Verstappen and Hamilton complete the front row in Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying
Formula One is back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to stand in for the previously cancelled Bahrain Grand Prix. The exciting Sepang track is making its first appearance F1 since 2017, with over half of the grid not having raced there until this weekend.
Qualifying in pole position was Max Verstappen, followed by his former rival Lewis Hamilton. Isack Hadjar completed the top three in qualifying, however he will start in eighth tomorrow due to a five-place grid penalty. This means that Antonelli will move up to third on the starting grid.
Here's how qualifying panned out at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia:
Q1
The first drivers out on track were Eseban Ocon and Oliver Bearman for Haas, with the rest of the grid waiting some time before hitting the track. Ocon set the first lap time of the session with a 1:38:879.
Both Mercedes drivers and Verstappen were next to put in their flying laps around Sepang. Antonelli took over from Ocon's spot at the top with a time of 1:37:041, followed by George Russell. Verstappen jumped in to set the fastest time half a second with 1:36:477.
Both Ferrari drivers slotted themselves into the top three, With Hamilton just one tenth slower than Verstappen.
For McLaren, Lando Norris wasn't off to the best start, only seventh fastest out of the pack. Oscar Piastri was significantly quicker sitting up in fourth. Pierre Gasly was sitting just behind Norris in eighth and looked safe for a Q2 visit.
Another queue formed at the pit lane with everyone desperate to get back out onto track to secure a spot in Q2. One of those drivers was Liam Lawson, looking to move up to a safer spot than tenth, but stuck with his position after the flying lap.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll had a decent last couple of laps moving them up into 11th and 12th. Carlos Sainz then moved just ahead of Alonso, getting himself into Q2. Gabriel Bortoleto had a massive improvement, moving from the elimination zone up into eighth, whereas his teammate, Nico Hülkenberg, unfortunately exited in 17th.
Just scraping his way through to the next part of qualifying was Arvid Lindblad who wasn't able to improve his time and finished Q1 in 16th. Unfortunately for Haas, they were unable to move their way back up the timings and finished in the elimination zone.
Q1 eliminations
17. Nico Hülkenberg
18. Oliver Bearman
19. Esteban Ocon
20. Alex Albon
21. Valtteri Bottas
22. Sergio Pérez
Q2
Hadjar was first onto the track in this part of qualifying, looking to qualify as high up as possible before his five-place grid penalty is applied. 1:36:192 was the time that Hadjar set. Despite Verstappen receiving a black and white flag for unnecessarily driving slowly, he smashed out a 1:35:696 to top the timings.
Mercedes' pace was missing with Russell only fifth fastest, Leclerc and Hamilton rounded out the top three early on in Q2, up ahead of Antonelli in fourth, who then lost his time due to a track limits breach.
Piastri slotted himself in between the Ferrari's whilst Norris went fifth fastest just behind Hamilton.
Antonelli had a crucial lap to try and get himself out of the danger zone, and despite driving very cautiously to not receive another track limits breach, he went second fastest out of the pack.
Lindblad finished Q2 with no time, but went out to provide a slipstream for Lawson. This moved him up into 10th at the expense of Bortoleto. However, Bortoleto was a couple of tenths quicker than Lawson on his final lap, eliminating Lawson from the top 10.
Alonso finished Q2 in 12th, his highest starting position of the season. Also joining him in the Q2 exits was Stroll, Sainz and Colapinto, who has a five-place grid penalty due to causing a collision last weekend in Baku.
Q2 eliminations
11. Liam Lawson
12. Fernando Alonso
13. Carlos Sainz
14. Lance Stroll
15. Franco Colapinto
16. Arvid Lindblad
Q3
All bar Antonelli got onto the track at the beginning of Q3, with Gasly and Bortoleto the only drivers on used tyres. Russell was first to set a flying time of 1:36:032, before Hadjar went half a second quicker than the Mercedes driver with a time of 1:35:558.
Leclerc went second fastest before Hamilton joined Hadjar on the front row soon after. Norris lost time just at the end of his lap, going fourth fastest.
Verstappen jumped back in going three tenths faster than Hadjar, setting the benchmark time of 1:35:250 for provisional pole.
Antonelli waited until later in Q3 with the track to himself. On his only set of fresh tyres, Antonelli had his only chance at pole position, but only managed to go third fastest.
Just as he finished lap, the rest of the grid started to enter the track for their final attempts of qualifying as high as possible.
Hadjar didn't manage to improve on his time for second place, but his teammate managed to improve his time for first place, setting a time of 1:35:130 to beat.
Hamilton managed to outpace Hadjar to complete the front row with Verstappen. Meanwhile, Russell had a disappointing finish to Q3, only managing eighth fastest.
Top 10*
1. Max Verstappen
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Isack Hadjar
4. Kimi Antonelli
5. Charles Leclerc
6. Lando Norris
7. Oscar Piastri
8. George Russell
9. Pierre Gasly
10. Gabriel Bortoleto
*Top ten before Hadjar's five-place grid penalty, Hadjar will start eighth on tomorrow's grid.
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