{
  "id": 11678825,
  "title": "Lewis Hamilton labels Sepang qualifying as \"best lap\" of his 2026 F1 season",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/lewis-hamilton-labels-sepang-qualifying-as-best-lap-of-his-2026-f1",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-03T12:10:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Motorsport.com",
    "slug": "motorsport-com",
    "url": "https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lewis-hamilton-labels-sepang-qualifying-as-best-lap-of-his-2026-f1-season-/10861539/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "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.\n\nAccording 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.\n\nThe 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.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Motorsport.com",
        "title": "Max Verstappen-Lewis Hamilton Sepang front row has fans braced for \"absolute cinema\"",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/max-verstappen-lewis-hamilton-sepang-front-row-has-fans-braced-for",
        "published": "2026-10-03T09:41:08.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}