Bahrain/Malaysia Grand Prix 2026
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Hear from the Team after Saturday in Malaysia
2 min
Hear from the Team after Saturday in Malaysia
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Max sizzles in Sepang with first pole of 2026
Max Verstappen roared to his and the Team’s first pole position of 2026 with a blistering show of pace at a searing hot Sepang circuit, as Isack Hadjar missed out on a career-first front row by just over one tenth of a second. The Frenchman ended the session in third place but will start the race from P8 after taking a PU-related penalty.
“It’s incredible,” said Max after claiming a first pole for Red Bull Ford Powertrains with a final flyer of 1:35.130. “It’s been quite a long road to this point since we started the year. Everyone has been working so hard to get the car where it was today, so to really be able to put all this hard work into Pole is fantastic.”
After a strong finish to the weekend’s practice sessions, with Max taking P2 and Isack P3 in FP3, the Bulls were out of the blocks at the start of Qualifying, with the duo needing just a single run on Softs to book their place in the second segment.
Max opened his qualifying account with a lap of 1:36.477, a tenth of a second better than his FP3 best, to take P1 ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri. Isack’s 1:36.898 was good enough for P5 ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris as the top seven stayed in the pit lane for the final runs.
The pattern was repeated in Q2, with Isack first out on track, followed by Max. The Frenchman improved by seven tenths of a second to post a lap of 1:36.192. Max also found time, almost eight tenths, to take P1 with a lap of 1:35.696. Of the top seven drivers, only Lewis went out again, and when the session ended, only Kimi, whose first lap had been deleted for track limits, barged his way into that group. The Italian’s P2 time, just under three tenths off Max, meant that Isack made it through in P7.
Though he would have just a single set of new Softs available, Kimi’s 1:35.959 set up a potentially nail-biting finish, but Max was unstoppable in the top 10 shootout. The four-time Champion threw down the gauntlet with a superb first flyer, which alone was good enough for pole, but after Kimi’s final lap was only sufficient for fourth behind Isack, and Lewis’ gains had stalled at 1:35.428, Max went even quicker to seal his first pole since Abu Dhabi last year and the 49th of his career.
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Hear from the Team after Friday in Malaysia
1 min
Hear from the Team after Friday in Malaysia
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Bulls build strong foundations on Sepang return
Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar made a strong start to the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia as the Team returned to the Sepang International Circuit for the first time since Max’s 2017 victory at the last Malaysian Grand Prix. Isack ended the day in P2, focusing on performance in the second session ahead of a PU-related five-place penalty, while Max cast his eye on the race, only running Mediums on his way to fourth at the end of Friday’s running.
In opposition to their rivals, the Bulls focused on Soft tyre running in FP1 and Max went quickest overall, finishing almost four tenths of a second clear of Mercedes’ George Russell. Isack also ran the red-banded tyres and after his P3 in Baku last weekend, the French driver kicked off his Sepang stint in the same position, four tenths off George.
Later in the afternoon, the pair switched to the Medium for their opening runs of FP2 and Max took an early P1 with a lap of 1:37.785 that put him a little over two tenths of a second clear of George and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
The Bulls weren’t totally happy on the Medium and after five laps both pitted to allow their crew to get to work. They emerged at the halfway mark and Isack, on Softs, vaulted to the top of the order with a lap of 1:37.627. That was quickly eclipsed by Charles, whose second run on the C4s handed him P1 by 0.099. Isack ended the session in P2, a good start as he faces a five-place grid penalty for use of a new ICE this weekend.
Max spent the entirety of the session on Medium tyres, putting in five laps on his first run and 15 on a second, and the Dutchman’s best time of 1:37.785 left him fourth on the timesheet, just 0.257s off Charles’ Soft-tyre table topper, and showing good long-run pace.