Max Verstappen claimed his and Red Bulls’ first pole position of the year to become the first non-Mercedes powered driver to top qualifying all year at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen has gone under the radar this weekend despite looking good in all three practice sessions. Mercedes duo looked to have secured another 1-2 before he stunned the pit wall as the Belgian-Dutch driver snatched his first pole position of the year.
Prior to the final run, Valtteri Bottas found himself ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton who is said to be struggling to get back into the groove after testing positive for Covid-19 nearly two weeks ago.
The Finn looked to have edged his Mercedes rival to pole position until Verstappen managed to beat him with a sensational lap of a 1m25.246s, just 0.025s quicker than Bottas.
The Belgian-Dutchman was able to gain a substantial amount on both Mercedes drivers during sector two as Red Bull opted for a lower drag setup for this weekend’s race.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton was only third quickest as he missed out on pole position by 0.086.s, The British driver was only confirmed to be racing for Mercedes this weekend on Thursday afternoon after missing the Sakhir Grand Prix due to Covid-19.
Lando Norris secured his best qualifying session of the season as he claimed fourth ahead of the second Red Bull of Alexander Albon and teammate Carlos Sainz. The Woking-based team will be hoping for a good weekend with a bid to regain third in the constructor’s championship.
Daniil Kvyat, whose future in the sport is still unknown, continued his impressive form as he placed his AlphaTuari in seventh ahead of the Racing Point of Lance Stroll and Charles Leclerc who got the most out of his Ferrari.
Pierre Gasly rounded off the top 10, as the Frenchman was beaten by his teammate in qualifying for consecutive weekends.
After looking strong all weekend, it was a disappointing afternoon for Renault as its two cars occupied both 11th and 12th.
Esteban Ocon edged teammate Daniel Ricciardo, the two drivers will be the first of the field to have free tyre choice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel was unable to match the pace of young teammate Leclerc, as he found himself in 13th come the end of qualifying over five-tenths off the second Ferrari.
After making it through to Q2, Antonio Giovinazzi was able to claim 14th after his second timed effort was deleted due to a track limits infringement. The Italian was able to secure a 9-8 victory over his teammate Kimi Raikkonen when it came to qualifying performances.
Sakhir Grand Prix’s race winner Sergio Perez chose to not set a lap in Q2 as the Mexican will suffer a grid drop penalty due to an engine change.
The second Alfa Romeo of Raikkonen ended up in 16th ahead of Haas driver Kevin Magnussen who is making his final appearance in Formula 1 this weekend.
It was a reality check for George Russell as he moved back to Williams for the final race weekend of the 2020 season, he could only place his car in 18th position.
Pietro Fittipaldi set the 19th-quickest time in what is his second weekend with the Haas F1 team after Romain Grosjean was deemed not fit enough to race, Williams’ Nicholas Latifi rounds off the grid in last position ahead of the 2020 season finale.”
By Cameron Anderson-Jones
