Verstappen beats Leclerc to Abu Dhabi GP pole as Hamilton and Sainz endure early exits

From Formula 1 Reports  | Photo: Formula 1 Media –

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen claimed pole position for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, getting the better of Ferrari rival Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri in a session that saw Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton suffer respective Q1 and Q2 eliminations.

After some significant set-up struggles during practice, reigning world champion Verstappen returned to form in qualifying to set the pace from the outset, with his initial lap of 1m 23.445s in the final Q3 phase enough to secure top spot.

Charles Leclerc was Verstappen’s nearest rival, leading Ferrari’s charge in the absence of team mate Sainz, who rued traffic en route to his Q1 exit, while Piastri capitalised on a mistake from team mate Lando Norris to take third.

Like Leclerc, fourth-placed George Russell flew the flag for Mercedes in the pole position shootout after Hamilton failed to make the cut, with Norris back in fifth thanks to a wild moment on his final run, followed by the high-flying AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda.

Fernando Alonso was the fastest Aston Martin driver in seventh position, in front of Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg, the other Red Bull of Sergio Perez (who lost his final lap time due to exceeding track limits) and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly.

However, there could be a twist in the tale after qualifying, with both Piastri and Gasly under investigation by the stewards over an apparent impeding incident during the closing stages of the session.

Russell’s progression to Q3 came at the expense of Hamilton, who fell at the second qualifying hurdle in 11th, leaving him to question what was wrong with his car, with Ocon and Stroll following in 12th and 13th for Alpine and Aston Martin.

Alex Albon had featured at the sharp end in the early stages of qualifying but Q2 proved to be the limit for himself and Williams as their rivals turned up the heat, meaning he will start 14th, just in front of Daniel Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri.

Q1 had already brought a shock when Sainz – in the wake of his heavy FP2 crash – dropped out in a lowly P16, meaning the Ferrari driver faces another race-day recovery drive after an engine penalty in Las Vegas last time out enforced a midfield start.

Kevin Magnussen wound up 17th in the other Haas machine, Alfa Romeo lost both their cars as Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu could do no more than 18th and 19th, and Williams’ Logan Sargeant brought up the rear after both his Q1 lap times were deleted for exceeding track limits.

Formula 1 | Photo: Formula 1 Media