Antonelli: clean qualifying might have made P2 or P3 possible

F1 / NEWS & CONTEXTNEWS & CONTEXT

At the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, held at Sepang, Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth. He said P2 or P3 might have been possible without his Q2 track-limits violation. The deleted lap left him with fewer fresh sets available for Q3. Before the race, Formula 1 reported that Isack Hadjar’s penalty would move Antonelli to third on the starting grid.

From the GPBeat newsroomPublished · 04 Oct 2026, 06:05 · 1 min

Kimi Antonelli qualified fourth for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia at Sepang, with a best Q3 lap of 1:35.631. The stewards deleted his first Q2 lap, timed at 1:36.075, after he exceeded track limits at Turn 6.

After the deletion, Antonelli needed an extra push lap in Q2 and returned on new soft tyres, leaving him with fewer fresh sets for Q3. He made one flying effort just before the rest of the pack came out again late in the session.

After qualifying, Antonelli said P2 or P3 might have been possible without the Q2 violation. He added that another set could have let him fight for the front row, but not pole, because Verstappen was too quick.

Before the race, Formula 1 reported that Isack Hadjar’s penalty would move Antonelli up to third on the starting grid.

Sources 04