Verstappen storms to first pole of the year at Sepang

Max Verstappen is back at the very front. The Red Bull driver took pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix with a lap of 1:35.130 on Saturday, his first pole of the season.

It was the 49th pole of his career and his first since last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, according to The Guardian. That is a long wait by his standards. He made it count by three-tenths of a second.

Lewis Hamilton joins him on the front row. The Ferrari driver qualified second, 0.3 seconds behind Verstappen, and will fancy his chances into the first corner. Starts matter. The run to Turn 1 at Sepang is long and wide.

Isack Hadjar was third-fastest in qualifying but will not start there. He has a five-place grid penalty for taking a new engine, which drops him down the order. That promotes championship leader Kimi Antonelli from fourth to third on the grid.

Charles Leclerc qualified fifth for Ferrari, with Lando Norris sixth for McLaren. George Russell was eighth-fastest, but Hadjar's penalty moves him up to seventh for the start.

That grid sets up a sharp test of the title fight. Antonelli heads into the race in front, with Russell 66 points behind after his victory last time out in Baku and eight meetings remaining. Hamilton sits third, 103 points back, with Norris fourth and 116 behind.

There is an unusual twist to this weekend. The Bahrain Grand Prix is being held at Sepang in Malaysia, replacing the meeting cancelled earlier this year because of the war in the Middle East. Sepang last hosted Formula 1 in 2017. Verstappen won that race.

For fans, this means a familiar face in an unfamiliar place. Verstappen knows how to win here. Now he has the clean air ahead of him to try again.