The F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia Qualifying ended with Max Verstappen dominating the entire session from start to finish. Confirming the kind of pace he had on Friday, Verstappen just grew from strength to strength and was in a league of his own.
He will be joined on the front row by Lewis Hamilton, who had an impressive final lap as well, while the second row will feature Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc. With the grid for the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia now set, who would be satisfied with how the session went and who would be a bit disappointed? Let’s take a look.
2026 F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia Qualifying
Winner
Max Verstappen and Red Bull
From the very first lap, it has been clear that Max Verstappen has been in a class of his own. There’s not a single driver throughout the race weekend that has looked comfortable around this track, but whenever you look at the lap times, it has been clear that the Red Bull has been on a different plane.
Max Verstappen loves the track, and once he got a sniff of a strong result this weekend, he didn’t look back. He’ll be starting the race on pole position for the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia and hoping to bring the first win home for RBPT.
Loser
George Russell
The F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia was going to be a crucial weekend for George Russell after what he did in Baku, and it does appear that the trajectory of his season is back to the norm that existed before going to Azerbaijan.
After a decent run on Friday, where he had a slight edge over teammate Kimi Antonelli, Saturday has been a complete return to the median.
It was back to a similar kind of deficit against his teammate as George Russell completely lost all the performance he’d showed early in the weekend. He’ll start the race a few grid slots behind Kimi Antonelli, and any faint hope of a title challenge is probably over.
Winner
Lewis Hamilton
The joy in Lewis Hamilton’s voice showed the kind of task he had accomplished during this race weekend. Throughout Friday, Hamilton struggled to stay on terms with teammate Charles Leclerc, and there was a clear gulf between the two.
But pre-qualifying, some changes made by the driver helped him feel a lot more confident in the car and deliver a brilliant result. He’ll start the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia on the front row alongside Max Verstappen and hope to have a much better run this weekend.
Loser
McLaren
After the run that the team had until Madrid, there was this expectation that McLaren now had the best car on the grid and the only limitation came from the power unit and the ability to extract the most from it. The last couple of races have broken that perception, as once again McLaren appears to be struggling. The car has not really had the pace to challenge at the front, at least over a lap.
Even though the team has shown an impressive long-run pace and the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia is going to be a multi-stopper, you have to wonder how big a step they can make on Sunday.
Winner
Aston Martin
Fernando Alonso has been quietly confident about the race and has talked at length about the importance of prioritising the F1 Bahrain GP in Malaysia, especially on Sunday. As that sentiment has continued to get stronger, it does appear that Aston Martin does have a strong package for the track.
They made their way through to Q2 quite easily, and on Sunday, they’re going to be the dark horses for a potential top-10 finish.
Loser
Nico Hulkenberg
Looking at his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto making it to Q3 would not have felt good for Nico Hulkenberg, as he was bumped out in Q1. The German’s final lap was less than optimal, and that’s where everything went south for him, unfortunately.
