Verstappen took his 8th pole position of the year and maintains his hopes for the title. Norris holds fate in his hands with the 2nd place he took while Piastri remained 3rd.
The Formula 1 World Championship is coming to an end with the grand finale in Abu Dhabi finding 3 contenders for the title. Qualifying in Abu Dhabi would decide a lot and so from the beginning of Q1 we had action at Yas Marina. The picture of the three showed Piastri’s superiority over the rest with Verstappen following him almost 3 tenths behind. Norris remained in 6th place while in a third consecutive qualifying battle Hamilton was eliminated from the first period.
In Q2, Verstappen, Norris, Piastri wanted to save a set of soft tires and so they came out with used ones at the beginning of the process. They saw Russell set the fastest time but all 3 were close to the Mercedes driver and showed that they could secure their entry into the top ten without having to put in a fresh set. The two McLarens chose to put in a fresh set and go out on the track while Verstappen, who had the second time, stayed in the pits at the end of Q2. In the end, Norris, Piastri did not need a quick effort and so did not damage their tires while the surprise was the elimination of Antonelli who saw his teammate have the fastest time and himself stay in 14th. Tsunoda qualified in the top ten, leaving Bearman out by 7 milliseconds.
In the first attempt of all in Q3, Max Verstappen with a fresh set and a tow from Tsunoda dominated against the two McLarens who put in the used set they had at the end of Q2. The Dutchman got the upper hand with Piastri following and Norris remaining 3rd. Leclerc was close to the top three but the odds showed that after the second attempt of all the 3 title contenders would take the top 3 positions.
The most crucial moment for the title, until the next one, arrived. The order that would complete their laps was Piastri, Norris, Verstappen and Russell. The two McLarens improved their times but were unable to pass the Dutchman. Verstappen was the big winner and took the 8th pole position of the season and 48th of his career, showing once again that he will fight until the end for the title.
Norris defeated Piastri in the family duel and holds the fate in his hands while the Australian knows that he has the least chance of being crowned champion. We remind you that if Norris finishes 3rd then he will take the title.
Russell, although he fought, had a bad last corner and remained 4th. Leclerc, Alonso, Bortoleto, Ocon, Hadjar and Tsunoda followed.
In a year in which McLaren had the leading car for the longest time, Max Verstappen not only stayed in the title fight until the end but also finished the season with 8 pole positions, the most of any other driver. Norris took 7, Piastri 6, Russell 2 and Leclerc 1.
