Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe
Live text
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP

F1 Abu Dhabi GP Live Updates - final practice and qualifying

Live Text

Sort by
Magnussen is being trailed by team-mate Fittipaldi. Russell is out on track now too.
Pitlane is open and the green light is on. Q1 is underway.
Track temperature currently sits at 29 degrees for the start of the session, but will drop a little as qualifying wears on and night falls.
The sun is going down over the Yas Marina circuit and we are just five minutes away from qualifying.
There won't be a repeat of his front row heroics from the Sakhir GP last weekend, but George Russell went well in FP3 in 15th. So he stands a good chance of advancing through to Q2 in his Williams.
Coming into their final qualifying session as McLaren team-mates, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris are 8-8 on Saturday in 2020. So that will be a nice battle to keep an eye on this afternoon, though Norris does have a fresher engine bolted to his car.
Worth noting both Kevin Magnussen and Sergio Perez will have power unit penalties to take for the race.
As a reminder, Red Bull's Max Verstappen comes into qualifying in Abu Dhabi as the driver to beat after topping final practice earlier today.
Good afternoon and welcome to the final qualifying session of the 2020 F1 season!
That'll be all from us this morning - make sure you're following along from 1pm UK time as we fire up for qualifying for one last time in 2020. Look forward to you joining us then!
For those interested in the Class C battle, Russell was once again top in the Williams in P15, fractionally ahead of Giovinazzi by 0.004s. Next up was Raikkonen, with IMSA-bound Kevin Magnussen pacing Latifi and Fittipaldi.
Work to do then for Ferrari, with Leclerc P12 and Vettel P14, while neither AlphaTauri managed to make it into the top 10 after its impressive showing last time out in Sakhir. Still all to play for then with the final qualifying session of 2020 coming up this afternoon.
It's a yawning gap between Verstappen and the rest, with Albon his nearest challenger half a second behind. Still, we'd be very surprised if that's the case come qualifying, unless all the stickers added to the Mercedes bodywork carrying the names of its staff is weighing them down...
And there's the red flag to end the session. The top 10 has a bit of an unusual look to it with Red Bull and Renault locking out the top four, then Norris and Hamilton only sixth ahead of Stroll, Sainz, Bottas and Perez. Who's your money on for qualifying then?
That's a bit more like it from Albon as he shoots into second place on a 1m36.752s, although Verstappen has improved again to a 1m36.251s.
Perez has a slightly disappointing end to his lap and only goes 10th fastest, but is still within half a second of Verstappen. Might there be more in the pocket for the Dutchman when unleashed for qualifying?
Stroll has now set the fastest third sector of anybody as he moves up to sixth in the Racing Point. Perez is down in P16 at the moment, but is flying and set to make a big improvement.
Albon doesn't sound too chirpy in his Red Bull. "Are we sure we're OK, because the understeer is insane," he complains.
Now Ocon goes to third, 0.02s behind Ricciardo. Can this be the weekend that he finally outqualifies his team-mate in the dry? He won't get any more chances once the Aussie moves to McLaren for 2021, so it's now or never really.
That effort from Verstappen also means he now has the fastest time in all three sectors. Ricciardo now bumps Norris down to third after a strong 1m36.877, while Sainz splits the Mercedes in fourth on a 1m37.068s. Suddenly lots of people are finding time out there.
Verstappen is still out there pushing - his last lap was a 1:36.745, just 0.011s off his best. Norris meanwhile launches himself into second with a 1m36.994s, the only other man to dip under the 37s bracket thus far.
Just 10 minutes of the session remain then - can the Mercedes do anything to dislodge Verstappen from top spot?
Remarkably, Russell has the fastest first sector of anybody at the moment. That's not something that's been said about a Williams for a fair while - but then again, it's all down to the car isn't it...
And all of a sudden, we have some big improvements from Ferrari and Russell's Williams - Leclerc jumps up to fourth ahead of early pace-setter Albon, while Vettel on his Ferrari swansong moves to sixth ahead of Russell in the giddy heights of P7.
Bottas also improves, but his 1m37.225s is still only good enough for third.
Hamilton now improves to a 1m37.012s, but is still over two tenths down on Verstappen in P2.
And as we post that, the two Mercedes drivers and both Williams emerge too. Latifi is currently two tenths up on team returnee Russell - an early warning sign perhaps heading into qualifying?
Perez has just been in for a new set of boots on his RP20 - he and Stroll, still running the mediums, are the only two cars currently out on track.
Sergio Perez now bounds up to sixth in the Racing Point. Remember, he'll have to serve a grid penalty for taking multiple new engine parts - as his Sakhir GP-winning unit was nearing the end of its life.
Perez to take grid penalty for Abu Dhabi GP after power unit change
Hamilton, who you may recall had pole for the very first Abu Dhabi GP in 2009 for McLaren, now improves to second, but he's unable to get close to Verstappen who also improves to a 1m36.734s.

By: Jake Boxall-Legge

Published: