Lewis Hamilton achieved his first pole position for Scuderia Ferrari by taking P1 for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. The seven-time champion will start alongside his old title rival Max Verstappen.

McLaren had looked dominant until the third sprint qualifying segment, with Oscar Piastri only third while Lando Norris was down in sixth after making mistakes on both of his attempts.

Hamilton had been hooked up for the whole day and, having taken six Grand Prix poles and six victories in Shanghai, he will once again start from P1 with a lap-record time of one minute 30.849 seconds.

The seven-time world champion struggled on his Ferrari debut in Australia but looked much more comfortable and will be hoping to convert pole to sprint victory on Saturday.

Verstappen, who finished second in Melbourne, starts on the front row following his own fine lap, while Charles Leclerc is fourth for Ferrari.

The Mercedes pair of George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli will be disappointed to only be fifth and seventh, respectively, while Yuki Tsunoda, Alex Albon and Lance Stroll rounded out the top ten.

It had appeared the McLarens were trying to edge each other to take pole but Piastri’s best effort was ultimately beaten by both Hamilton and Verstappen while two small mistakes cost Norris a shot at being further up the field.

Fernando Alonso will start the sprint race in P11 with Oliver Bearman impressing for Haas by taking P12 ahead of Carlos Sainz, Gabriel Bortoleto and Isack Hadjar.

While Norris ran wide on his first SQ1 run, Piastri took half a second out of the Ferraris who had been sitting at the top of the timesheets.

However, it was another tricky session for Liam Lawson, who was last and over a second and a half off SQ1 pace-setter Hamilton having had a lap time deleted.

Both Alpines were also eliminated in SQ1, Jack Doohan beating Pierre Gasly for P16, while Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg were slower than their respective rookie teammates down in P18 and P19.

So a surprising and yet welcoming news that Lewis Hamilton achieved his first pole position in red. Yes, this is for the sprint but it is still a fantastic result for Lewis. That gives confidence that the seven-time champion still has the speed.

Chinese Grand Prix, sprint qualifying results:
1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:30.849
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:30.867
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:30.929
4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:31.057
5 George Russell Mercedes 1:31.169
6 Lando Norris McLaren 1:31.393
7 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:31.738
8 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls 1:31.773
9 Alexander Albon Williams 1:31.852
10 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:31.982
11 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:31.815
12 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:31.978
13 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:32.325
14 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:32.564
15 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls No time
16 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:32.575
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:32.640
18 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:32.651
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:32.675
20 Liam Lawson Red Bull 1:32.729

That was Drive to Survive for Lando Norris as the McLaren driver won the opening race of the new 2025 Formula 1 world championship at the Australian Grand Prix.

Starting in the wet and with changeable conditions throughout the afternoon, Norris took the chequered flag and showed its advantage over the rest of the field.

Max Verstappen finished second, pushing Norris to the very end of the 57 laps as last season’s top two show off its class.

The curse of the home drivers hit Oscar Piastri, who finished a lowly P9 after bogging down in the grass, having followed Norris off the track on lap 44.

It was a good day for Mercedes, with George Russell largely keeping himself out of all of the trouble to take the final step of the podium.

Russell’s new teammate Andrea Kimi Antonelli crossed the line fourth but was hit with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release and dropped below Alex Albon, who put in a fine performance for Williams.

Ferrari had underperformed in qualifying and suffered a tough race, Charles Leclerc finishing eighth and Lewis Hamilton in tenth after a gamble with the weather did not pay off.

There were strong performances for Lance Stroll, who was sixth for Aston Martin, and Nico Hulkenberg a place further back for Sauber.

The demanding conditions caught out four of the 2025 rookies, with Isack Hadjar, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto and Liam Lawson all crashing out.

Inclement weather throughout the day meant no decision over whether to start the new season behind the safety car was taken until the last moment, with a traditional start in place as the rain held off and all 20 drivers opted for the intermediate tyre.

Hadjar was out before the race even began as he spun his Racing Bulls at turn two, damaging his rear wing against the barrier, leading to an aborted start and leaving visibly upset.

Once the delayed race was under way, Alpine’s Doohan lost it into the wall as his hopes of performing well in his home race were ended, bringing out the safety car as a result.

It was not only the newcomers who were struggling, however, as Carlos Sainz, last year’s race winner at Albert Park, crashed out on the final corner behind the safety car, prematurely ending his Williams debut.

By that point, Verstappen had already passed Piastri in the opening corners to split the McLarens, with Norris having got away with incident to lead the pack as the two accidents were cleared away.

Racing resumed at the end of lap seven with the track continuing to dry out and very quickly the drivers were having to go off-line to seek wet patches and keep the intermediate tyres working.

Piastri battled back up to second as he closed in on Verstappen before the reigning world champion made a rare mistake in the wet, going straight on at turn 11 and just avoiding the gravel.

Verstappen was unhappy with his tyres and dropped off the back of the McLaren duo, while Piastri began to make inroads into Lando’s lead up front.

The removal of Papaya Rules had suggested Norris and Piastri would be free to race one another, but as the latter closed in he was told over team radio to maintain position as both drivers worked through the first clutch of backmarkers.

“Time to go racing,” McLaren CEO Zak Brown told Sky Sports F1 after the Haas pair had been lapped, although Piastri ran wide to give Norris some breathing space as the track entered the window for slick tyres to be considered.

The stops were triggered as Fernando Alonso became the next driver to find himself in the wall; the Aston Martin spun at turn 6 with Antonelli closing in, bringing out the safety car again.

Norris and Piastri both switched to the hard compound while Verstappen, who had been nowhere near the top two before the Alonso crash, switched on a set of mediums ahead of the restart.

As the Alonso wreckage was slowly cleared away, all eyes on the pitwall turned skywards with rain clouds moving over Albert Park, although the 16 remaining runners were all on slicks by the time the safety car peeled off.

Remarkably, those collective decisions were undermined almost immediately as heavy rain started to fall, with both McLarens running off, Norris holding on to pit but Piastri running onto the grass.

With Norris pitting, Verstappen inherited the lead for the first time in the race and Hamilton moving up to second having battled past team-mate Leclerc, the Williams of Albon and Yuki Tsuonda’s Racing Bulls.

With the rain falling ever harder, Ferrari took the gamble to stay out as both Bortoleto and Lawson spun and brought out a third safety car – ruining the chances of Hamilton or Leclerc springing a surprise as they were both forced to pit for intermediates.

Once again, Norris was leading a safety car restart with just five laps remaining and he was able to keep ahead of the pack, while Leclerc edged past Hamilton as the Ferraris fought over the minor points.

Verstappen set about Norris in the closing stages but was unable to find a way past, while Piastri recovered to ninth by passing Hamilton on the final lap.

So a crazy race at Albert Park and yet Lando Norris kept calm to take McLaren first win of the new season. This is an excellent start and hopefully can build up the points to take the championship.

Australian Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:42:06.304
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +0.895s
3 George Russell Mercedes +8.481s
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +10.135s
5 Alexander Albon Williams +12.773s
6 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +17.413s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber +18.423s
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +19.826s
9 Oscar Piastri McLaren +20.448s
10 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +22.473s
11 Pierre Gasly Alpine +26.502s
12 Yuki Tsunoda Racing Bulls +29.884s
13 Esteban Ocon Haas +33.161s
14 Oliver Bearman Haas +40.351s
Liam Lawson Red Bull DNF
Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber DNF
Fernando Alonso Aston Martin DNF
Carlos Sainz Williams DNF
Jack Doohan Alpine DNF
Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls DNF

It is a Papaya front row in the opening race of the new 2025 Formula 1 season with Lando Norris leading Oscar Piastri to a McLaren 1-2 at the Australian Grand Prix. Defending world champion Max Verstappen is third for Red Bull.

In the other Red Bull, Liam Lawson was eliminated in Q1, as was new Mercedes recruit Andrea Kimi Antonelli, while Alex Albon and Yuki Tsunoda producing awesome Q3 efforts for Williams and Racing Bulls respectively.

The McLaren drivers had to work for it on the final runs in Q3, as both made mistakes on their first runs, after which Verstappen led the pack.

Piastri, who slid too deep at the penultimate corner on his first flying lap in the final segment, going at the top of the pack on the final laps – the home crowd favourite set a time of one minute, 15.180 seconds and provisional pole with a huge gain on the rest in the final sector.

But behind came Norris – having lost his first Q3 lap for a track-limits slip at Turn 4 – and Abu Dhabi winner went even quicker in the final sector after leading the opening third too, with pole established at one minute, 15.096 seconds by a 0.084 seconds margin to Piastri.

