Verstappen takes first 2026 pole ahead of Hamilton
Max Verstappen takes his and Red Bull's first pole position of 2026 with an imperious performance in qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
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Notable Quotes
"Fantastic, we have been trying many grands prix to get pole, sometimes a bit closer than others. But to finally get it from where we started the season, pretty incredible."
— Max Verstappen , Athlete
"It's so hot here. That's made it a massive challenge for the cars, the tyres, the mechanics in the garage. Because the tyres are sliding, it's so hard to find a good balance and we made one change and we finally hit the sweet spot."
— Lewis Hamilton , Athlete
"It's a shame because with only one set, big pressure. I did what I could but with another set we could have fought for front row. Not P1, because Max was too quick today."
— Kimi Antonelli , Athlete
"It's the most demanding circuit on the tyres, so we don't know exactly why we didn't have the pace. From Friday it was clear we weren't on the pace of the Red Bulls and we haven't really progressed."
— George Russell , Athlete
Key People
Carlos Sainz is a Spanish Formula 1 driver for Scuderia Ferrari.
Charles Leclerc is a Monegasque racing driver competing in Formula 1 for Ferrari.
Fernando Alonso is a veteran Formula 1 driver for Aston Martin.
Gabriel Bortoleto is a Formula 1 driver for Audi.
George Russell is a British Formula 1 racing driver currently racing for Mercedes.
Isack Hadjar is a French racing driver competing in Formula 1 for Red Bull.
Kimi Antonelli is an Italian Formula 1 racing driver competing for Mercedes.
Lance Stroll is a Canadian racing driver competing for Aston Martin in Formula 1.
British racing driver and defending champion in Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton is a British racing driver and a multiple-time Formula 1 World Champion.
Racing driver competing for Racing Bulls in Formula 1.
Max Verstappen is a Dutch racing driver and the reigning Formula 1 World Champion.
Oscar Piastri is a driver for McLaren.
French racing driver competing for Alpine in Formula 1.
Locations
All Coverage
Max Verstappen takes his and Red Bull's first pole position of 2026 with an imperious performance in qualifying at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
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