Verstappen Takes Pole as Red Bull Upgrade Thrills in Malaysia — SkimNews
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- Max Verstappen claimed his first pole position of the year, qualifying nearly 0.3 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton, who said he would "just try my best to hold on to him tomorrow".
- Red Bull's new floor upgrade transformed the car's pace, after the team started the year more than 0.5 seconds a lap slower than Mercedes in the first half of the season.
- Isack Hadjar qualified third but drops to eighth due to a grid penalty for exceeding permitted engine parts; he missed the previous three races after breaking his wrist boxing during training.
- Mercedes brought their first major aerodynamic upgrade since the Canadian Grand Prix in June, but Kimi Antonelli said it has yet to deliver the expected step, with high-speed gains offset by weak low-speed pace.
- Kimi Antonelli will start third after Hadjar's penalty, with team-mate George Russell trailing him by 66 points in the standings and starting four places behind.
- Verstappen signed a two-year contract extension over the summer break after being courted by McLaren, having previously raised doubts about whether he would stay through 2027.
Why it matters: The qualifying gap between Verstappen and the Mercedes duo — and Hamilton's own concession that he can only try to hold on — confirms Red Bull's upgrade has genuinely closed a deficit that once put Verstappen's future at the team in question. Mercedes arrived in Malaysia with their own first major upgrade since June, and Antonelli's own admission that it hasn't worked as expected leaves them defending rather than attacking.
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