Because the rest could not match the McLarens, as Verstappen’s Q3 run two improvement left him 0.385 seconds adrift at the finish.

George Russell took fourth for Mercedes, with Tsunoda’s final lap missed by Formula 1’s world television feed as it came after so many of the rest – including Albon ahead on the track – and finished.

The Racing Bulls driver demoted Albon to sixth, plus the Ferrari pair led by Charles Leclerc in seventh.

Lewis Hamilton was eighth in his first qualifying session with the Scuderia.

Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz trailed Hamilton at the end of the top ten, with all three producing personal bests at the end of Q3.

In the middle segment, Isack Hadjar’s late personal best was not enough to progress and it was the same story for the Aston Martin drivers behind – Fernando Alonso leading Lance Stroll – with the racing green team later stating Alonso had damaged his floor in an early Q2 off in the gravel behind Turn 10.

Jack Doohan went to P14 on a late lap set just after Hamilton spun awkwardly at Turn 11 as Ferrari kept its drivers circulating on aging softs, with Gabriel Bortoleto was the last Q2 faller but left a memorable first impression on Formula 1 qualifying by saving a wild moment exiting Turn 4 on his final flier.

In Q1, Bortoleto’s last-gasp improvement knocked out Antonelli, who produced a personal best on his final flying lap after his previous lap had featured his Mercedes scraping dramatically along the ground and the team later said was linked to damage to his car’s floor.

Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and his replacement at Haas, Esteban Ocon, were eliminated in P17 and P19 – either side of Lawson, the other shock Q1 faller.

After missing FP3 with his engine issue he headed out immediately, but multiple wayward moments on his final lap meant he abandoned it in the pits. This was a challenging start for Lawson.

Lawson only qualifies ahead of Oliver Bearman in the other Haas, who reported a gearbox issue on his Q1 outlap, which followed his FP1 crash, missed FP2 and FP3 gravel-beaching.

So an awesome start to the new season with a solid team effort by McLaren to take the front row. Rain is on the horizon on Sunday so expect Max Verstappen to showcase his impressive wet weather driving. Bring on race day!

Australian Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:15.096
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:15.180
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:15.481
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:15.546
5 Yuki Tsuonda Racing Bulls 1:15.670
6 Alex Albon Williams 1:15.737
7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:15.755
8 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:15.973
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:15.980
10 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:16.062
11 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:16.175
12 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:16.453
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:16.483
14 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:16.863
15 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:17.520
16 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:16.525
17 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:16.579
18 Liam Lawson Red Bull 1:17.094
19 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:17.147
20 Oliver Bearman Haas No time

Red Bull Racing has revealed their 2025 Formula 1 challenger, the RB21, prior to the pre-season test at Bahrain.

This is the car that Max Verstappen hopes will lead to a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.

Ahead of Formula 1’s three-day winter test, Red Bull unveil its updated car design for the upcoming season, the final one under the current ground-effect based regulations cycle that will be driven by Verstappen and his new teammate Liam Lawson.

Sporting a very similar livery to last season’s car, which had already been revealed at F1 75 launch in London, the RB21 is an evolution of the RB20 and has undergone a variety of changes to address the car balance issues that plagued its predecessor, although the low-light studio images released by the team still carefully kept most of its secrets hidden from view.

Verstappen and Red Bull started the 2024 season in dominant form, but as McLaren caught up and then overtook, Verstappen and especially teammate Sergio Perez started to struggle much more with balance problems on the RB20.

It took until the Italian Grand Prix for Red Bull to gain a deeper understanding of where it had gone wrong, but by that time it was too late to avoid slipping to third behind McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors’ standings.

According to technical director Pierre Wache, Red Bull has been hard at work to make its new car easier to balance and set up, but without compromising the car’s peak performance potential.

“The main thing that you are trying to achieve is a balance between making a car that is quicker than the others and making it nice to drive so that drivers can extract the most from it,” Wache said. “You know that if you increase the [operating] window you also reduce the overall potential.

“In 2023 we were proved that our direction was correct because we were quicker than the others. Last season we were proved that we were not correct. Every time there is a limit when the balance takes the benefit compared to the overall potential of the car. We have to fix it for this year.”

Going to be interesting if this car has the speed to match their rivals especially McLaren and Ferrari.

