Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen took pole ahead of chief rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Dutchman, who had the edge throughout qualifying, was 0.3s quicker than the McLaren duo – having posted two laps good enough for pole.
Piastri initially held second ahead of Norris after the first runs in Q3, but the championship leader crucially improved on his second run to snatch his spot on the front row.
Mercedes driver George Russell was another to make progress on his final effort, taking fourth away from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc despite a lairy moment at the final corner.
Leclerc took fifth despite almost not making it into Q3, while his team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s woes continued – the Briton failing to escape Q1 for the third qualifying in a row.
Charles Leclerc was fifth, although admitted over the radio that it was a “surprise” that he’d made it through Q2, noting that he was on the brink of aborting his lap “like five times” due to the waywardness of his Ferrari’s handling.
Fernando Alonso took sixth ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto and Esteban Ocon – the trio all impressing by making it to Q3. Isack Hadjar will start ninth for his final race with Racing Bulls ahead of his 2026 promotion to Red Bull. The driver he will replace, Yuki Tsunoda, completed the top 10.
Ocon’s Haas team-mate Ollie Bearman missed out on Q3 by 0.007s, and he edged Carlos Sainz to 11th by just 0.001s. Liam Lawson, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Lance Stroll were all close behind.
Hamilton, who had earlier crashed out in FP3, took 16th ahead of Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto.
Featured image credit: F1 on X
