F1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia: Full qualifying results

Full qualifying results from the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia

03 Oct 2026

Max Verstappen secured his first pole position of the 2026 Formula 1 season, topping all three qualifying sessions at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

The Dutch driver and Red Bull have not started from pole this season, but on their return to the Sepang International Circuit, they took their first pole since the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Verstappen won the last Grand Prix at the Sepang International Circuit in 2017, and is in the best place to try and repeat his previous success.

Lewis Hamilton qualified in second place for Ferrari and will start alongside his old rival, and a vintage Verstappen and Hamilton battle could be on the cards for the Grand Prix.

Isack Hadjar has qualified in third place, but the Red Bull driver will take a grid place penalty, so he will be demoted further down the grid.

Despite qualifying in fourth place, Kimi Antonelli will be starting from third place, which will be disappointing for Mercedes after they arrived this weekend with a new update.

Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five in Q3, but will start from fourth place. The McLaren drivers were together on the timesheets, as Lando Norris qualified in sixth and Oscar Piastri was in seventh.

George Russell will have a lot of work to do overnight, as the driver who dominated last weekend, qualified in eighth place, and will start from seventh.

Rounding out the top ten in Q3 were the Alpine of Pierre Gasly and the Audi of Gabriel Bortoleto.

2026 F1 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia - Qualifying results
Pos	Driver	Nat.	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	Max Verstappen	NED	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m 36.477	1m 35.696	1m 35.130
2	Lewis Hamilton	GBR	Scuderia Ferrari HP	1m 36.595	1m 36.032	1m 35.428
3	Isack Hadjar	JAP	Oracle Red Bull Racing	1m 36.898	1m 36.192	1m 35.558
4	Kimi Antonelli	ITA	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m 37.041	1m 35.959	1m 35.631
5	Charles Leclerc	MON	Scuderia Ferrari HP	1m 36.730	1m 35.970	1m 35.666
6	Lando Norris	GBR	McLaren Mastercard F1 Team	1m 37.092	1m 36.173	1m 35.757
7	Oscar Piastri	AUS	McLaren Mastercard F1 Team	1m36.852	1m 36.020	1m 35.762
8	George Russell	GBR	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	1m 37.264	1m 36.245	1m 35.871
9	Pierre Gasly	FRA	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m 37.174	1m 36.410	1m 37.210
10	Gabriel Bortoleto	BRA	Audi Revolut F1 Team	1m 37.106	1m 36.814	1m 37.673
11	Liam Lawson	NZL	Racing Bulls	1m 37.332	1m 37.023
12	Fernando Alonso	ESP	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m 37.721	1m 37.220
13	Carlos Sainz	ESP	Atlassian Williams F1 Team	1m 37.651	1m 37.527
14	Lance Stroll	CAN	Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team	1m 37.729	1m 37.566
15	Franco Colapinto	ARG	BWT Alpine F1 Team	1m 37.179
16	Arvid Lindblad	GBR	Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team	1m 37.883
17	Nico Hulkenberg	GER	Audi Revolut F1 Team	1m 37.970
18	Oliver Bearman	GBR	TGR Haas F1 Team	1m 37.980
19	Esteban Ocon	FRA	TGR Haas F1 Team	1m 38.233
20	Alex Albon	THA	Atlassian Williams F1 Team	1m 38.600
21	Valtteri Bottas	FIN	Cadillac F1 Team	1m 38.611
22	Sergio Perez	MEX	Cadillac F1 Team	1m 38.933