Alpine’s new 2025 Formula 1 racer was revealed in a shakedown ahead of the new season at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Officially a filming day, the test was run over a maximum of 200km (124 miles) with demonstration tyres, as per the regulations.

Both Pierre Gasly and his new, rookie teammate Jack Doohan got a first taste of the A525, with the day “split evenly” between them, team principal Oliver Oakes said.

Alpine had previously revealed its latest blue-and-pink livery at the F175 Live event in London, but now we see the actual 2025 car.

“It is only a shakedown, limited running, so it’s not like we are driving the car at its full potential, but the initial feeling felt smooth, and I am just looking forward to getting going and having a proper run later this week for official pre-season testing,” Gasly commented.

Alpine revealed its line-up for the upcoming pre-season running, which will also take place in Bahrain this week. Gasly and Doohan will share the track on all three days.

“It will be three busy days where we have many things to run through in order to develop the A525 ahead of the season start,” Doohan said, while Oakes mentioned “multiple areas of interest for us to keep learning and progressing”.

Gasly previously gave Alpine an ambitious top-five goal in the 2025 constructors’ championship, which would require the squad to be the ‘best of the rest’ behind the four established top teams.

Aston Martin becomes the latest Formula 1 team to show off their definitive 2025 racer, after revealing its livery at the F1 75 Live event earlier.

These are the first images of the AMR25 which features much changed sidepods compared to its predecessor than the AMR24. While unlike Ferrari, Aston Martin has stuck with a pushrod front suspension and the British outfit has also applied this arrangement at the rear of its machines.

The AMR25 features a largely unchanged livery from 2024, having been first disclosed along with the colour schemes for the other nine Formula 1 outfits at F175.

It comes after a disappointing year for Aston Martin, as it finished fifth in the 2024 constructors’ standings with no podiums having claimed eight of them in 2023.

“We learnt a lot in 2024 and the team have been using that as a driving force as we head into this season with the AMR25,” said its driver Fernando Alonso.

“The competition is going to be very tight in the last year of the current regulations, but I know the team have been working hard at the AMRTC to make sure we are ready.”

His teammate Lance Stroll added: “Everyone at the AMRTC has put in a lot of work over the winter to improve for 2025. As a team, we all want to perform well and we will continue to learn over the course of the year.

“What we are building here is such an exciting project with great tools and talented people, and 2025 is a key year for us to make progress.”

Aston Martin views the upcoming campaign as one where it must demonstrate to owner Lawrence Stroll that it will not go backwards having fallen away since the start of 2023 and in the AMR25 that its technical team has taken onboard the feedback from Alonso and Stroll Jr.

In particular, the team has wanted to address the low-speed corner handling and through-corner balance for its drivers.

The AMR25 is also the first Aston Martin to really benefit from the team’s rebuilt and expanded factory situated across the road from British Grand Prix venue, Silverstone.

At F1 75, new team boss Andy Cowell – the ultra-successful ex-Mercedes engine chief – was keen to highlight to the assembled media that the reworked factory has meant the AMR25 spent longer being designed before going into production compared to its predecessors.

This should benefit Aston Martin in its new design being that bit more mature regarding its development before even being assembled for the first time.

Alonso and Stroll will complete a filming day with the AMR25 on Monday – alongside Mercedes and its W16 challenger – in Bahrain ahead of 2025 pre-season testing starting at the Sakhir track on the 26-28 February.

To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Formula 1 World Championship, a special launch event was held at London’s The O2 arena featuring all ten teams taking part in the 2025 season. Each outfit revealed their liveries for the upcoming campaign in front of a live audience.

Sauber finished last in the previous season’s championship so went first with McLaren as the constructors’ champions being the last team to show its colours.

Have to say, the best livery is definitely the Racing Bulls, following a rebrand from Visa Cash App RB. The while look is very similar to what Red Bull ran at the Turkish Grand Prix back in 2021.

Not a fan of the white engine cover on the Ferrari and yet very cool to see the number 44. So much hype is surrounding the Scuderia as the seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton is driving for this team in the upcoming season.

As for Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes. Very similar colour scheme from the past year. Going to be fascinating how close the competition will be between these top trio.

Regarding the other cars which were revealed in the event, the Alpine looks nice with the extra pink and blue. Haas has tweaked their familiar black, red and white livery. The Williams is very blue! As for the Sauber, it feels like an Xbox-branded racing car. At least it was an upgrade from last year’s green and black stripes.

