Verstappen beats title rivals to pole position for championship-deciding finale

Max Verstappen ensured he will start the championship-deciding race ahead of his championship rivals and everyone else by taking pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver looked strong from the start of qualifying and produced two laps in Q3 which were quick enough to put him at the head of the field.

Championship leader Lando Norris will join him on the front row of the grid, followed by Oscar Piastri.

Q1

Lewis Hamilton was among the first drivers to join the track as qualifying began, taking the chance to assess his repaired Ferrari on a set of medium compound tyres. Once that was done he quickly switched to a set of softs and put up the fifth-fastest time.

The Alpine pair and Lance Stroll struggled to get clean laps in, especially Franco Colapinto, whose first two efforts were both deleted for track limits infringements at turn one. They ended Q1 at the bottom of the times.

Charles Leclerc was in the drop zone as the final runs began having only set a time on the mediums. However after switching to the softs he comfortably made it through in fifth place.

The same couldn’t be said for his team mate. A late run for Hamilton was only good enough for 15th, before Gabriel Bortoleto went even quicker in the Sauber and condemned him to another Q1 elimination. Hamilton ended the session just eight thousandths of a second shy of Yuki Tsunoda, who scraped into Q2.

Nico Hulkenberg failed to accompany his younger team mate into Q2 and dropped out, as did Alexander Albon. Piastri ended the session on top of the times with a rapid final lap which put him almost six tenths of a second ahead of his team mate.

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Q1 result

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Q2

The championship contenders opted for used soft tyres at the beginning of Q2 and were initially out-paced by Russell on a new set. The Mercedes driver led Verstappen and the Mercedes duo after the first runs.

Every driver joined the track at the end of the session with one exception: Verstappen. But even after the others set their times he remained second behind Russell, while Norris rose to third place.

Another superb lap by Gabriel Bortoleto ensured he grabbed a place in Q3. Charles Leclerc was visibly fighting his Ferrari as he got through in sixth.

Bearman was unable to translate his strong start to the weekend into a place in Q3, though his team mate Esteban Ocon made it through. He was one of three drivers to leave his team mate behind at this stage: Isack Hadjar went through in his final appearance for Racing Bulls and Fernando Alonso completed a perfect record against Lance Stroll in grand prix qualifying sessions. Neither Williams driver made it to Q3 as Carlos Sainz Jnr fell short with his last lap, joining Albon on the sidelines.

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Q2 result

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Q3

Verstappen took full advantage of his team mate making one of his rare appearances in Q3, as Red Bull arranged for Tsunoda to give him a tow down Yas Marina’s long straights. With Verstappen also doing his first lap on a new set of tyres, he comfortably went fastest with a lap of 1’22.295.

The McLaren drivers used old tyres for their first runs: Piastri took second, three tenths of a second behind, Norris next a further tenth back.

The two orange cars took to the track ahead of Verstappen for their final runs, now on fresh tyres. Piastri, first across the line, couldn’t find enough to move up the order. Norris did, but it was only enough to relegate his team mate from the front row of the grid.

Verstappen tightened his grip on pole position by lowering his time to a 1’22.207. Russell was the last driver who looked like he had a chance to beat him but he could only manage fourth behind the McLarens, oversteering wildly out of the last corner.

Leclerc salvaged a strong fifth for Ferrari ahead of Alonso and Bortoleto. Tsunoda will start 10th in the second Red Bull having not set a time in Q3.

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Q3 result

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