Max Verstappen seizes his first pole of the season ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Isack Hadjar in F1’s first Grand Prix in Malaysia since 2017.
Verstappen looking strong
Max Verstappen claimed a long awaited pole today in qualifying after going the whole season without one. He finished 0.298s ahead of the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton as, once he’d claimed provisional pole, he then went even quicker on his final run. Verstappen picks up where he left off in Malaysia, given that the last time F1 raced in Sepang Verstappen took home victory in the race – a repeat of which looks highly likely tomorrow on his current form.
Verstappen’s teammate Isack Hadjar qualified strongly in P3, not too far off the pace of Verstappen, however he has a 5 place grid penalty for tomorrow’s race due to changing engine components that exceed the allowed amount for the season.
After yesterday’s practice the belief was that this track would be more suited to the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari, while Mercedes and McLaren would struggle. This seemed to be the case in qualifying, and so the race is looking very promising for Verstappen and Red Bull tomorrow.
Ferrari on the rise
Lewis Hamilton had a very positive qualifying session, finishing in P2 and in close quarters of Verstappen. Hamilton didn’t really seem to have the pace of his teammate during practice yesterday, however everything came alive for him in qualifying today where it matters. Starting alongside his old rival, Hamilton will be hoping to get the jump on Verstappen at the start tomorrow.
Hamilton’s teammate Charles Leclerc qualified in P5, however will be promoted to P4 due to Hadjar’s penalty. Leclerc had a decent qualifying, yet he failed to match the pace of his teammate.
Mercedes on the back foot
It was a strange qualifying for Mercedes as the usually dominant team were unable to match those ahead. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli qualified in P4, which will become P3 after Hadjar’s penalty. After a crash in qualifying last weekend, Antonelli will have likely been hoping for better. British driver George Russell only managed P8 in qualifying. This will be highly disappointing for him off the back off his first ever grand slam last time out in Baku. Mercedes have given Russell a lot to struggle with this season, and just as things were starting to look up for him, things go wrong once again.
The rest of the grid
McLaren came into the weekend not expecting to be that strong, and as expected they had a fairly mediocre qualifying. Lando Norris qualified in P6, while his teammate Oscar Piastri finished right behind him in P7. Hopefully they can pull this back in the race tomorrow and bring home a stronger result.
VCARB’s Liam Lawson just missed out on Q3, qualifying in P11, while his teammate Arvid Lindblad qualified in P16. Lindblad had a back off the grid penalty for tomorrow’s race anyway.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly made it to Q3 and qualified in P9, a strong result for the team. His teammate Franco Colapinto qualified in P15, however he will drop down to P20 due to his 5 place grid penalty for taking out Lando Norris in Baku.
Following the announcement of his departure from Haas at the end of the season, Esteban Ocon qualified in P19. Teammate Oliver Bearman qualified just ahead of him in P18. The two will be promoted to P16 and P17 for tomorrow’s race, following the penalties of Lindblad and Colapinto.
Feature image courtesy of Formula 1