The best-looking is definitely the Racing Bulls. Very white and yet love the little detail especially the mini Red Bull icons at the back of the car. Stylish.

Lando Norris won the season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and securing the McLaren team it’s first constructors’ championship since 1998, with Carlos Sainz taking second in his final appearance as a Ferrari driver.

The Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri incident at Turn 1 on the first lap benefited Charles Leclerc’s run up from the final row of the grid to finish third, which was not enough to aid the Scuderia as it ended up 14 points behind in the constructors’ title battle.

At the start, Norris easily led away from pole, with any concerns of intra-McLaren contact at the first corner wiped away – replaced by the drama of Verstappen’s dive on Piastri at Turn 1.

As Piastri came across with the Red Bull committed on the inside, they collided just past the apex as Verstappen understeered in the McLaren’s side and both spun – Verstappen falling deep into the pack and Piastri at the back.

That promoted Sainz to second – getting back the position he had lost to Verstappen off the line – with Norris clear in the lead.

His advantage at the end of lap one of 58 was 1.8 seconds, which was preserved for the next lap and a third, as the virtual safety car was activated for Sergio Perez stopping on the run out of Turn 9 due to contact sustained in another lap one clash – this time with Valtteri Bottas at Turn 6.

By the time the VSC ended, Verstappen and Bottas had been handed 10-second penalties for their collisions, with Norris then moving to increase his lead over Sainz to around three-seconds over laps four to nine.

They were soon in a two-horse race for the win as Pierre Gasly held up Russell to the tune of nearly 10 seconds by the time the Alpine stopped on lap 14 – by which point Norris was nearly four seconds clear of Sainz.

They were able to lap in the low one minute, 29 seconds and high one minute, 28 seconds for Norris, with Russell unable to match their pace even when unleashed from behind Gasly.

While lots of cars pitted from the pack behind, the leaders stayed out for the next phase of the race, with Sainz finally coming in to switch the mediums all the frontrunners had started on for hards on lap 25.

He had just squeezed Lando’s lead back under four seconds and when the McLaren was called in to cover the next lap, the chase for the lead resumed with Sainz having gained two more seconds back.

Lando’s advantage then held at the two-second mark as they went around matching each other in the low one minte, 28 seconds.

But by lap 34, Norris was able to quickly edge his lead back above three seconds, as he was able to hit the high one minute, 27 secinds and Sainz could only do so intermittently.

On lap 41, Norris was back to 4.6 seconds ahead and from there he continued stretching away – bar a phase as the final ten laps kicked off when he lost a little bit of time lapping traffic.

But when Sainz hit this too, Norris was in the clear and he eventually eased home to win by 5.8 seconds.

Leclerc finished 26 seconds behind his teammate after making a series of bold moves on the opening lap around the various contacts, then charging up towards Russell’s attempt to overcut Gasly.

On lap 20, Leclerc stopped for his medium-hards switch and he quickly caught and passed Gasly and when Russell pitted for his sole service at the same time as Norris Leclerc was through into third.

Hamilton had started on the hards and stayed out until lap 34, rejoining in seventh and then rising – including getting by Fernando Alonso’s two-stopping Aston Martin – while reducing the 14 seconds gap to Russell.

On the final lap, Hamilton attacked Russell with DRS into the outside of Turn 9 and claimed fourth on the exit, with Verstappen 12 seconds behind the Silver Arrows pair after serving his penalty at his stop on lap 29.

Gasly ended up seventh ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, which sealed Alpine’s sixth place in the constructors’ against Haas.

Alonso took ninth as Piastri recovered to P10 after serving his own 10-second penalty at his pitstop – for colliding into Franco Colapinto’s rear at the VSC restart.

Colapinto was one of three retirements in addition to Perez, as the Williams driver’s Formula 1 cameo ended due to an engine issue, which was what also appeared to eliminate Liam Lawson late on for RB.

Valtteri Bottas’s career ended in disappointment as he also hit Kevin Magnussen at Turn 6 just past halfway – an incident that gave the Sauber too much damage to continue but from which the Haas was able to escape after a spin and Magnussen finished his own Formula 1 career having made three stops.

K-Mag secured the race’s fastest lap at one minute, 25.637 seconds on the final lap.

