Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position of the 2026 Formula 1 season at Sepang with a three-tenth advantage, completing a qualifying session in which Red Bull set the pace from Q1 through to Q3. More importantly for the Milton Keynes team, this did not look like an isolated one-lap performance. The RB22 upgrades have addressed several of the car’s previous weaknesses, while Isack Hadjar’s third-fastest qualifying time provided further evidence that Red Bull has made a genuine step forward.
The intense Sepang heat even produced an unusual post-qualifying moment. Around an hour after the session, Stefano Domenicali and Chase Carey passed the Red Bull hospitality area to congratulate Max Verstappen on his pole. The Dutchman appeared wearing slippers and looked slightly embarrassed, but Stefano Domenicali immediately put him at ease: “After the lap you did today, you can wear whatever you want.”
Max Verstappen dominates qualifying as Red Bull RB22 progress continues
Max Verstappen had earned the congratulations. His first pole of the season came with an excellent final lap, but the most significant aspect was how consistently Red Bull had controlled qualifying beforehand.
Max Verstappen was fastest in Q1, continued to set the benchmark in Q2 and then finished the job when pole position was on the line, ending Q3 three tenths clear. There was never a sense that Red Bull had suddenly produced an unexpected lap from nowhere. The RB22 was simply the reference car on Saturday.
That performance followed an already encouraging start to the weekend, with Max Verstappen showing strong pace despite Sepang’s extreme heat and tyre degradation during Friday practice.
“Considering how we started the season and the progress we have made, it is an incredible result,” Max Verstappen explained. “At some tracks we had managed to get closer, but this weekend has been very positive so far. We started well already in FP1 and from that point we kept trying to improve the car. To be on pole here is incredible.”
Red Bull finds wider operating window with upgraded RB22
The RB22 demonstrated one quality that had been missing for much of the season: an operating window broad enough to allow both driver and team to follow the evolution of the track without constantly chasing the car’s balance.
That characteristic is particularly valuable at Sepang, where extremely high temperatures and an aggressive surface make the tyres especially sensitive to balance changes.
Max Verstappen identified the work completed over recent months as the key to Red Bull’s progress. The trend had already become visible when the Baku upgrade package continued to produce encouraging results at Sepang.
“In the last few races we have probably understood the car a little better, but the upgrades have also removed some of our weaknesses,” Max Verstappen said. “We kept adding components and they worked. It is simple: when they work, you gain lap time and you get a better overall balance.”
That balance becomes particularly important when dealing with tyres that react strongly to even relatively small changes in the car.
“On a track where it is this hot, you need a stable car with consistent behaviour. That is something we have found more of over the last few weekends.”
Isack Hadjar confirms Red Bull improvement is not only about Verstappen
The strongest confirmation that Saturday’s performance was not simply another example of the special relationship between Max Verstappen and his car came from the second Red Bull.
Isack Hadjar qualified third, although the Frenchman will start eighth because of a penalty connected to the use of a new power unit.
Isack Hadjar also offered an interesting perspective on the RB22’s development. After spending three races out of the car, he immediately noticed a significant difference when he returned.
“I had the feeling I had got into a much better car compared with the one I left in Budapest,” Isack Hadjar said. “When you are out for three races and then come back, you can feel the difference more clearly. I am surprised by how this car behaves.”
That observation matters because Baku and Sepang could hardly present more different technical challenges. Yet Red Bull has now shown competitive pace at both circuits.
It does not mean every RB22 weakness has disappeared, but the improvement increasingly appears to extend beyond one particular circuit characteristic. Friday’s Sepang long-run analysis also placed Max Verstappen among the strongest race-pace references, despite the unusual track conditions making comparisons difficult.
Verstappen returns to the front after difficult 2026 season
For Max Verstappen, pole position represents a return to a kind of normality that has been anything but normal during 2026.
For the first time this season, the four-time world champion will start a Grand Prix from pole as the driver everyone else is trying to beat. That alone illustrates how far Red Bull has come compared with its position only a few months ago.
The wider championship picture remains very different from the seasons in which Max Verstappen controlled the standings, with the latest positions available in the Formula 1 drivers’ standings. But Sepang has provided the clearest evidence yet that Red Bull can again give its lead driver machinery capable of setting the outright benchmark.
Sepang race still poses major tyre-management test
Max Verstappen nevertheless knows that qualifying tells only part of the story. Sepang’s heat will place enormous demands on drivers, tyres, brakes and cars, while degradation could open the door to very different strategic possibilities during the Grand Prix.
“It is always tough here,” Max Verstappen said. “It is very hot for us, but also for the cars, the brakes and the tyres. In the race we will have to manage a lot of things and it is impossible to know right now who will manage them best. Then there is the start, where a lot can happen. We will have to be ready and see how competitive we are.”
That caution is not simply standard pre-race diplomacy. Tyre management is likely to become one of the decisive factors on Sunday, and Red Bull must now prove over a full race distance what the RB22 demonstrated over a single lap.
Max Verstappen, however, is not hiding the confidence that has returned alongside the improved balance of the car.
“So far I have felt good, I am confident and I hope we can confirm that tomorrow as well.”
Red Bull pole was no qualifying surprise
Sepang pole did not appear to surprise Max Verstappen. Once he had gone fastest in Q1 and repeated the result in Q2, the opportunity had become obvious.
“At that point you think there is a big opportunity. You just have to wait and see what the others will do.”
This time, nobody reached him.
That is arguably the most important message from Saturday in Malaysia. Max Verstappen is back on pole, but more importantly Red Bull has again put him in a position to fight at the front without requiring something extraordinary from the driver to compensate for the car.
The RB22 once again appears capable of giving Max Verstappen the platform to look down on the rest of the field. Sunday will reveal whether Red Bull’s renewed competitiveness can survive Sepang’s demanding tyre degradation and remain there for an entire Grand Prix distance.
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