Max Verstappen achieved pole position in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri next up in a tense qualifying session.
The top three championship contenders are 1-2-3 on the grid for the season finale. It will be interesting come race day as one of these drivers will be the 2025 Formula 1 world champion.
With the pressure of on title battle, Verstappen showed his experience as Lando’s nerves was starting to affective throughout the progression of the session. On his opening Q3 lap, Verstappen posted a time of one minute, 22.295 seconds, a lap that would have been good enough for pole on its own.
The Papayas, who opened the final stage of qualifying with marginally used soft tyres – carried over from their final aborted Q2 laps – were some way off, as Piastri was just over a tenth clear of Norris ahead of the final runs.
Norris found some improvement on new softs, posting a time of one minute, 22.408 seconds on his second run. Piastri’s effort was a touch slower, giving the championship leader the upper hand on the grid. Meanwhile, Verstappen found 0.09 seconds of improvement and achieved pole position, with the championship contenders all in close situation for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
George Russell clinched fourth on the grid, despite moments of oversteer on both laps. In his opening run, Russell had a slide at Turn 14 and lost time, and then a tank-slapper at Turn 16 on his final effort.
Charles Leclerc was fifth, although admitted over the team radio that it was a “surprise” that he had made it through Q2 – noting that he was on the edge of aborting his lap “like five times” due to the Ferrari’s handling.
Fernando Alonso outqualified Gabriel Bortoleto, who jumped his way into a fifth Q3 appearance of the year, while Esteban Ocon finally found a good braking balance in qualifying and worked his way to eighth on the grid. Isack Hadjar was ninth, while Yuki Tsunoda will line up P10 having been use to give Verstappen a slipstream on his laps.
Despite impressive pace throughout the weekend, Oliver Bearman was unable to repeat it in Q2 and drop just 0.007 seconds outside of the cut-off to make it into the final stage of qualifying. Despite this, Bearman’s late lap carried him up to P11, placing him above Carlos Sainz in the order.
Sainz showed flashes of speed throughout the opening sector, but was unable to keep the lap together and was just 0.001 seconds behind Bearman’s effort.
Liam Lawson dropped out of the top ten by teammate Hadjar, while Andrea Kimi Antonelli was a surprise contender from Q3 as the Mercedes driver struggled to tame his rear end through the final sector. Lance Stroll also fell out in Q2 and will start P15.
Lewis Hamilton dropped out of Q1 for the third successive race, as he sat on the edge of elimination before Bortoleto found enough improvement to leap into Q2. The Sauber driver’s lap, good enough for P14 in that session, put Hamilton among the bottom five.
Alexander Albon was up to seventh after his final lap of the session, but quick improvement across the field forced the Williams driver into a descent down the timing order. The slide stopped when he was down in P17, and already in the pits at the close of the session.
Bortoleto outqualified Nico Hulkenberg to ensure their qualifying head-to-head ends level at 12-12, as the Sauber driver was unable to deliver the team’s promising pace in practice to finish the session P18, ahead of the two Alpines. Pierre Gasly was 0.4 seconds clear of Franco Colapinto, who had two laps deleted in the session for track limits.
So congratulations to Max Verstauen by taking his eighth pole position of the season. It will be fascinating if the defending champion can win the race and use luck to affected the McLaren to win his fifth title. As for Lando Norris, starting a front row is a bonus. Just need to finish in P3 or higher to take the championship.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:22.207
2 Lando Norris McLaren 1:22.408
3 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:22.437
4 George Russell Mercedes 1:22.645
5 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:22.730
6 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:22.902
7 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber 1:22.904
8 Esteban Ocon Haas 1:22.913
9 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls 1:23.072
10 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull 1:23.083
11 Oliver Bearman Haas 1:23.041
12 Carlos Sainz Williams 1:23.042
13 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls 1:23.077
14 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:23.080
15 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:23.097
16 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:23.394
17 Alexander Albon Williams 1:23.416
18 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:23.450
19 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:23.468
20 Franco Colapinto Alpine 1:23.890
Max Verstappen will start the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position, the Red Bull driver setting a stunning lap in Q3 to hold off the challenge of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.
While Piastri and George Russell had led the way in Q1 and Q2 respectively, Verstappen laid down a gauntlet during the opening runs of the top-10 shootout, the Dutchman going quickest before improving with his final effort to post a scintillating 1m 22.207s lap.
Both McLarens attempted to claim top spot on their final efforts, but Norris had to settle for second after clocking a lap 0.201s slower. Piastri, meanwhile, took third place as the top three prepare to battle for the World Championship on Sunday.
Russell ended the session in fourth for Mercedes, while Charles Leclerc claimed fifth and Fernando Alonso took a solid sixth in the Aston Martin. Gabriel Bortoleto put in a good drive for Kick Sauber in seventh, with Haas’ Esteban Ocon, the Racing Bulls of Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda – in his final Qualifying for Red Bull – completing the top 10.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/verstappen-beats-norris-and-piastri-to-crucial-pole-position-in-thrilling.700cVthlOtd11zfw2Wzs2L
Lewis Hamilton said he felt “a lot of anger” after failing to progress from Q1 for the fourth time in a row at Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
After ceding his SF-25 to Arthur Leclerc for Free Practice 1 on Friday, as Ferrari fulfilled the regulations regarding track time for rookies, Hamilton crashed out of FP3 in the Turn 9 curve.
“Just had some bottoming and then lost the back end,” Hamilton tersely explained at the end of the day. “[The team] saw some bouncing going in and they said that carried all the way through.”
The seven-time world champion ended up qualifying down in 16th, just 0.008s away from the Q2 cut-off time, which marked his fourth consecutive Q1 exit (including sprint qualifying in Qatar).
