‘Probably My Best Lap of the Year’: Hamilton Shares the Front Row With Verstappen, Fears the Tyres
Lewis Hamilton will start Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix from second on the grid in Sepang, just 0.298 seconds shy of Max Verstappen’s pole. It’s his second front-row start of 2026, and the first time he and Verstappen have shared the front row since Hungary 2023 — a pairing that sounds more like a promise than a genuine threat to Red Bull just yet.
Hamilton wasn’t shy about the lap itself: “Probably my best lap of the year,” he said afterward. But the euphoria stops roughly where Sunday begins — 56 laps he’s already calling “a completely different ballgame.” Ferrari appears to give up ground to Red Bull in a straight line, clawing a little back through the low-speed corners, a trade that’s unlikely to be enough on its own.
The real puzzle is the tyres. “Making these tyres last around this track — they’re overheating from the get-go,” Hamilton explained, hinting his race plan leans toward tyre management rather than chasing Verstappen lap for lap. Behind them, Antonelli starts third and Leclerc fourth, giving Ferrari the entire second row. Lights out is at 8am UK time, with plenty of questions still hanging over tyre survival in Sepang’s heat.
Source: Sky Sports (https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/13594548/lewis-hamilton-ferrari-driver-hopes-he-can-battle-max-verstappen-for-bahrain-gp-in-malaysia-win-after-f1-qualifying-front-row)
