Red Bull Racing’s four-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has stormed to pole position for tomorrow’s F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia 2026.

Verstappen endured hot and humid conditions to best the star-studded, 22-car F1 field with a blistering fastest lap time of one minute 35.130 seconds in today’s Q3 session of qualifying at Sepang International Circuit.

Verstappen narrowly beat out Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton by 0.298s to secure the leading grid position for tomorrow’s 56-lap race, which is scheduled to flag off at 10am, Bahrain time.

Set to start in row two are Red Bull Racing’s Isack Hadjar and Mercedes’s world championship leader Kimi Antonelli, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s defending world champion Lando Norris will begin alongside one another on row three.

Row four features McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Mercedes’s George Russell, while on row five are Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Bortoleto.

Dropping out of the fight for pole in Q2 were Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, Williams’ Carlos Sainz, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Aloine’s Franco Colapinto, and Racing Bulls’s Arvid Lindblad.

In Q1, eliminated were Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg, Haas drivers Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon, Williams’s Alexander Albon, and Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez.