Verstappen Seizes 49th Career Pole at Bahrain GP in Malaysia as Hamilton Trails by 0.298s
Updated
Updated · Autosport · Oct 3
Verstappen Seizes 49th Career Pole at Bahrain GP in Malaysia as Hamilton Trails by 0.298s
3 articles · Updated · Autosport · Oct 3
Summary
1m35.130s put Max Verstappen on his first pole of 2026 at Sepang, where he led all three qualifying segments and beat Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari by 0.298 seconds.
Q3 tightened late after Verstappen’s provisional 1m35.250s, but a purple final sector on his last lap secured the 49th pole of his career.
Isack Hadjar qualified third but a five-place engine-change penalty drops him to eighth, promoting Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc onto the second row and George Russell to seventh.
McLaren’s pace remained muted, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri only sixth and seventh on time, while Fernando Alonso gave Aston Martin its first double Q2 appearance of 2026.
Malaysia is staging the Bahrain Grand Prix after Middle East conflict forced the race from its usual venue, ending Sepang’s nine-year Formula 1 hiatus.