Verstappen claims pole at Grand Prix in Malaysia

Max Verstappen qualified fastest for Sunday's race. ( Getty Images: Sona Maleterova )

Red Bull's Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position of the season at the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia on Saturday, with Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton joining him on the front row.

It is the first time two great rivals have shared the front row of the grid since the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2023.

Verstappen's teammate, Isack Hadjar, was third fastest but will start eighth due to a grid penalty, with championship leader Kimi Antonelli in third alongside Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.

Oscar Piastri was pipped to sixth by his teammate Lando Norris, but will move up a position as a result of Hadjar's penalty to start sixth as McLaren locked out the third row of the grid.

George Russell, who so spectacularly won the last Grand Prix in Azerbaijan last week , will start seventh in what was an alarming performance for Mercedes, who came to Malaysia with a big upgrade package.

"It's very difficult to understand," Mercedes boss Toto Wolff told Sky Sports.

"We have been a little bit caught out on Friday with some car behaviour that we didn't see all year.

Copyright for this text belongs to ABC Australia.