Max Verstappen holds pole for Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix, which is being run in Malaysia because war shut Formula One out of Sakhir.
Verstappen’s first pole of 2026 arrives with Kimi Antonelli 66 points clear in the standings and the Gulf portion of the calendar still unsettled.
The race first sat on the schedule for April 10-12 as round four. Then the Iran war, which began in late February, shut down travel across the region, and Formula One and the FIA postponed both the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia events, according to RacingNews365 reporter Jake Nichol.
Iranian strikes hit Bahrain, including fuel facilities a few miles from the circuit, and air traffic across the region was severely restricted.
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The conflict also closed the Strait of Hormuz for long stretches, blocking the sea-freight route Formula One uses to reach the Gulf, according to PlanetF1. The Saudi Arabia race will not be made up this year.
Formula One needed to protect its race count for broadcasters and sponsors, with reporting putting the floor near 21 races, according to BBC Sport.
On July 26, Formula One and the FIA confirmed the Sepang site for Oct. 2-4, according to The Associated Press. Bahrain kept the name and the Gulf Air title sponsorship, according to the Express.
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The move changes how Sunday’s race is driven. Sakhir is a desert circuit that usually races at night; Sepang is hot and abrasive, runs at 3 p.m. local time and has not hosted a qualifying session since 2017, according to Formula1.com.
Track temperatures have topped 122 degrees Fahrenheit, and the asphalt has not been fully resurfaced since 2017. Oscar Piastri described parts of it as “sandpaper,” and Pirelli said Friday runs were up to 4.5 seconds slower than its simulations, according to Motorsport.com.
Pirelli brought its C2, C3 and C4 compounds, one step harder than at Baku and Singapore, according to Formula1.com. McLaren expects the year’s highest degradation and a two- or three-stop race, according to McLaren.com‘s own report.
Afternoon storms are common in early October, and George Russell and McLaren both flagged rain as a variable, according to a Mercedes team report.
Verstappen led every qualifying segment and finished 0.298 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton with a 1:35.130 for his first pole of 2026.
“We’ve been trying many Grands Prix to get pole, sometimes a bit closer than others, but to finally get it from where we started the season, it’s pretty incredible,” Verstappen said, as quoted by Formula1.com.
Isack Hadjar qualified third but drops five places for exceeding the power-unit component limit, according to PlanetF1‘s starting grid breakdown, which moves Antonelli to third.
Verstappen and Hamilton lead the contenders, with Charles Leclerc and the McLaren pair in range if the front two fade on tires, according to Sky Sports coverage of qualifying.
Antonelli leads the 2026 season standings with 302 points, followed by teammate Russell (236), Hamilton (199), Lando Norris (186), Leclerc (179) and Verstappen (163), according to a GPFans points breakdown. Russell’s Baku win trimmed the lead by 15 points. Mercedes leads the constructors’ standings, 538 points to Ferrari’s 378.
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