Bahrain GP: Verstappen on pole, Hamilton P2, Hülkenberg out after a mistake

Max Verstappen will start the Bahrain Grand Prix on 4 October from pole position: This is the four-time world champion’s 49th Formula 1 pole position, his first this season and his first since Abu Dhabi 2025, and his fourth for the Bahrain Grand Prix following those in 2021, 2023 and 2024. For his team, Red Bull Racing, it is the 112th F1 pole position and the sixth for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The final practice session began with an air temperature of 33 degrees, the track surface at 58 degrees, and a chance of rain at just ten per cent.

At the start of Q1, the top drivers held back, with initially only the Haas duo on the track. After five minutes, the fans got more to see – half the starting grid out on track, with the Ferrari drivers Hamilton and Leclerc on medium-compound Pirelli tyres, something we’ve seen a few times already in the first qualifying segment.

Kimi Antonelli took the lead, but only for a few seconds; then Max Verstappen moved up to P1, more than 0.5 seconds faster than the championship leader.

After that, the Ferrari duo of Hamilton and Leclerc moved into Verstappen’s slipstream, with Mercedes now down to P6 (Antonelli) and P9 (Russell). The Ferraris, as mentioned, were on medium-hard tyres.

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Sepang: Das Rennen

FIA Formula One World Championship

04.10.2026 - 08:10

Constructors’ World Champions McLaren were rather inconspicuous: Oscar Piastri in P4, champion Lando Norris in P7.

In the meantime, there was applause for Aston Martin veteran Fernando Alonso: 12th place, at times more than a second faster than his team-mate Lance Stroll.

As Q1 drew to a close, the following drivers were eliminated early: Nico Hülkenberg in the Audi in P17 (right front wheel locked up on the final lap), followed by Bearman, Ocon, Albon, Bottas and Pérez. Surprisingly, both Aston Martin drivers progressed to the next round.

The top ten after the first qualifying segment: Verstappen, Hamilton, Leclerc, Piastri, Hadjar, Antonelli, Norris, Bortoleto, Gasly and Colapinto.

In Q2, Max Verstappen initially set the pace, almost four tenths faster than Kimi Antonelli, before Leclerc moved up to P2 and Lewis Hamilton to P3. At this stage, Norris was fifth fastest ahead of Hadjar, with Russell only seventh.

Bad news for Kimi Antonelli: his time was disallowed because he was too far off the track at the exit of Turn 6, dropping him down to P14. Kimi on the radio: “Hang on, what?” The championship leader was thus under pressure.

Antonelli pressed the issue: “Are you sure about the track limits?” Race engineer Pete Bonington: “Yes, we’ve checked it.”

Kimi went out on track early to have a clear run for a crucial new fast lap. Bonington knew that going out at the very end carried the risk of being held up by an opponent or having a yellow flag waved in his face.

Antonelli made the best of the situation: up to P2, a quarter of a second behind Verstappen – it had just about worked out again.

Eliminated after Q2: Lawson, Alonso (P12 as his best qualifying result in 2026!), Sainz, Stroll, Colapinto and Lindblad.

In the top ten and therefore through to Q3: Verstappen, Antonelli, Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton, Norris, Hadjar, Russell, Gasly and Bortoleto in the Audi.

In the final qualifying session, Kimi Antonelli knew he had only one set of soft tyres left, whilst Max Verstappen still had three sets of the softest compound to hand. So Antonelli was under pressure once again.

Verstappen set a fabulous fastest time ahead of Hadjar (who must drop five places on the grid for the race) and Hamilton, whilst Norris botched his lap, finishing only sixth. Russell was down in P7.

Then came Kimi Antonelli, once again going against the grain with his single set of tyres: but the championship leader failed to beat Verstappen’s fastest time – finishing only third behind the two Red Bull Racing cars!

Kimi returned to the pits; now it was up to his rivals to shake up the order a little.

Verstappen managed to improve on his own fastest time once more, Hamilton moved up to P2, whilst Antonelli was only fourth behind Hadjar.