Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia: Verstappen on Pole, Hamilton Alongside Him

The 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix is being held at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor, Malaysia, on Sunday, October 4, after the race could not take place at its usual home. Max Verstappen takes pole position for Red Bull, with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton starting alongside him on the front row, according to Formula1.com and Sky Sports.

Why a 'Bahrain' race is in Malaysia

The Bahrain Grand Prix was originally scheduled for the Bahrain International Circuit on April 10-12, 2026, but was pulled from that venue after conflict in the Middle East, according to Motorsport.com. Iranian attacks hit facilities inside Bahrain near the circuit, and regional air-traffic restrictions made it unsafe to run the event there, the outlet reported. F1 president Stefano Domenicali called cancelling the Bahrain-venue race the 'right' call 'at this stage considering the current situation in the Middle East,' Motorsport.com quoted him as saying.

Rather than drop the round entirely, Formula 1, the FIA and the governments of Bahrain and Malaysia agreed to keep it on the calendar under the Bahrain Grand Prix name while moving it to Sepang, Motorsport.com reported. Bahrain keeps the ticketing rights and race revenue, and Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, is title sponsor and has launched direct flights between Bahrain and Kuala Lumpur for the event, per the same report.

Sepang hosted F1 from 1999 to 2017 and already has the infrastructure and race-operations experience needed, Motorsport.com noted. The circuit's location also fits the calendar: the round sits between the Azerbaijan GP on September 26 and the Singapore GP on October 11, and Sepang is only about 320 kilometres from Singapore, avoiding a major logistical detour for the teams.

Grid and storylines for the race

Verstappen's pole, 0.298 seconds ahead of Hamilton according to Sky Sports, is his first since the final race of last season in Abu Dhabi, making it his first pole of the 2026 season. Hamilton called it one of his best qualifying laps of the year, Sky Sports reported. Kimi Antonelli qualified third for Mercedes and Charles Leclerc fourth for Ferrari, Sky Sports reported.

Sky Sports described the Verstappen-Hamilton front row as their first since the Hungarian Grand Prix in July 2023, while Formula1.com framed it differently, noting that pole for Verstappen with Hamilton second has not been repeated since the pair fought for the title at Abu Dhabi in 2021; the two outlets point to different prior occasions for the same grid order.

Red Bull's Isack Hadjar was consistently quick across all three practice sessions, finishing in the top three each time, according to The Race's practice summary, which recorded Verstappen fastest in FP1 (1:37.520), Leclerc fastest in FP2 (1:37.528) and Antonelli fastest in FP3 (1:36.302). George Russell qualified seventh for Mercedes, behind Verstappen, Hamilton, Antonelli, Leclerc, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, according to Sky Sports.

Championship picture before the race

Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers' standings with 302 points heading into the round, according to GPFans.com, 66 points clear of teammate Russell and 103 ahead of Hamilton in third.

In the constructors' standings, Mercedes leads with 538 points ahead of Ferrari on 378 and McLaren on 306, with Red Bull fourth on 263 points, per GPFans.com.