By Will Pickworth for Web
Published: 1:07 p.m., November 25, 2023 | Updated: 4:01 p.m., November 25, 2023
Follow Mail Sport’s live blog for the latest news and lap-by-lap updates from qualifying at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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Check out our qualifications report below
Downbeat Hamilton “struggles with balance”
Despite finishing fourth, Russell has “mixed emotions.”
Full starting lineup for tomorrow
Will Verstappen take 19 out of 22 wins this season?
You wouldn’t bet against it, but this is what the entire grid will look like tomorrow when the lights go out.
Final score
This marks the end of a dramatic qualifying with many twists and turns.
However, it seemed inevitable that Verstappen would finish on pole again after an impressive performance in all three sessions as he looks to end a memorable season on a good note.
That’s also four different teams in the top four.
The full Q3 results are as follows:
Disaster for Perez
The Mexican had set the fifth fastest time, but his lap was just canceled for exceeding track limits.
Verstappen is now celebrating his twelfth pole of the season.
Drama about death
Norris skids a bit in the last corner of his lap and loses time.
In his place, Piastri overtakes him by just 0.043 seconds.
Then Leclerc shoots into 2nd place out of nowhere.
Only about three minutes left
Several drivers have changed their tires to new ones and are back on the road for one last lap.
It looks like Red Bull and McLaren are fighting for the front two rows.
One less round for everyone
This is what it looks like after everyone has completed a round.
Only about five minutes left.
Verstappen again
The world champion finished first and improved his time by 0.3 seconds compared to Q2.
Norris is just behind him again, Perez is in third place so far.
Q3 is running
Then it starts… can Max Verstappen achieve his twelfth pole position this season?
What does it look like after Q2?
Hamilton OUT
Russell knocks Hamilton out of qualifying and pushes him off the top 10 list! Another big shock here.
Hamilton – a five-time polesitter in Abu Dhabi – will start from 11th place.
A disaster for the seven-time world champion.
Q2 is coming to an end
Hamitlon and Rusell are both out and absolutely need to set a better time as they are currently in the elimination zone.
Alonso is also in danger as Verstappen remains clearly in the lead.
Sainz – “a very bad situation”
Carlos Sainz has just spoken out to Sky Sports following his early surprise exit.
“It was a very bad situation we found ourselves in when we were the last car to leave the pits.” Also the situation with the traffic in the first and second sectors, all the guys who had just finished their lap. I don’t think they did particularly well, but it’s our fault. We had a problem with the front wing, which slowed us down quite a bit. This was a tricky weekend because it’s not the pace we need… It will now be very difficult to secure second place in the constructors’ championship. We have to find out what we have to do to get good points tomorrow.
Who is in danger?
Ricciardo, Gasly, Albon, Ocon and Hülkenberg are currently in the elimination zone, with the latter having a lap time deleted.
Norris is currently second fastest, +0.180 seconds behind Verstappen.
Hamilton is close to the finish in 10th place and it looks like he will soon have a second run in Q2.
Q2 is heating up
Alex Albon is the first to record a time in the second quarter.
He set a time of 1:24.965, which is 0.7 seconds faster than Q1, but he is running on used tires.
Interestingly, both Red Bulls are on new tires and Verstappen has a lead of 0.720 seconds
Q2 is running
Verstappen on a new set of tires.
What does it look like after Q1?
SAINZ OUT
Wow! What a drama, Sainz can only set the 16th fastest time and is OUT!
A torrid week for Sainz continues and Ferrari looks gutted.
Some swear words can be heard on the team radio.
He suggests that people in the pit area intentionally blocked and stopped him when he tried to get on his lap.
Exciting ending
Several drivers are at risk of an accident here, with Sainz and Piastri both currently in the danger zone.
Alonso has moved up to 11th, Hamilton is eighth and Russell is now fourth.
Piastri will breathe a sigh of relief as he moves up to 11th place.
But Sainz is only 15th and could be out!!
And he’s recovering…or at least he thinks so
Sargeant bounced back by moving up to fourth place on the leaderboard.
But oh no! His time was canceled again after he exceeded the track limits in turn one.
It is almost certain that he has already been eliminated from qualifying and he has been overtaken by Albon, his teammate, every time this year.
