Lando Norris grabbed the last pole position of the year ahead of Oscar Piastri. McLaren is now even closer to the title, as Carlos Sainz is third and Charles Leclerc will start last.
Q1
The year’s last qualifying started under the glamorous Abu Dhabi lights. The first one to set a lap time was Lance Stroll, immediately followed by everybody else.
The first attempt saw a few lap times deleted, namely for Sergio Perez and Franco Colapinto. Carlos Sainz was the fastest driver, ahead of Max Verstappen and an incredible Kevin Magnussen. The two McLarens were P4 and P5, while Charles Leclerc was only sixth.
The stewards then reinstated Perez’s lap time, as he didn’t exceed the track limits. In the last attempt, Valtteri Bottas greatly improved his time and went second-fastest, behind only Leclerc, who improved as well and went first-fastest.
The first five drivers eliminated were Alexander Albon, Guanyu Zhou, Lewis Hamilton, Colapinto, and Jack Doohan. It certainly wasn’t the hoped result for Hamilton in his last weekend with Mercedes. He wasn’t lucky either, as he hit a bollard, which was hit by Magnussen, and finished on the racing line.
Q2
Verstappen stepped up a bit and went first-fastest ahead of the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Sainz was only fifth, with Leclerc tenth as he made a mistake and almost hit the wall in the last sector.
Yuki Tsunoda was fourth, while Nico Hülkenberg was sixth, showing that Haas still had good pace.
It was a Ferrari 1-2, but Leclerc’s lap time was deleted, and he was demoted back to P14, meaning he will start tomorrow’s race last. Sainz was thus first, while the eliminated drivers were Tsunoda, Liam lawson, Stroll, Leclerc, and Magnussen.
Q3
Verstappen went first-fastest once again, as he almost spun in the last corner. Norris was second, while Piastri’s lap was deleted and then reinstated. Sainz was fourth, while Perez and Russell were only eighth and ninth.
In the end, it was Norris who grabbed the last pole position of the year, making it a 1-2 for McLaren, as Piastri was second. Sainz was third, with Hulkenberg fourth and Verstappen only fifth. Pierre Gasly was sixth, Russell seventh, Alonso eighth, Bottas ninth, and Perez only tenth.