Max Verstappen took the final pole position of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, ahead of title rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
Verstappen dominated Q3, completing two fast laps and setting a best time of 1 minute 22.207 seconds, taking his eighth pole position of the year, the most for a driver in 2025. Using only used tires in Q2 made the road easier, and he was one of three drivers (none of whom were in a McLaren) able to have two sets of new softs in Q3.
The Dutchman used them effectively and took provisional pole, setting purple times in the first two sectors and doubling them on the final lap. This surprised McLaren, who had looked like a team capable of winning throughout practice, while Red Bull seemed to be struggling with their setup.
“I definitely think it felt a little bit better in qualifying because of the changes[made after FP3],” he said. “In Q3, the track temperature was dropping around here so we could push a little bit more and that’s exactly what we did.
“We were able to improve our lap time a little bit more and of course I’m very happy to be in first place. That’s the only thing we can do, the only thing we can control. We’ll try to get the most out of everything the car has and we definitely achieved that in qualifying.”
The battle for the front row spot was dominated by McLaren team-mates Norris and Piastri, with the Australian taking the lead on the first run by a margin of 0.129 seconds.
Norris’ clean lap turned the tables on his final run, with Piastri’s response just 0.029 seconds behind. However, neither could get close to Verstappen, with Norris’ best time 0.201 seconds slower than the reigning champion.
“Congratulations to Max because he did a good job,” Norris said. “We did everything we could.
“I think my lap was pretty good. I’m pretty happy. Of course it’s disappointing not to get pole position on the final weekend, but I wasn’t fast enough today. I’ll have to try that tomorrow.”
Even if the title contenders finish where they started, Norris will still win the championship, and a podium finish will seal the deal, regardless of where the others finish.
Yas Marina’s last 10 pole sitters go on to win races.
“There will be a time to think about it,” Norris said. “For now, it’s a shame that we couldn’t get pole position. We still want to win tomorrow, so that will be our goal.”
Piastri was pleased to be able to bounce back from a difficult Friday that forced him to miss FP1 and slow him down in FP2.
“It was good to finally get into a rhythm going into the weekend,” he said. “Honestly, I think the last lap of Q3 was pretty good. There was nothing left. Tomorrow is going to be a pretty exciting day.”
The Australian suggested it would be difficult for Verstappen to win from pole position.
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” he said. “Max looked very fast on his long runs this weekend and was obviously very fast in one lap. We’ll see how much pace is a factor tomorrow.”
George Russell was ruffled en route to fourth place, 0.438 seconds off the pace. He was less than 0.1 seconds faster than Charles Leclerc, but he was surprised to advance to Q3 in a resistant Ferrari.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished sixth ahead of Gabriel Bortleto, who finished 12-11 in qualifying with teammate Nico Hulkenberg.
Esteban Ocon finished eighth in his third Q3 appearance this year, and first since Monaco in May.
Isaac Hajar qualified ninth in his 16th Q3 appearance, the most of any midfield driver, ahead of both front-runners Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda.
Tsunoda, making his seventh Q3 appearance for Red Bull Racing and his first since Azerbaijan in September, qualified 10th with no time after being trailed by Verstappen in a slipstream on his first run. The team appears to have tried to create the same scenario for Verstappen’s second lap, but failed.
Oliver Bearman missed out on qualifying for Q3 by just 0.007 seconds and will start the race from 11th ahead of Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson.
Kimi Antonelli was disappointed to be eliminated in 14th place, with the Italian rookie complaining that he didn’t have enough grip on his final run and fell off faster than Lance Stroll in 15th place.
Lewis Hamilton suffered his third successive Q1 knockout in the final qualifying session in an intense final chapter of his first Ferrari race.
Hamilton’s car is ready for the start of Q1 following repairs following his crash in FP3, and the Brit reported that he felt good from the cockpit during a short medium tire shakedown to check the work. However, the Briton was unable to put together a competitive lap at the end of Q1, when the course was rapidly improving, and a rough final sector meant he was eliminated in 16th place, just 0.008 seconds short of qualifying for the next segment.
Williams’ Alex Albon was eliminated in 17th place, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto. Even though they had multiple laps removed for exceeding track limits, their lap at the back of the pack was typical.
result
