Verstappen on pole for season deciding Abu Dhabi GP

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 1:22.207s 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.

Despite strong pace through the weekend so far, Haas’ Ollie Bearman missed the cut for Q2 – as did Carlos Sainz, the Williams man ending up in P12 one week on from his podium in Qatar.

Liam Lawson followed in 13th for Racing Bulls, while Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli departed Q2 in 14th place – the Italian having reported struggles with the rear of his car – ahead of the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll in 15th.

The big story from Q1 was another early exit for Lewis Hamilton, the Ferrari driver finding himself down in P16 just hours after a crash into the barriers during third practice. There was also disappointment for Williams’ Alex Albon, who will line up one spot behind in P17.

A good showing for Nico Hulkenberg on Friday did not follow through come Qualifying, with the Kick Sauber man winding up in 18th, while the Alpine pair of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto brought up the rear in 19th and 20th respectively.

Q1

After an eventful practice session earlier in the day – topped by the Mercedes of Russell – the attentions of the paddock switched to the final Qualifying of the year, a crucial session in that it would set the starting order for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

As Q1 got underway under the floodlights at 18:00 local time, Hamilton was amongst the first on track with the medium tyres bolted on, the Ferrari driver seemingly doing a shake down of his car following his crash out of Free Practice 3 a few hours prior.

With others joining the action a few minutes in – the majority running the soft compound, the exception being Hamilton’s team mate Leclerc on the mediums – it was Russell who had gone fastest following the opening runs via an effort of 1:23.247s.

The margins were incredibly fine, however, with Bearman only 0.007s behind in second while Piastri was a further one thousandth of a second adrift of the Haas. Verstappen placed in fourth, ahead of Hamilton, Alonso and championship leader Norris.

At the other end of the timesheets, Ocon, Albon, Leclerc, Gasly and Colapinto – the latter yet to get a lap on the board after having both of his times deleted for exceeding track limits – were the names at risk in the elimination zone. Gasly and Stroll had also fallen victim to track limits, with each also seeing one of their laps erased.

Following a brief lull, the pack prepared to return to the track for their last runs as the session entered its final minutes. Title contenders Norris, Verstappen and Piastri were all sporting fresh soft tyres – and this seemed to pay off for the latter, who went quickest on a 1m 22.605s.

This put the Australian two-tenths clear of Verstappen, while Norris was just over half a second away in sixth place, with Antonelli, Alonso and Leclerc ahead of him. Meanwhile others were trying to guarantee their spot in Q2, with Gasly improving before being pushed back down the order by Stroll.

Also finding themselves in the danger zone were Albon, Hulkenberg and Colapinto – and while Hamilton initially looked to have avoided the bottom five, improvements from others saw the Briton end up in 16th place, resulting in another Q1 exit.

Knocked out: Hamilton, Albon, Hulkenberg, Gasly, Colapinto

Q2

As the dust settled on Q1, 15 minutes went on the clock to kickstart Q2 at the Yas Marina Circuit. Verstappen was the first to head out, the Dutchman enjoying a quiet track as he set a banker lap on used soft tyres.

Others soon started to join the fray – and when everybody had set a time, Russell was again the man on top thanks to his lap of 1:22.730s, giving him an advantage of 0.022s over second-placed Verstappen, while Norris was only 0.074s behind Russell in third.

Piastri and Alonso followed in fourth and fifth respectively, but those less at ease in the danger zone were Hadjar, Tsunoda, Antonelli, Bearman and Lawson. A queue had formed in the pit lane as the field readied themselves for their final runs – yet Verstappen was not amongst them, Red Bull seemingly feeling safe enough to stay in the garage.

While Bortoleto surged up to an eye-catching fourth, fellow rookie Antonelli could not do enough to avoid elimination, the Mercedes driver being pushed down to P14. Hadjar climbed up into the top 10, which then knocked out team mate Lawson.

There were also contrasting fortunes at Haas, with Ocon moving into ninth just as Bearman missed the cut in 11th. Tsunoda made it through in 10th, but it was not such a good day for Sainz and Stroll, both exiting in 12th and 15th respectively.

Knocked out: Bearman, Sainz, Lawson, Antonelli, Stroll

Q3

Tsunoda was the first to emerge as the top-10 shootout began, but it was the other Red Bull of Verstappen that topped the timesheets once the first runs had been completed, the World Champion going quickest on an impressive 1:22.295s.

In his final weekend racing for the squad, Tsunoda played a team role by giving Verstappen a tow, with the Dutchman subsequently beating closest challenger Piastri by 0.327s. Norris was four-and-a-half tenths back in third, followed by Leclerc and Russell.

Ahead of the decisive closing runs, Russell asked his team if they could get him behind Verstappen to get a tow of his own. McLaren, meanwhile, would be looking for a way to beat the four-time World Champion.

As the all-important last Qualifying laps of 2025 came in, Verstappen went even quicker on a 1:22.207s. Piastri closed the gap down, but at 0.230s adrift it was not enough to beat the Dutch driver – and while Norris could not clinch pole either, the Briton outpaced his team mate to slot into second, 0.201 adrift of Verstappen.

This put Piastri in third, with Russell the nearest to the title contenders in fourth. Leclerc ended a tough recent run for Ferrari with P5, while a slightly mixed-up top 10 was rounded out by Alonso, Bortoleto, Ocon, Hadjar and Tsunoda.

The 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is set to begin at 17:00 local time on Sunday (13:00 GMT). Norris knows a podium finish will be enough to secure his maiden World Championship but Verstappen has not given up his drive for five while Piastri knows he will need some good fortune to follow Alan Jones into the history books.

After 23 races it all comes down to this: a 58 lap showdown in the desert.