Max Verstappen after securing pole for the Bahrain Grand Prix: Was the foundation for victory laid weeks ago?

At last, another pole position for four-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen; the pole for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia is his first since Abu Dhabi 2025, and his fourth for the Bahrain Grand Prix following 2021, 2023 and 2024. And his first at the Sepang International Circuit, where the Bahrain Grand Prix is being held.

For Verstappen’s team, Red Bull Racing, it is their 112th F1 pole and their sixth for the Bahrain Grand Prix; their fourth at the SIC and thus their first since 2013, when Sebastian Vettel secured it.

RBR team principal Laurent Mekies is understandably delighted, especially as Isack Hadjar finished a superb third (although he must now drop back five places due to the fitting of new engine components).

When asked what had made the difference in Max Verstappen’s favour on the day, Mekies said: “Hard to say. We’re on a good run at the moment – with Max finishing third at Monza, then second in Madrid and Baku. But to be honest: we’d expected to struggle a bit here, given the nature of the Sepang circuit with all its fast corners.”

“The car’s behaviour in such corners was a weakness of ours in the first part of the season. It says a lot about our team that this is an area where we’ve been able to improve; all the hard work by everyone at the race car facilities in Milton Keynes is now paying off.”

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“We’ve now secured our first pole position as a manufacturer of our own power unit, in partnership with Ford; that’s a very special moment, and it’s also a good sign in terms of development.”

“At the start of the season, we first had to work out exactly where we were falling short compared to the best in the class. We weren’t performing well in medium-speed and fast corners. We then set about gradually reducing or eliminating these weaknesses. Everyone pulled in the same direction – the chassis department and the engine department. We knew we had various areas to work on and that we could find time across the board.”

“Not to mention the work of Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar, who have played their part in developing the car to the point where we finished first and third today.”

“Everyone knows how valuable Max is. So, a big shout-out to Isack, who is only in his second season in the top flight, is constantly learning and works brilliantly with Verstappen.”

Can Max Verstappen secure his first win of the season? Mekies: “Unfortunately, you don’t win the race on Saturday. The Grand Prix is dominated by tyre management. The high level of wear will force us to come up with some interesting solutions in terms of race strategy.”

“We decided weeks before travelling here that we would focus even more than usual on our work for the race. This was evident, for example, in the number of long runs we completed in free practice to understand the tyres’ behaviour as well as possible. Let’s see how this work pays off.”