Asked if the crash affected his qualifying, Hamilton added: “It definitely doesn’t help when you have missed your second run.” This added to the forgone FP1 session, which the Briton labelled as “never helpful”, though he admitted that “everyone’s in the same boat”.
This is how wretchedly Hamilton’s 19th and toughest campaign in F1 has been ending, with the veteran struggling to match team-mate Charles Leclerc and score the points the Scuderia would have needed to do better than fourth in the constructors’ championship.
When his poor qualifying streak was mentioned, Hamilton said: “I don’t have the words to express how I feel, just a lot of anger.”
The Ferrari racer doesn’t expect a great result in Sunday’s race, commenting “there’s not a lot you can do” starting from 16th at Yas Marina. When it was suggested he might “shove the hards on, go a long way and see what happens”, he simply replied: “It’s the same thing every weekend for me, so give it a shot.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lewis-hamilton-explains-fp3-crash-that-led-to-abu-dhabi-q1-exit/10782846/
Lando Norris looked frustrated next to a composed Max Verstappen after qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix placed the Briton in second. The Dutchman secured pole with a commanding performance at the Yas Marina Circuit, two-tenths ahead of the McLaren driver.
Norris looked confident throughout practice sessions leading up to today, and with a 12-point lead going into the race, he only needs to finish on the podium to win his first championship. But starting second tomorrow isn’t exactly what he would have wanted, as he remains focused on taking the win at Sunday’s grand prix.
“It’s tough. Max did a good job, so congrats to him,” he said following qualifying.
“We did everything we could. I think my lap was pretty good, I was pretty happy. Of course, disappointed to not be on pole for the final weekend but we were just not fast enough today, so we will try and do it tomorrow.”
While history may be working against the chances of Norris finishing first tomorrow, starting on the front row is still a solid position to begin his campaign from. His team-mate Oscar Piastri starts behind him in P3, followed by Mercedes’ George Russell. With track position being important at Yas Marina, this is good news for Norris as he fights a lone, albeit fast, Red Bull.
Asked how he will approach the race given his position, Norris isn’t yet sure.
“The time will come I think of that but, for now, disappointed to not be on pole. I still want to win tomorrow so that’s going to be the goal.”
Piastri also looked disappointed following his run to start third.
“The lap I did in Q1 was nice, to finally get into a rhythm for the weekend, and the last lap in Q3 was pretty good as well – there wasn’t a lot left in that.
“Just not quite quick enough but it sets up a pretty exciting day tomorrow.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/lando-norris-vows-to-go-for-win-in-abu-dhabi-after-disappointing-qualifying/10782870/
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has not ruled out the threat of Mercedes’ George Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are set to start the race at the Yas Marina Circuit from second and third on the grid, respectively, behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on pole position.
While it was a positive session for the Woking outfit, Stella admitted that Russell and Leclerc could still pose a threat to Norris and Piastri during the race as they start from fourth and fifth, respectively.
“So, there is no difference in terms of rear wing setting,” Stella told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying when asked if Norris and Piastri had different rear wing set-ups.
“They are on the same configuration, so any speed difference that we see will be due to slipstream to the car ahead. So, we have definitely seen enough that the cars deliver perfectly from a downforce drag point of view.
“So, that’s all good. Russell, Leclerc, definitely we are not alone. It’s going to be a complex race, but one in which we have to do the best job possible and deliver and let Lando and Oscar have their options, possibilities for the championship.”
The drivers’ championship fight hangs on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Norris heads into the race in the lead with 12 points over polesitter Verstappen. Norris’s team-mate Piastri trails Verstappen in third by four points.
Norris just needs to bring home a podium finish to clinch his first championship title.
Former Formula 1 driver Nico Rosberg shared his respect for Norris in his post-qualifying analysis.
“The thriller remains open,” he told Sky Sports F1. “I would like to give my respect to Lando Norris. The whole qualifying, things were not going his way, somehow the whole thing was a struggle, but when it mattered at the end, he pulled out a beautiful lap to put himself on the front row.
“The pressure would have been insane at that last moment, especially when you feel things are not going perfectly, even a Russell can threaten you.
“He did an amazing job, Lando, in the end. A perfect job.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mclaren-chief-warns-of-george-russell-and-charles-leclerc-threat-in-abu-dhabi-title-decider/10782882/
George Russell explained his team radio angling for a tow off Max Verstappen amid the final runs of Formula 1’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying session, with an admission that he “over-pushed” on his own laps.
The Mercedes driver will line up fourth in Sunday’s grand prix at the Yas Marina Circuit alongside championship hopeful Oscar Piastri, although hoped to better his position with a little help from Verstappen.
Russell had headlined FP3 to announce that he was in the mix, and did so again in Q2 with his final lap of that session – putting the championship leaders in a state of fear – or, in pole-winner Verstappen’s case, delight – that the Briton could shape up as an interloper amid the top four.
Suggesting that it would be in Verstappen’s interest to help him out, Russell explained that a radio message telling his team to time his pit exit among the final runs of Q3 to coincide with the four-time champion’s in-lap, adding that “he’ll probably give me a tow” in the process.
Should Verstappen preserve his lead into Turn 1 and convert it into victory, he needs two cars between himself and Lando Norris to win the title.
“It was more of a hint to Red Bull on their pitwall to sort of consider it,” Russell explained of his radio message. “Max went early in Q3 Run 1, so he kind of was in a position to do that, and they obviously need somebody in the mix.”
http://walkingleaf.co.uk/2025/12/06/verstappen-takes-pole-in-season-finale/#comment-72245