SEPANG, Malaysia — Max Verstappen made a long-awaited return to the top of the timesheets in qualifying, winning the pole for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix at the Sepang Int’l Circuit in Malaysia.
The event, which was postponed earlier in the season, was reset for the legendary Sepang track.
Verstappen drove his Red Bull to a lap of one minute and 35.130 seconds, which was good enough to edge Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton by .298 seconds.
“We’ve 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, it’s pretty incredible,” said the four-time world champion. “I’m happy with today and for sure I’m going to try to win tomorrow. When you start first, that’s the target.”
Red Bull came close to having the two fastest cars on the day before the Ferrari driver displaced Isack Hadjar, who will receive a five-place grid penalty for the race.
He also denied Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli a place in the top three during the final stage of Qualifying, with the Italian settling for fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc.
The McLarens finished sixth and seventh with Lando Norris leading Oscar Piastri, while George Russell could only manage eighth.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Audi’s Gabriel Bortoleto ended up ninth and 10th, respectively.
