Verstappen takes first Red Bull F1 pole of 2026
Max Verstappen claimed the first non-Mercedes-powered pole position of the 2026 Formula 1 season so far, while Mercedes suffered its worst qualifying of the year despite debuting upgrades at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Verstappen topped Q1, Q2 and Q3 at Sepang en route to his first pole position since the 2025 Abu Dhabi title-decider, beating his former title rival Lewis Hamilton by three tenths.
Hamilton praised the “perfect timing” of his qualifying run as he claimed his first front row since the Barcelona Grand Prix, which he won.
Isack Hadjar made it two Red Bulls in the top three as the team followed up its strong Baku weekend.
But Hadjar won’t start third as he has a five-place grid penalty for taking a seventh internal combustion engine of the season.
Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth in the upgraded Mercedes, half a second down on poleman Verstappen running off sync with an earlier final lap after a Q2 track limits penalty set him back and cost a set of tyres, while team-mate George Russell was down in eighth.
That’s the weakest qualifying result of Mercedes’ 2026 season so far, eclipsing the fourth and seventh in Budapest.
Charles Leclerc was fifth ahead of McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
The top 10 was rounded out by Russell, Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
'Miracle' double Q2 for Aston Martin
Arvid Lindblad, carrying a back-of-the-grid penalty for taking new engine components this weekend, sacrificed his Q2 to try tow team-mate Liam Lawson into Q3.
Lindblad gave Lawson a strong tow on the back straight, but Lawson still ended up two tenths shy of a place in Q3 in 11th.
Fernando Alonso was a season’s best 12th for Aston Martin, declaring it a “miracle” afterwards as it’s only his second Q2 appearance of the year
And for the first time this year team-mate Lance Stroll made it through to Q2, lapping only 0.008s slower than Alonso in Q1, before ending up three tenths off Alonso in Q2 in 14th.
Carlos Sainz’s Williams split the Aston Martins in 13th place while Franco Colapinto was 15th, having not set a time in Q2 either because of his 15-place grid penalty - five for causing the Baku pile-up and 10 for fresh engine components.
Nico Hulkenberg and Alex Albon both made costly errors at the penultimate corner, compromising their final laps and leaving them eliminated in Q1 in 17th and 20th.
Haas suffered its first double Q1 exit since Monaco with Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon 18th and 19th.
Ocon was the first driver to take the chequered flag and told his team “I think we went too early” after his elimination.
Valtteri Bottas continued his bounceback from a miserable Azerbaijan Grand Prix, qualifying over three tenths quicker than Cadillac team-mate Sergio Perez - the first time he’s outqualified a team-mate at Sepang in six attempts.
Result
1 Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) 1m35.130s
2 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.298s
3 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull Racing) +0.428s*
4 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.501s
5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.536s
6 Lando Norris (McLaren) +0.627s
7 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +0.632s
8 George Russell (Mercedes) +0.741s
9 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +2.080s
10 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +2.543s
11 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +0.209s to Q3
12 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +0.406s
13 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +0.713s
14 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +0.752s
15 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +11.607s*
16 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +17.995s*
17 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +0.087s to Q2
18 Oliver Bearman (Haas) +0.097s
19 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +0.350s
20 Alexander Albon (Williams) +0.717s
21 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +0.728s
22 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +1.050s
