Red Bull driver Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position of the season on Saturday. He topped qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is being raced at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
The 29-year-old Dutchman set a best lap of 1:35.130 in the last minute of the session. He finished 0.298 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who will start next to him on the front row.
“It’s fantastic,” Verstappen said. “We’ve been trying for many Grands Prix to get a pole position, so to finally get it is pretty incredible. I’m happy with today and will try to win tomorrow.”
The four-time world champion is sixth in the drivers’ standings. It will be his first start from the front of the grid since the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last season, according to IOL.
Isack Hadjar was third for Red Bull. He will drop five places on the grid because of a penalty for fitting new engine parts beyond the allowed number.
Championship leader Kimi Antonelli of Mercedes was next. Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari and world champion Lando Norris of McLaren followed him.
Oscar Piastri was seventh for McLaren. George Russell of Mercedes, Pierre Gasly of Alpine and Gabriel Bortoleto of Audi completed the top ten.
Hamilton’s late flying lap gave the 41-year-old his best starting spot since he won in Catalonia in June.
“The car felt great. We’ve made lots of changes,” Hamilton said. “And execution was really on point. If we can keep this up, hopefully we can get better results moving forward.”
The session started in very humid weather, with Haas drivers Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman first on track. Verstappen set the early pace with a lap of 1:36.447.
Both Ferraris used medium tyres in that early stage, while all their rivals ran on softs. Track temperatures were in the mid-50s on a circuit with low grip and high tyre wear.
Drivers tried to keep their tyres cool by going slower on their warm-up laps in Q2. Verstappen was shown a black-and-white warning flag for driving too slowly. He then went faster and set a time of 1:35.696 to go top.
Antonelli had his first lap deleted for going beyond track limits. The mistake cost him a set of soft tyres, and he had to go out again for another timed lap.
“It’s a shame about the mistake,” Antonelli said. “Max still has a bit of an edge on pace and the Ferraris looked pretty strong, so it’s going to be tight, and the ‘deg’ is going to be huge.”
Russell was first out in Q3, but Verstappen went top again with a 1:35.250 on his first run. Antonelli used his last set of soft tyres for a single lap that put him third at that stage.
On the final runs, Verstappen improved his time once more. Hamilton moved up to second in the last minute to join him on the front row for the race on Sunday.
Source: this article is based on reporting by IOL Sport. Image: IOL Sport. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Sports desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Tiyani Mathebula writes about sport for Tzaneen Voice. Tiyani covers Bafana Bafana, the Springboks, the Proteas and the PSL, along with athletics, tennis and local club sport. Match reports and previews focus on results, team news, fixtures and what each game means for South African teams and fans.