Verstappen nabs his & Red Bull’s first pole of season at Bahrain substitute Sepang; Hamilton puts Ferrari to the front in P2; Hadjar P3 but faces five-spot engine drop, as Antonelli struggles to P4
Formula 1 is finally running the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend after its was postponed from its originally scheduled April 12 date due to the Middle East conflict, with the unusual proviso that it will be held as a one-off at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Sepang has not held an F1 race since 2017 but the drivers showed nothing but enthusiasm for the long and flowing track during three practices sessions, which set them up for Saturday qualifying at the now rubbered-in circuit. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen enjoyed the return to Malaysia the most, grabbing his and the team’s first pole position of the season all the way in Round 16. Interestingly, Verstappen also won the last race here at Sepang back in 2027, also for Red Bull, of course. So, he and the team have got to be feeling the positive vibes from this quirky, unexpected return to Malaysia. Despite never having completed here, teammate Isack Hadjar was also very solid with a time good enough for P3, although the young Frenchman will take a five-spot drop for Sunday’s race due to engine penalties. Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton split the Red Bulls with a strong P2 effort, while points leader Kimi Antonelli struggled to get up to speed in his Sepang debut and could do no better than the fourth fastest time. That was still miles ahead of teammate and last week’s race winner in Azerbaijan, George Russell, who struggled en route to P8. All that said, Sepang is not a track where qualifying position is destiny so expect plenty of changes up and down the order over the course of tomorrow’s scheduled 56 Grand Prix laps.
Top 10 qualifiers for the Bahrain GP (in Malaysia):
| POS | DRIVER | TEAM | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
|
Red Bull | 1:36.477 | 1:35.696 | 1:35.130 | 12 |
| 2 |
|
Ferrari | 1:36.595 | 1:36.032 | 1:35.428 | 15 |
| 3 |
|
Red Bull | 1:36.898 | 1:36.192 | 1:35.558 | 12 |
| 4 |
|
Mercedes | 1:37.041 | 1:35.959 | 1:35.631 | 12 |
| 5 |
|
Ferrari | 1:36.730 | 1:35.970 | 1:35.666 | 12 |
| 6 |
|
McLaren | 1:37.092 | 1:36.173 | 1:35.757 | 12 |
| 7 |
|
McLaren | 1:36.852 | 1:36.020 | 1:35.762 | 12 |
| 8 |
|
Mercedes | 1:37.264 | 1:36.245 | 1:35.871 | 12 |
| 9 |
|
Alpine | 1:37.174 | 1:36.410 | 1:37.210 | 18 |
| 10 |
|
Audi | 1:37.106 | 1:36.814 | 1:37.673 | 18 |
Complete qualifying results available via Formula.com.
The penalty-adjusted starting grid is here.
Tomorrow’s race airs live beginning at 3AM Eastern on AppleTV here in the States, so brew that coffee or catch a replay with your Sunday brunch to find out how it all shakes out!