Formula One 2026: Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia qualifying – live

It is warm at Sepang – around 32C this afternoon with high humidity, with track temperatures heading north of 50C and up towards 60C. Unlike next weekend’s Singapore GP, qualifying and the race in Malaysia will take place during the day. Track temperatures will have more of an impact on tyres tomorrow.

I’d be scrambling for the shade of a palm tree on those trackside banks of grass.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The race was postponed from its original date in April because of war in the Middle East. The fact that conflict is still ongoing means F1 returns to Malaysia this weekend for the first time since 2017. Temperatures at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur are high – the meeting has been declared a heat-hazard race – and the stakes are high too. Will Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli extend his 66-point lead at the top of the standings or can his teammate George Russell follow up on his victory in Baku last weekend?

Isack Hadjar, Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto will have grid-place penalties for tomorrow’s race after bringing in more ICE (Internal Combustion Engines) than is allowed over the course of the season. In Colapinto’s case, he already had a five-place penalty after his crash into Pierre Gasly and a very miffed Lando Norris at the Azerbaijan GP. Norris called for a one-race ban for Colapinto and said some drivers “shouldn’t be there” in F1 but has since apologised for his comments.

Q1 in Malaysia gets under way at 9am BST, 4pm local time, 6pm AEST. Let’s roll.