Lewis Hamilton labels Sepang qualifying as "best lap" of his 2026 F1 season
Lewis Hamilton reckons he produced the “best lap” of his 2026 Formula 1 season to take a front row start alongside Max Verstappen at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia. The Ferrari driver set a 1m35.428s at Sepang and that put him 0.298s off polesitter Verstappen, whose Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar completed the top three on Saturday. It certainly came as a surprise to Hamilton, as he ... Keep…
Max Verstappen secured the pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, setting a lap time of 1min 35.130sec at the Sepang International Circuit. Lewis Hamilton of Ferrari will start alongside him on the front row, having set a time of 1m35.428s, which he considers the "best lap" of his 2026 Formula 1 season.
According to Motorsport.com, Hamilton was surprised by his performance. The session saw Red Bull's Isack Hadjar qualify third but he will drop five places due to a penalty for exceeding the permitted engine component quota.
The top ten qualifiers were completed by Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, McLaren's Lando Norris, McLaren's Oscar Piastri, Mercedes' George Russell, Alpine's Pierre Gasly, and Audi's Gabriel Bortoleto. Verstappen expressed his delight at securing his first pole of the season, saying it was "fantastic" and that he will try to win the race.
Brief written by urgent.news from Motorsport.com, Malay Mail — 2 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
