Max Verstappen claimed Red Bull’s first pole position of the season as he beat Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Verstappen and Hamilton will share the front row in Sunday’s race at 08:00 (build-up from 6:30) live on Sky Sports F1 and Main Event, for the first time since Hungary 2023 after the Red Bull driver delivered a dominant qualifying performance.
The Dutchman led every segment of qualifying and set two good laps for pole, finishing 0.298s faster than Hamilton who will be aiming for a second Ferrari win of the season.
“Verstappen v Hamilton. Imagine that! What could go wrong…” reacted Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle.
Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar equaled his career-best qualifying result with third, but will start eighth due to a five-grid penalty for a new internal combustion engine.
Mercedes were surprisingly unable to challenge Verstappen for pole despite bringing their first major upgrade package since the Canadian Grand Prix in May to this weekend’s race in Malaysia.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli will start third after a costly mistake in Q2 forced him to use an extra set of tires ahead of Q3, leaving him with just one run in the final part of qualifying.
Antonelli is 66 points ahead of Mercedes team-mate George Russell in the drivers’ championship and, crucially, Russell will start seventh after missing the pace on Saturday.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Toto Wolff explains Mercedes’ problems after major upgrade package at Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will be fourth, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri who have never competed for pole.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was the fastest driver outside F1’s top four teams in ninth from Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto in 10th.
Aston Martin enjoyed their best qualifying since the summer break as Fernando Alonso took 12th and Lance Stroll 14th.
Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad gave team-mate Liam Lawson the slip in Q2, as the British driver will start at the back of the grid for his power unit change, but Lawson just missed out and will start 11th.
Verstappen dominant as Mercedes left confused
Red Bull impressed in Friday’s two practice sessions, but Mercedes appeared to have made big gains overnight as Antonelli led the final session by almost three tenths from Verstappen.
But from qualifying, Verstappen looked untouchable as qualifying progressed with a few tenths of an advantage over the field, which proved to be the case in Q3.
Verstappen won the last F1 race in Malaysia in 2017 and was in a league of his own after taking provisional pole from team-mate Hadjar after the opening runs by three tenths with Ferrari and McLaren behind.
Hamilton put in a great lap to get to the front row, but he was unable to unseat Verstappen from the top spot and the four-time world champion secured pole by improving even further on his final Q3 run.
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch the exciting end to Bahrain GP qualifying in Malaysia!
“It’s fantastic. We’ve tried a lot of Grands Prix to get on pole. Sometimes a bit closer than others, but to finally get there, where we started the season, pretty incredible,” said Verstappen.
“I’m happy with today and, for sure, I’ll try to win tomorrow. When you start first, that’s the objective.”
Having won the last three races, and with huge improvements to their car, Mercedes entered Malaysia as heavy favorites to dominate the race weekend as well.
But the extremely abrasive track surface and high track temperatures have thrown a spanner in the works and Mercedes appear to be more hurt by these factors.
“It’s a very demanding circuit on the tyres, the tarmac is broken, it’s extremely rough, it’s very hot out there and the tires are going through hell,” said Russell. Sky Sports F1.
“For whatever reason, it seems to be affecting us a lot more than others.”
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
George Russell and Kimi Antonelli react to Mercedes qualifying at the Bahrain GP in Malaysia.
Antonelli may have been closer to pole if not for a track boundary excursion in Q2, which saw his lap wiped out, and Mercedes opted to fit a new set of tires to his car to ensure he made it to Q3.
However, this left Antonelli with just a new set of softs and, with the tires only holding up well for one lap, the Italian wasn’t quite right at the limit but still qualified fourth behind the penalized Hadjar and half a second behind pole-sitter Verstappen.
Russell won last time out in Baku and said his “confidence is back” but Malaysia was always going to be the big final test because of its wide cornering and medium-speed track characteristics, where Antonelli has generally been quicker this year.
The British driver was unable to unlock the same pace as Antonelli in recent practice and qualifying, so he will face an uphill battle on Sunday to gain serious title momentum on his team-mate.
Sky Sports F1 Bahrain GP live schedule in Malaysia
Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Relive the last time a Grand Prix was held in Malaysia in 2017
Sunday, October 4
6.30am: Grand Prix Sunday: Bahrain GP Preparation*
08:00: BAHRAIN Grand Prix*
10:00am: Checkered flag: Bahrain GP reaction*
*also on Sky Sports Main Event
Formula 1 is in Malaysia for the first time since 2017 as it hosts the Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit – watch Sunday’s race at 8am (build-up from 6.30) live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports NOW – no contract, cancel anytime