Lewis Hamilton’s first season as a Ferrari driver is set to end on a disappointing note after another poor qualifying session in Abu Dhabi.
With the final qualifying session of the year complete, here are the key statistics from every session.
Team mate battles
Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen concluded perfect seasons against their team mates in qualifying for grands prix. Alonso went unbeaten by Lance Stroll, and Verstappen by Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson.
The final grand prix qualifying score-lines between the drivers for this season are as follows:
Fernando Alonso 23 – 0 Lance Stroll
Max Verstappen 21 – 0 Yuki Tsunoda
George Russell 21 – 3 Andrea Kimi Antonelli
Charles Leclerc 19 – 5 Lewis Hamilton
Isack Hadjar 16 – 5 Liam Lawson
Pierre Gasly 12 – 4 Franco Colapinto
Oliver Bearman 14 – 9 Esteban Ocon
Carlos Sainz Jnr 14 – 10 Alexander Albon
Lando Norris 13 – 11 Oscar Piastri
Gabriel Bortoleto 12 – 11 Nico Hulkenberg
The final grand prix of the season saw Lando Norris and Gabriel Bortoleto clinch victories over their respective team mates. Bortoleto deserves particular credit for his achievement against a team mate as experienced as Nico Hulkenberg.
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Streaks
Neither Alonso nor Verstappen managed unbeaten runs in qualifying for sprint races. But in grands prix their unbeaten runs stretch back over a full season into 2024.
Out-qualified team mate
| Rank | Driver | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Alonso | 35 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | 30 |
| 3 | Pierre Gasly | 6 |
| = | Charles Leclerc | 6 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | 3 |
| = | George Russell | 3 |
| 7 | Isack Hadjar | 2 |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 1 |
| = | Esteban Ocon | 1 |
| = | Lando Norris | 1 |
Out-qualified by team mate
| Rank | Driver | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lance Stroll | 35 |
| 2 | Yuki Tsunoda | 22 |
| 3 | Franco Colapinto | 6 |
| = | Lewis Hamilton | 6 |
| 5 | Alexander Albon | 3 |
| = | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | 3 |
| 7 | Liam Lawson | 2 |
| 8 | Nico Hulkenberg | 1 |
| = | Oliver Bearman | 1 |
| = | Oscar Piastri | 1 |
Q1 eliminations and Q3 appearances
Heading into the final qualifying session of 2025, Yuki Tsunoda had been eliminated in Q1 for the last three rounds in a row, Hamilton the previous two. Q1 in Yas Marina proved decisive.
Tsunoda and Hamilton ended the session 15th and 16th respectively, the Red Bull driver making the cut by just eight thousandths of a second. Remarkably, he went on to reach Q3 by the even narrower margin of seven thousandths of a second.
Hamilton therefore ends his first season at Ferrari having been eliminated in Q1 for the last three rounds in a row, the most of any driver. He only had one other Q1 elimination all season. Stroll had the most with 15, followed by Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg on 13 each.
Only the McLaren drivers reached Q3 in every session. However George Russell likely would have done had he not suffered a technical problem in Monaco. Verstappen scored the most pole positions with eight to Lando Norris’s seven and Oscar Piastri’s six.
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Eliminated in Q1
| Rank | Driver | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 3 |
| 2 | Franco Colapinto | 2 |
| 3 | Nico Hulkenberg | 1 |
| = | Alexander Albon | 1 |
| = | Pierre Gasly | 1 |
Reached Q3
| Rank | Driver | Streak |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lando Norris | 31 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | 28 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | 17 |
| 4 | George Russell | 16 |
| 5 | Isack Hadjar | 5 |
| 6 | Fernando Alonso | 3 |
| = | Max Verstappen | 3 |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 1 |
| = | Yuki Tsunoda | 1 |
| = | Esteban Ocon | 1 |
Gaps between team mates
The McLaren drivers have often been close to inseparable in qualifying and the same was true again in the finale. Norris pipped Piastri by less than three-hundredths of a second: the closest gap in the field.
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2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
- Verstappen heard Russell’s request for a tow: “It makes me laugh”
- 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix strategy briefing: All the data to follow the race with
- Hamilton feeling “an unbearable amount of anger and rage” after another Q1 exit
- Russell expects ‘opportunities’ in race: ‘Max won’t let them finish one-two-three’
- Verstappen says backing Norris into rivals in race would be harder than in 2016