So congratulations to Lando Norris for winning the race and securing the constructors’ title for the Woking-based outfit since 1998. Well deserved.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:26:33.291
2 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +5.832s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +31.928s
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +36.483s
5 George Russell Mercedes +37.538s
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull +49.847s
7 Pierre Gasly Alpine +72.560s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +75.554s
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +82.373s
10 Oscar Piastri McLaren +83.821s
11 Alexander Albon Williams +1 lap
12 Yuki Tsunoda RB +1 lap
13 Zhou Guanyu Sauber +1 lap
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +1 lap
15 Jack Doohan Alpine +1 lap
16 Kevin Magnussen Haas +1 lap
Liam Lawson RB DNF
Valtteri Bottas Sauber DNF
Franco Colapinto Williams DNF
Sergio Perez Red Bull DNF

Lando Norris will start the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season in pole position with his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri locking out the front row at Abu Dhabi.

Charles Leclerc lost his best lap in Q2 to a track limits violation for Ferrari, which boosts McLaren’s chances of taking the constructors’ title even further given its 1-2 result, while Lewis Hamilton’s final weekend for Mercedes included a shock Q1 exit.

Max Verstappen had looked in control through the opening segments, with the four-time champion the only driver to get through to Q3 with two sets of new softs remaining.

The Red Bull driver used his first to lead with a time of one minute, 22.945 seconds, despite with a wild slide out of the final corner, with Norris trailing by 0.004 seconds at this phase.

On the final runs, Verstappen ran last of the pack, but did not improve, as the added grip punch of the new softs got McLaren back to the pacesetting position it had established in FP1 and FP2.

Piastri recorded a lap with one minute, 22.804 seconds, which shuffled outgoing Haas star Nico Hulkenberg back from the provisional pole he had starred with the opening effort on the final runs – Hulk eventually ending up behind Sainz in fourth.

Norris then came out on top over his teammate by 0.21 seconds with the quickest time in the final sector, with Piastri’s Q3 appearance starting with him temporarily losing his first run time as he flirted with the track limits exiting Turn 1.

Behind on the final fliers, Verstappen only set a personal best in the final sector and so did not go quicker overall – the Red Bull driver finishing ahead of Pierre Gasly’s Alpine and George Russell for Mercedes in fifth.

Then came Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, while Sergio Perez unable to beat Valtteri Bottas’s Sauber to ninth, with the Red Bull driver rounding out the top ten in what could be his final Formula 1 race, according to the paddock rumours.

In Q2, Leclerc looked to have progressed as the fastest, with previous segment leader Verstappen even temporarily out of his car in the pits, but the Ferrari driver slipped fractionally beyond track limits at Turn 1 and so lost his time of one minute, 22.985 seconds personal best.

Unlike Red Bull with Perez in Q1, Ferrari could not get Leclerc’s time reinstated as a patch of blue kerb paint was visible as he went deep through the left-hander and his fall to P14 means he will start from the last row of the grid with his battery-change grid penalty.

The other Q2 fallers were RB’s Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson in P11 and P12, with Lance Stroll P13 and Kevin Magnussen P15.

In Q1, Hamilton was the big shock to be eliminated – the Mercedes driver down towards the drop zone after the initial runs and with a big track improvement factor evidenced from his former teammate Bottas jumping from P16 to second in the segment eventually topped by Leclerc.

At the end of Hamilton’s final lap, where he was trailing Magnussen all around, the Haas of Magnussen cutting Turn 14 and knocking a bollard into his path meant the seven-time world champion had to do the final corners with his car’s handling compromised.

He was unable to set a personal best at the line – ending up out being Alex Albon and Zhou Guanyu and along with Franco Colapinto and Jack Doohan.

So an exciting qualifying session at Abu Dhabi with McLaren taking a front row grid slot which will play a part in securing that constructors’ championship. Kudos to Lando Norris in taking pole for the team.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:22.595
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:22.804
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:22.824
4 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:22.886
5 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:22.945
6 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:22.984
7 George Russell Mercedes 1:23.132
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:23.196
9 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:23.204
10 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1″23.264
11 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:23.419
12 Liam Lawson RB 1:23.472
13 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:23.784
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:23.877
15 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:23.880
16 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.887
17 Jack Doohan Alpine 1:24.105
18 Alexander Albon Williams 1:23.821*
19 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:23.833**
20 Franco Colapinto Williams 1:23.912*
*Five-place grid penalty for gearbox change
**Ten-place grid penalty for battery change