F1 champ Max Verstappen delivers brutal putdown to Red Bull team-mate at Bahrain Grand Prix

Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen delivers brutal putdown to Red Bull team-mate at Bahrain Grand Prix

Ouch!

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Saturday 3 October 2026 18:55

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Max Verstappen has taken a joking jab at his team-mate Isack Hadjar after qualifying for Sunday's Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia.

The Dutchman took his first pole position of the season with a great lap around the Sepang International Circuit, nearly three tenths ahead of second-placed Lewis Hamilton and a further tenth ahead of his own team-mate in third.

Hamilton and Verstappen have a combined 153 pole positions across their careers, exactly 153 poles more than second-year driver Hadjar has managed at the top level of the sport.

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The four-time world champion took the chance to remind his junior team-mate of that fact in the post-qualifying press conference for the top three when asked where the pole ranks among his best in the sport.

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Verstappen: Hard to rank pole positions

Verstappen admitted that he doesn't actually remember all of his 49 pole position laps, asking Hamilton if he did either – with the Brit (the only driver in the sport's history to top 100 starts from the front of the grid) shaking his head in response.

As for Hadjar...well.

"Honestly, I don’t remember them all," Verstappen said. "I mean, can you imagine? I’m not remembering them. Can you, Lewis? Do you remember them all? No, for sure not. There’s a few, you know."

He then turned to address his team-mate, saying: "You don’t remember your poles? They’re coming, they’re coming."

He continued: "No, it was good, but it also sometimes depends a bit on the track. Sometimes it’s just easier to do a clean lap when the track is probably a bit cooler. Around here, when it’s hot, it’s also very easy to overstep it or have a little moment, and then you’re not very satisfied with it.

"So I find it sometimes just very hard to rank it because of track conditions as well. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. It’s only your first, that’s what I care about. And sometimes, yes, it’s a bit easier, a bit better than others, but it was good enough."