sixth and seventh. George Russell was left puzzled by a lack of pace in eighth, while Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Bortoleto (Audi) completed the top ten.
