'Incredible' Red Bull upgrade enlivens F1 in Malaysia
· Yahoo Sports
Even Lewis Hamilton, starting from his equal best grid position of the year in second place, fears Max Verstappen will be tough to beat in Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.
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Verstappen has dominated the weekend so far on Formula 1's return to the Sepang track for the first time since 2017.
Hamilton joins him on the front row to revive memories of their no-holds-barred title battle five years ago.
But at nearly 0.3 seconds slower in qualifying, and with the pace Verstappen has shown all weekend, Hamilton's mindset on Saturday was to "just try my best to hold on to him tomorrow".
This was Verstappen's first pole position of the year - a remarkable statistic for someone who came within two points of winning a fifth world title last year after one of the all-time great fightbacks.
Red Bull started the year off the pace - the car was on average more than 0.5secs a lap slower than Mercedes in the first half of the year - and for a time there were questions as to whether Verstappen would stick around for 2027.
But after being courted by McLaren, Verstappen signed a two-year contract extension over the summer break, saying he believed in the Red Bull project and didn't mind putting in the work to turn things around.
Verstappen arrived in Malaysia after a run of three consecutive podium finishes, and with Red Bull hoping to prove out an upgrade that had seen them finish less than 0.2secs off victory in Baku last Sunday.
In the tropical heat of Malaysia, around the demanding long corners of this track with perhaps the roughest surface of the season, the upgrade - centred on a new floor - has more than proved its worth.
"It's been an incredible result for us," Verstappen said. "Looking at the season, how it started for us and the progression that we have made. At some tracks we were kind of close, but now I think this weekend it was very positive for us.
"We have been adding bits to the car and they have worked. It's simple as that. When they work, you gain lap time, you have a better overall balance in the car.
"So with tyres that are very sensitive to balance, that gives you also more lap time.
"And then on a track probably where it's all very hot and you want a, let's say, stable balance or connected balance, then that's very important. And that's what we have found a little bit more over the last weekends."
Team-mate Isack Hadjar, who missed the first three races after the summer break with a wrist broken while boxing as part of his training programme, says the car felt transformed when he returned in Baku last weekend.
"I jumped in a car that's way better than when I left it in Budapest," said the Frenchman, who qualified third, but will start eighth after a grid penalty for exceeding his permitted number of engine parts.
"Definitely, when you step out actually for three races and you come back, you actually notice a bigger difference. And the last two weekends have been surprising."
A good car balance should put Verstappen in a good place for a race that will be dominated by tyre degradation in the stifling heat, whether the threatened rain holds off or not.
Where to look for a challenge to Verstappen?
Hamilton, for one, but also Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, who under-performed slightly in qualifying because of a combination between an unusual tyre strategy and an error on an early run.
The world championship leader's fourth place becomes third on the grid with Hadjar's penalty, and he can usually be relied upon to be a factor in the race.
Antonelli's main focus will be his advantage over team-mate George Russell, who trails the Italian by 66 points and starts four places behind, his momentum from his Baku win stalled, and somewhat perplexed as to his and his team's lack of pace.
At Mercedes, the bigger question is over the aerodynamic upgrade they brought to the car this weekend.
Mercedes are lagging behind their rivals when it comes to developing their car this season, apparently at least in part because they front-loaded their spend early in the season.
But this first big update since the Canadian Grand Prix in June has not yet proved the step they had expected.
The question is whether that is to do with the parts themselves or the very specific conditions of this weekend, in the heat and on the rough track surface, which is putting the tyres through the mill, and massively limiting the useful laps teams can do in terms of set-up work.
Antonelli said: "With this new package, obviously the window of the way the car operates is different. So, we're trying to understand in which window the car performance is best, in the high-speed corner and low-speed corners.
"Our high-speed performance has been very strong this weekend. We were very quick in the high-speed, but in the low-speed we lacked. So, we need to understand why and try to move on and improve."
As for the race, Antonelli said: "Track position is going to be very important. Strategy is going to be really important.
"It's a race where we will attack. Because undercut (stopping first and gaining time on a rival on fresh tyres) is incredibly powerful.
"So whenever there's an opportunity, we should go for maybe an undercut and try to maximise our opportunity.
"Tomorrow might be two stops, three stops. We don't know. But the only thing we know is that it's going to be roasting hot out there."