Max Verstappen celebrates “pretty incredible” first pole of the 2026 season at Bahrain GP Qualifying

By Vancouver Television Sports Desk

Max Verstappen secured his first pole position of the 2026 season during Qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, describing it as a “pretty incredible” achievement. The Red Bull driver said he was happy with the day’s performance and emphasized that, with the car starting from pole, the target is to win “tomorrow.”

Verstappen’s pole came after a more difficult opening phase of the campaign for Red Bull compared with their rivals at the front of the grid. The Milton Keynes-based team began the year facing a significant deficit in the Teams’ Championship and were positioned fourth.

The Dutchman and Red Bull have shown an upward trend in recent form, and Verstappen indicated that his pace carried through the weekend into Sepang. After narrowly missing victory at last weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix by less than two tenths, he set the pace in Qualifying, establishing himself in the top group early.

According to his Qualifying performance, Verstappen set the fastest time in both Q1 and Q2 before going fastest again in Q3 to claim pole with a lap time of 1m 35.130s. He also finished nearly three tenths ahead of the closest challenger, Lewis Hamilton.

In reflecting on the broader context, Verstappen said the team had been working to reach pole from where it started the season, noting that they had previously been “trying many Grands Prix to get pole.” He credited improvements in the car’s behaviour and said that, although it was still difficult to know after practice whether pole was on the cards, the signals from Q1 onward suggested they were “in the running.”

Verstappen added that qualifying itself was a proud moment for the entire team, describing it as an “amazing moment” to secure Red Bull’s first pole of the campaign. He said Red Bull wants to remain in contention for pole positions as a team goal, and he hopes the momentum translates into a strong race on Sunday.