Max Verstappen dominated qualifying at the Sepang International Circuit to claim his first pole position of the season.
Lewis Hamilton will join him on the front row of the grid for Formula 1’s first race in Malaysia for nine years. The pair will start in the same order they finished the last race at this track.The threat from Mercedes failed to materialise as Andrea Kimi Antonelli compromised his session with his latest track limits breach and George Russell never figured in the fight for pole position.
Antonelli, who has had multiple penalties for track limits breaches this year, made life difficult for himself when he strayed beyond the exit kerb at turn six on his first lap in Q2. With Pirelli’s soft tyres only good enough for a single flying lap on the highly abrasive Malaysian track, Antonelli had to take a second fresh set to ensure he reached Q3, where unlike most of his fellow front-runners he would not have the benefit of a second set.
Verstappen’s first run in Q3 put him comfortably ahead, while Isack Hadjar backed him up in second place. Antonelli did his sole run in the gap between the others taking to the track and initially slotted into third place.
With his final run, Verstappen cut another tenth of a second off his best time so far, leaving the benchmark at a 1’35.130. His original run would have been quick enough for pole, as only Hamilton could get within three tenths of a second of him.
Hadjar qualified third but his grid penalty will drop him to eighth on the grid. Both Mercedes drivers will be among those to benefit, Antonelli moving up to third, Russell seventh. The two championship leaders will be separated by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari and the two McLarens.
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The two other drivers with grid penalties dropped out in Q2: Franco Colapinto and Arvid Lindblad Racing Bulls used Lindblad to give his team mate a tow down the back straight – some compensation for crashing into his team mate in Baku last week – and Liam Lawson duly took 10th place. However he was eliminated by a superb final lap from Gabriel Bortoleto.
The Audi driver claimed a place in the final 10 having been the only Audi driver to progress through Q1. Like Ferrari, both their drivers used the medium rubber, but a poor final lap by Nico Hulkenberg meant he went no further.
The Aston Martin drivers revelled in their latest car improvements to achieve the team’s first double Q2 appearance of the season. It comes five months after the FIA changed its Additional Development Update Opportunity regulations to help its power unit supplier Honda.
Carlos Sainz Jnr, the only Williams driver to reach Q2, split the two AMR26s. Alexander Albon continued his run of Q1 eliminations this season after locking up and running wide at turn 14.
Both Haas drivers went out in the first round. Oliver Bearman went deep at turn one on his first attempt while Esteban Ocon was one of the first drivers to complete his final run and felt he had left the pits too soon. The Cadillac pair were slowest.
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