…Beats Norris, Piastri to pole
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is aiming to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of winning five consecutive drivers’ championships, following pole position in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen beat his McLaren title rivals, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, to make pole position on Saturday.
Norris heads Verstappen by 12 points going into the final race of the season, with Piastri a further four points adrift of the Briton.
“The last lap was pretty good, there wasn’t a whole lot left in that, not quite quick enough today, but it sets up a pretty exciting day tomorrow,” Piastri said ahead of Sunday’s grand prix at Yas Marina.
Read also: F1: Max Verstappen wins Azerbaijan Grand Prix
However, Verstappen would win a fifth consecutive title if he wins the race with Norris in fourth or lower.
Norris, on the other hand, will be champion if he finishes on the podium regardless of Verstappen’s or Piastri’s result.
Both Verstappen’s laps in the final session were good enough for pole. He was 0.201 seconds ahead of Norris, who edged Piastri by 0.029 seconds.
Red Bull used team-mate Yuki Tsunoda to give Verstappen a slipstream down the second back straight on his first lap, and the result was the fastest lap of the weekend by more than 0.4 seconds.
There was no tow on Verstappen’s second lap, but he nevertheless improved further, snipping 0.088 seconds off his own time.
“Incredibly happy to be in first. That’s the only thing we can do – try to maximise everything with the car. And we certainly did that in qualifying,” Verstappen said.
Referring to his first world championship in 2021, which he won in Abu Dhabi, he added: “It felt pretty good, and there was a lot of pressure. It felt pretty similar to ’21. I had a pretty good lap then. But when the pressure to perform is on, I enjoy that.”
Read also: Verstappen takes pole after record six red flags
Mercedes’ George Russell will start fourth, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fifth and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso sixth.
However, Lewis Hamilton, who crashed his Ferrari in final practice and was knocked out in the first part of qualifying, will start 16th.
“Max did a good job, so congrats to him. We did everything we could. I think my lap was pretty good. I was pretty happy,” Norris said.
He added that it was disappointing not to be on pole for the final weekend. “We just weren’t fast enough today. We’ll have to do it tomorrow. I still want to win tomorrow, and that’s going to be the goal.”
