Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton for first non Mercedes-powered pole of F1 2026 at Bahrain GP in Malaysia

Max Verstappen became the first non Mercedes-powered driver to claim a Formula 1 pole position in 2026 at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. 

Four-time world champion Verstappen was consistently the fastest driver throughout F1’s first qualifying session to be held at Sepang in nine years as he secured his and Red Bull’s maiden pole of the season. 

Verstappen produced a stunning pair of laps to beat his old F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton to pole by 0.298 seconds. 

Seven-time world champion Hamilton pulled a front row start out of the bag with an impressive final lap of Q3 to split the Red Bull pair ahead of Isack Hadjar, who will drop five places for Sunday’s grand prix due to taking on new engine components. 

F1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia: Full qualifying results

F1 championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli was fourth-fastest and half a second off the pace as Mercedes struggled despite bringing a heavily-upgraded car to Malaysia, with team-mate and title rival George Russell only eighth. 

Charles Leclerc was fifth in the second Ferrari, ahead of the McLaren pair of reigning world champion Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, who took sixth and seventh respectively. 

Behind Russell in a lowly eighth came Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoleto, who completed the top-10 for Alpine and Audi. 

Liam Lawson narrowly missed out on a spot in Q3 as he took 11th in his Racing Bulls, while Fernando Alonso secured Aston Martin’s best qualifying result of the season in 12th. 

Both Aston Martins made it into Q2 for the first time this year, with Lance Stroll 14th as Carlos Sainz slotted his Williams between Alonso and the Canadian with a time good enough for 13th. 

Neither Franco Colapinto or Arvid Lindblad set lap times with both drivers facing large grid penalties at Sepang. 

Colapinto has a 15-place grid drop due to a combination of taking a new ICE and his lingering penalty from Baku, while F1 rookie Lindblad will start from the back after Racing Bulls fitted a completely new pool of engine components in his car. 

A mistake cost Nico Hulkenberg as the Audi driver suffered a Q1 elimination in 17th, ahead of the Haas pair of Ollie Bearman and Esteban Ocon, who is exiting the American outfit at the end of the season. 

Alex Albon struggled with a time only good enough for 20th for Williams, ahead of the two Cadillacs of Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, who was slowest of all at the track he secured a memorable maiden F1 podium in 2012.