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McLaren left qualifying at Sepang with clear concerns over its pace after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri lined up sixth and seventh, both more than six tenths off Max Verstappen’s pole time. Norris described the car as “just slow” after saying a power unit issue and a straight-line speed deficit cost him time on the long straights, while Piastri said a lack of grip through Turn 2 on his final Q3 lap prevented him from improving. Andrea Stella also said Norris’ car continued to suffer in a straight line.

Norris was 0.627 seconds behind Verstappen and just 0.005 seconds ahead of Piastri, who had been fourth after the opening Q3 runs before failing to improve on his last attempt. Both McLaren cars are set to move up one place on the grid after Isack Hadjar received a five-place penalty for changing engine components. Verstappen took pole, and for the first time in 2026 no Mercedes-powered car started from the front.

The qualifying setback came after a mixed Friday for McLaren, which struggled in FP1 when Piastri was 11th and Norris 12th on a low-grip, rougher-than-expected track. The team recovered in FP2, with Norris third and Piastri sixth, and both drivers said they had made progress. Piastri still said McLaren was a step behind the front-runners, while Norris said the race would be long and that pit stops and position changes could still offer opportunities. McLaren remained optimistic about its race pace, with Piastri saying strategy and tire degradation could play major roles.

Mercedes drivers George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli were set to race without cooling vests at the Malaysian Grand Prix after the team chose to focus its Formula 1 cost-cap resources on car performance instead of fully developing the system. The FIA declared the Sepang weekend a heat-hazard event, with temperatures forecast to top 31C and track temperatures reaching about 60C in high humidity on Friday. Russell said the cockpit would feel like “sitting in an oven.”

Russell said the cooling-vest system should be available to all drivers and argued that Formula 1 should either give teams extra cost-cap room for the technology or develop a standard solution centrally. He said Mercedes had not put enough resource into making the vest robust enough and spent the money on performance development for the W17 instead. The FIA system can pump chilled liquid through a fireproof top, and Russell said the issue mattered after he needed medical attention for dehydration or heat exhaustion at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. He also said Ferrari and McLaren drivers will use the vests.

Mercedes brought a seven-component upgrade package to Sepang, including a new floor and changes to the sidepods and rear suspension. The team expects the package to improve pace by about three tenths. Russell said he wants to use the cooling vest next week in Singapore, and Max Verstappen said he would also race without one after extensive preparation.

Mercedes’ latest W17 upgrade package arrived at Sepang with high expectations, but the team’s first major update since May did not produce the gains it wanted in Malaysia’s heat. Toto Wolff said Mercedes had expected the package to be worth about three-tenths of a second per lap, only for it to appear three, four or five tenths slower. He said the hot, abrasive track made the car harder to understand, even though Mercedes still believed the upgrade worked and needed more analysis to explain the lack of performance.

Friday practice offered mixed early signs before the problems reappeared. George Russell was second in first practice, 0.383 seconds behind Max Verstappen, while Kimi Antonelli was fifth. Track temperatures reached 56C, and tyre overheating and degradation quickly became the main issue for Mercedes. In second practice, Russell and Antonelli fell to seventh and eighth after both failed to hook up clean flying laps on soft tyres. Charles Leclerc topped the session, with Verstappen fourth and both McLaren drivers close to the front of the field.

Russell said he could feel more downforce from the revised floor, rear suspension and bodywork, but said the tyre problem mattered more than the upgrade itself. He said Mercedes needed overnight setup changes to address the overheating and heavy degradation, and deputy team principal Bradley Lord called it one of the team’s toughest Fridays of the season. Lord said the package was behaving as expected, while Andrew Shovlin said long-run pace was the bigger concern. Russell still warned that Verstappen looked very fast, and said McLaren also appeared strong on race pace as Mercedes tried to work out whether the new parts would deliver the edge it expected.

The earlier practice sessions were split between Verstappen and Ferrari, with Verstappen fastest in FP1 at 1:37.520 ahead of Russell, Hadjar, Leclerc, Antonelli and Hamilton. McLaren focused on setup work in that session, leaving Norris and Piastri down in 12th and 11th. Ferrari then led FP2 through Leclerc, who went quickest ahead of Hadjar, Norris, Verstappen, Hamilton, Piastri, Russell and Antonelli. Verstappen spent about 15 minutes in the Red Bull garage because of a seat issue and did not complete a proper soft-tyre qualifying run, while a stoppage for Gabriel Bortoleto’s car brought out a virtual safety car. Tire wear was a major issue through the day in the hot, humid conditions at Sepang, where F1 returned for the first time since 2017.

Kimi Antonelli had set the tone in final practice by topping the session in his upgraded Mercedes with a lap of 1:36.302, 0.278 seconds ahead of Verstappen. Hadjar finished third, Russell fourth, Leclerc fifth and Hamilton sixth, while Norris and Piastri were seventh and eighth. The session was briefly red-flagged after debris from Oliver Bearman’s Haas was found at Turn 10. Mercedes came into Saturday after what the team described as one of its toughest Fridays of the season, and the one-lap pace from Antonelli and Russell pointed to a fight with Red Bull for pole.

Max Verstappen then took provisional pole for Red Bull in qualifying at Sepang with a lap of 1:35.130, edging Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli as the session moved toward its final stages. Hadjar was third fastest, with Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and George Russell filling out the rest of the top eight. Hadjar also faced a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his power unit component limit, while Franco Colapinto was handed a five-place penalty for contact with Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris and a separate 10-place drop for power unit changes. Arvid Lindblad received a 30-place penalty for power unit changes, and no investigations had been announced.

Formula 1 qualifying at Sepang opened with Max Verstappen setting the early Q2 pace for Red Bull on soft tires, his 1:35.696 leaving Charles Leclerc 0.274 seconds back and Lewis Hamilton 0.336 behind. Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Lando Norris were also inside the top five early in the session, though Antonelli had his first run deleted for a track-limits violation.

The qualifying picture came after Antonelli had topped final practice in an upgraded Mercedes with a 1:36.302 lap, 0.278 seconds clear of Verstappen. Isack Hadjar was third, George Russell fourth, Leclerc fifth and Hamilton sixth, with Norris and Oscar Piastri seventh and eighth. Final practice was interrupted by a red flag after debris was found at Turn 10, apparently from Oliver Bearman’s Haas, and teams continued to deal with tire wear and the hot, humid Sepang conditions.

In Q1, both Aston Martins advanced to Q2, and Arvid Lindblad took the final transfer spot with a 1:37.883. Nico Hülkenberg, Oliver Bearman, Esteban Ocon, Alex Albon, Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez were eliminated.