Max Verstappen finally takes his first pole position of the 2026 season.
Saturday's qualifying at the 2026 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia confirmed one thing: the Red Bulls are for real around here. Max Verstappen dominated on Saturday, setting the fastest time in each of the three qualifying sessions.
Most importantly, Verstappen broke through with his first pole of the 2026 season, keeping the good momentum going for the Dutch driver.
Verstappen tops each qualifying session at Sepang
The four-time World Champion immediately showed the RB26's pace, topping Q1 with a time of 1:36.477. The track would ramp up in Q2, but the Dutchman still had the fastest lap of 1:35.696.
Verstappen also had provisional pole after the first runs in Q3, and then extended his lead with a stonking second flying run. He set the fastest time on Saturday with 1:35.130 to stay ahead of Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton and his Red Bull teammate, Isack Hadjar.
Speaking of Hadjar, it was another spectacular Saturday for him. Unfortunately, the French driver will take a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his power unit allocation. He will start from P8 in tomorrow's race.
Mercedes struggles despite their upgrade package
Mercedes, who are leading both the Drivers' and Teams' Standings, came into this weekend with the most upgrades of any team. However, it seemed that they weren't in their usual form, with Kimi Antonelli finishing the session in P4 and George Russell down in P8.
Luckily for Antonelli, he gets the bump-up to P3 after the Hadjar grid penalty. Meanwhile, Russell will start from P7.
Still, their major upgrade package became a major flop, at least on Saturday.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff hinted that they still don't understand what went wrong in qualifying. Antonelli mentioned that the car felt "very draggy" and that it was the first time this season that they didn't have the superior pace on the long straights.
Still, Antonelli has a good opportunity tomorrow, as he is starting in the second row. As for Russell, it's a different story. He'll be pressured to make up places in the race, especially since he's still trailing Antonelli by 66 points in the championship.
Ferrari is finally settling in
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur promised the Tifosi that improvements are coming soon, and the team delivered on Saturday. Hamilton will start tomorrow's race from P2, just a spot behind his former championship rival Max Verstappen.
Charles Leclerc finished the qualifying session in P5, but got bumped up to the second row after the Hadjar penalty was applied.
We still don't have the data about the race pace of the Ferraris, so for now, let's say that Red Bull and Mercedes have the better race trim. But if Hamilton gets ahead of Verstappen in the opening lap, who knows? A podium is a real opportunity here for the Prancing Horse.
Final Qualifying Results
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
3. Kimi Antonelli, Mercedes
4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5. Lando Norris, McLaren
6. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
7. George Russell, Mercedes
8. Isack Hadjar, Red Bull
9. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
10. Gabriel Bortoleto, Audi
11. Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
12. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
13. Carlos Sainz Jr., Williams
14. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
15. Nico Hulkenberg, Audi
16. Oliver Bearman, Haas
17. Esteban Ocon, Haas
18. Alexander Albon, Williams
19. Valtteri Bottas, Cadillac
20. Sergio Perez, Cadillac
21. Franco Colapinto, Alpine
22. Arvid Lindblad, Racing Bulls
