F1 LIVE | Delayed start as heavy rain hits Sepang - Follow the Bahrain GP in Malaysia here!

For the first time this season, a non-Mercedes powered car is on Pole for the Grand Prix, courtesy of a superb lap from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on Saturday. The four-time world champion has fond memories of Sepang, taking only his second-ever career victory the last time F1 raced in Malaysia in 2017.

Verstappen is joined on the front row by none other than long-time rival Lewis Hamilton, who has equalled his best-ever Qualifying result for Ferrari in P2. The last time Hamilton lined up on the front row was at the Barcelona-Catalunya GP in June, a race the Briton won ahead of George Russell and Lando Norris - can he repeat that feat today?

Speaking of Russell, it was a difficult Qualifying for Mercedes in Sepang. Despite arriving to the Bahrain GP with a major aerodynamic upgrade package, their first since the Canadian GP in May, Kimi Antonelli could only qualify P4 - although he starts third following Isack Hadjar’s engine penalty - while Russell finished a lowly P8. Having anticipated a 0.3s gain after the new upgrades, team principal Toto Wolff has lamented having gone backwards so far in Sepang.

Wolff told Sky Sports F1: “Something else is going on, and we have to understand. This is now working through the data and putting our heads together, because we still believe that the upgrade works. We just need to understand why not here.”

Alongside Hadjar, who starts P8, Alpine’s Franco Colapinto and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad have also received engine penalties. Already carrying a five-place penalty from his Azerbaijan GP crash with teammate Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris, Colapinto’s new 10-place penalty sees him start at the back of the grid, with Lindblad taking last spot after a raft of power unit changes beyond the allowed allocation for the season.