There is now a bit of a queue in the pit lane in front of the exit and Verstappen is not happy about what comes after yesterday’s drama.
Furstration for Sargeant
A decent lap time for the American, but it was canceled because he exceeded the track limits in turn one.
Together with Hülkenberg and Zhou, they approach the three drivers without specifying a time.
Bad start for Mercedes
There is about a second between Verstappen in first place and Stroll in 14th place.
However, Hamitlon is ranked 13th while Russell is ninth.
A pretty disappointing start from the British…
Completed flying laps
No surprise: Verstappen is currently in the lead, even if it wasn’t his best lap.
He set a time of 1:24.160, with Norris 0.208 seconds behind him and Leclerc slightly further back.
Verstappen is out!
And we drive cars on the route.
Still no action
Nobody seems to be in a hurry to get going as there are still no cars on the track.
Maybe they are waiting for the best conditions.
As a reminder, this qualifying lasts 18 minutes and is only shortened to 14 minutes.
Qualifying can begin
We are now just a few minutes away from the start of qualifying.
Lewis Hamliton has five ? the most poles of any driver in Abu Dhabi.
Could he add that today? His current form doesn’t suggest that, but what an end to events that would be for the seven-time world champion
POLE POSITION: Mercedes continues to have problems
Here in Abu Dhabi, when you hear noises coming from the Mercedes Hospitality area, it is the sound of stamping feet.
The team that once dominated the sport with calm efficiency is now in a state of collapse. The most recent example of Toto Wolff’s thin skin was when he ordered his PR person to ask me to leave their building before Lewis Hamilton’s press conference.
My main offense apparently was questioning Wolff at the press conference in Las Vegas last week when training was postponed. Wolff denied the obvious embarrassment this represented in the sport’s all-new showpiece event.
Read Jonathan McEvoy’s full Pole Position column from this week below…
Verstappen and Hamilton-Russell meet
Max Verstappen reignited his rivalry with Mercedes by attacking “slow” Lewis Hamilton and George Russell after a bizarre practice collision in which the Red Bull driver tried to overtake both in the pitlane.
During practice at the Abu Dhabi circuit, an impatient Verstappen was seen weaving past his rivals in the narrow pit lane.
While many remained unimpressed by Verstappen’s antics, the Dutchman turned the spotlight on Hamilton and Russell, who he said were “silly” as they tried to “squeeze” him into the wall.
Who has dominated pole position this season?
Understandably, Max Verstappen has the most pole positions in 2023, which is no surprise considering he won 18 of the 21 races.
However, he actually only started from pole position eleven times, with Charles Leclerc making the second most starting grid position five times.
Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz both have two poles, while Lewis Hamilton has one.
Aguero shows his city roots
There may be a big Premier League game involving his former club right now, but Sergio Aguero is one of the many celebrities in Abu Dhabi.
The Manchester City icon rocked a club-style racing outfit as he walked through the racing paddock today.
His old City number 10 adorned his outfit with a flourish that will bring back many memories for the club’s fans.
Rising star Norris reflects on improvements over the course of the season
Has Hamilton inquired about the Red Bull move?
The big drama in Formula 1 this week revolved around the future of Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner claimed in an exclusive interview with Mail Sport that a representative of the seven-time world champion had approached his team about a possible move.
Hamilton denied this and described Horner as a “lone rebel” as they exchanged a war of words.
The final weekend of a season dominated by Verstappen
It seems like only yesterday that the 2023 F1 season began in Bahrain, but here we are at the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi.
It was one-way traffic for almost the entire season, and Red Bull won all but one of the 21 races so far.
18 of those went to Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman winning his third world title in Qatar last month.
They also won the constructors’ championship with a whopping 822 points, but second place is still up for grabs as Mercedes are just four points ahead of Ferrari with 392 and 388 respectively.
Good day
And welcome to Mail Sport’s live blog for qualifying at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Be sure to stay with us over the next few hours for all the action and updates as we find out who will start from pole in the final race of the 2023 season.
F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying – REVIEW – Max Verstappen will start the season finale on pole position, Charles Leclerc second – but Lewis Hamilton fails to make it into Q3, while Carlos Sainz will start 16th
