Formula 1

Max Verstappen on pole position for Bahrain GP at Sepang from Lewis Hamilton

Fraser Masefield
2 weeks ago
3 min read

Max Verstappen took a comfortable pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia from Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar.

Championship leader Kimi Antonelli was fourth fastest from Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris, but it was disappointment for George Russell who could also manage the eighth quickest time.


A five-place grid penalty for Hadjar means that the grid reshuffles somewhat as he moves down to start from eighth ahead of Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoleto who round out the top ten.

“It’s fantastic,” said Verstappen afterwards. “I mean, we’ve been trying many grands prix, you know, to get sometimes a bit closer than others.

“But yeah, to finally get it from where we started the season. Pretty incredible. Happy with today and for sure I’m going to try to win tomorrow.

“I mean, when you start first, that’s the target.”

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A quickest effort of 1m35.130s was plenty enough as the Sepang Circuit returned to F1 action for the first time since 2017 due to the Middle East troubles postponing the Bahrain running earlier in the year.

It means Verstappen claimed his fourth pole at the circuit with Hamilton just missing out on extending his pole record at the Malaysia track.

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“I think this is the biggest crowd we’ve ever seen here, at least in my time of driving,” commented Hamilton.

“But yeah, I love this energy. Big, big thank you to Malaysia for welcoming us. It’s so hot here!”

The abrasive nature of a circuit that has not seen F1 racing for nine years allied to the extreme heat means that tyre management and strategy will play an even bigger role come Sunday.


“That’s made it a massive challenge for the tyres, for the car, for the mechanics in the garage. And I’m really, really thankful to my team,” added the Ferrari driver.

“We made so many changes through all these practice sessions and because the cars are sliding, these tyres are overheating, it was really, really hard to find a good balance.

“We’ve made one last change going into qualifying and I think we hit the sweet spot. So to be able to close the gap to two or three tenths to Max, who’s been so quick all weekend, is great.

“Tomorrow is a completely different ball game. Making these tyres last around this track.

“I mean, they’re overheating from the get-go, so every little bit of wheel spin you have, every little snap you have depending on the wind or makes a difference of how far you’re going to go.

“Max was really quick on his long runs, so we’re just trying my best to hold on to him tomorrow.”

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Fraser Masefield

Fraser is a sports and motorsports editor with over 25 years experience. The former head editor of WilliamsF1, BMW Motorsport, Jaguar Racing and Virgin Media, he has also worked for Autosport, ESPNF1 and Eurosport amongst others.

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