- Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position of the Formula One season for the rearranged Bahrain Grand Prix, which is being hosted at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
- The four-time world champion produced a dominant qualifying performance to beat Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton by three tenths of a second, making him the favourite to take his first race victory of the campaign.
- George Russell suffered a major blow to his championship ambitions after qualifying down in eighth place, finishing eight tenths of a second off Verstappen's pace and four places behind Mercedes team-mate Kimi Antonelli.
- Red Bull's Isack Hadjar qualified in third place but faces a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his power unit allocation, while world champion Lando Norris qualified sixth for McLaren.
- Alpine driver Franco Colapinto will start from the back of the grid after receiving an additional penalty for taking on a new power unit following a previous penalty incurred in Azerbaijan.
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