F1 Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen takes Abu Dhabi pole from Hamilton

Verstappen will start ahead of Hamilton and McLaren's Lando Norris after the one-hour qualifying session, which was split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen on pole from Hamilton

Cla	Driver		Time	Gap	km/h
1	Max Verstappen		1'22.109		243.510
2	Lewis Hamilton		1'22.480	0.371	242.415
3	Lando Norris		1'22.931	0.822	241.096
4	Sergio Perez		1'22.947	0.838	241.050
5	Carlos Sainz Jr		1'22.992	0.883	240.919
6	Valtteri Bottas		1'23.036	0.927	240.791
7	Charles Leclerc		1'23.122	1.013	240.542
8	Yuki Tsunoda		1'23.220	1.111	240.259
9	Esteban Ocon		1'23.389	1.280	239.772
10	Daniel Ricciardo		1'23.409	1.300	239.715
11	Fernando Alonso		1'23.460	1.351	239.568
12	Pierre Gasly		1'24.043	1.934	237.906
13	Lance Stroll		1'24.066	1.957	237.841
14	Antonio Giovinazzi		1'24.251	2.142	237.319
15	Sebastian Vettel		1'24.305	2.196	237.167
16	Nicholas Latifi		1'24.338	2.229	237.074
17	George Russell		1'24.423	2.314	236.835
18	Kimi Raikkonen		1'24.779	2.670	235.841
19	Mick Schumacher		1'24.906	2.797	235.488
20	Nikita Mazepin		1'25.685	3.576	233.347
View full results

What happened in Q1?

Verstappen set the early bar in Q1, lapping in 1m23.680s to which Hamilton responded with 1m23.266s, which was four tenths faster. Bottas got between the title rivals in second, just a tenth off his Mercedes team-mate.

While the Mercedes duo pitted, Verstappen pushed again on the same set of tyres, going second quickest on 1m23.322s, 0.056s down on Hamilton.

After a brief red flag to retrieve a dislodged bollard, Hamilton ran again at the end of the session, unleashing a 1m22.845s, 0.272s faster than Bottas’s final run, while Verstappen stayed in the garage having the floor of his car checked over and slipped to third again.

Falling at the first hurdle were Nicholas Latifi and George Russell of Williams, Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo), and the Haases of Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q1 results: Hamilton fastest from Bottas

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	6	1'22.845			241.347
2	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	6	1'23.117	0.272	0.272	240.557
3	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	6	1'23.322	0.477	0.205	239.965
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	9	1'23.350	0.505	0.028	239.884
5	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	9	1'23.428	0.583	0.078	239.660
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	11	1'23.467	0.622	0.039	239.548
7	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	9	1'23.489	0.644	0.022	239.485
8	Lando Norris	McLaren	5	1'23.553	0.708	0.064	239.301
9	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	10	1'23.624	0.779	0.071	239.098
10	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	8	1'23.764	0.919	0.140	238.699
11	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	7	1'23.829	0.984	0.065	238.514
12	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	6	1'23.846	1.001	0.017	238.465
13	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	10	1'24.061	1.216	0.215	237.855
14	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	9	1'24.118	1.273	0.057	237.694
15	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	10	1'24.225	1.380	0.107	237.392
16	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	8	1'24.338	1.493	0.113	237.074
17	George Russell	Williams	7	1'24.423	1.578	0.085	236.835
18	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	8	1'24.779	1.934	0.356	235.841
19	Mick Schumacher	Haas	9	1'24.906	2.061	0.127	235.488
20	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	9	1'25.685	2.840	0.779	233.347
View full results

What happened in Q2?

The pole position hunters started this session using the medium tyre, with Hamilton setting the early pace at 1m23.185s ahead of Verstappen’s 1m23.189s, just 0.004s between them. Bottas was third, 0.061s off the pace.

Verstappen pushed again, but flatspotted his left-front tyre – a major error as these were his only fresh mediums that he’d planned to start the race on.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr then went fastest with a lap of 1m23.174s set on soft tyres, 0.011s faster than Hamilton.

On the final runs, Hamilton opted for fresh mediums and Verstappen was forced into running new softs. Hamilton retook P1 with 1m23.145s, before Perez beat him on softs with 1m23.135s.

Verstappen topped that with 1m22.800s to head this session, ahead of Perez and Hamilton, who was 0.345s off his pace but – crucially – will start on the medium tyre, with Verstappen on the soft.

Knocked out at this point were Fernando Alonso (Alpine, who felt his lap was hampered at the end by a McLaren), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and the second Aston of Sebastian Vettel.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	7	1'22.800			241.478
2	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	8	1'23.135	0.335	0.335	240.505
3	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	6	1'23.145	0.345	0.010	240.476
4	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	6	1'23.174	0.374	0.029	240.392
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	6	1'23.202	0.402	0.028	240.311
6	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	8	1'23.246	0.446	0.044	240.184
7	Lando Norris	McLaren	8	1'23.256	0.456	0.010	240.155
8	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	7	1'23.404	0.604	0.148	239.729
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	6	1'23.420	0.620	0.016	239.683
10	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	6	1'23.448	0.648	0.028	239.603
11	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	6	1'23.460	0.660	0.012	239.568
12	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	7	1'24.043	1.243	0.583	237.906
13	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	7	1'24.066	1.266	0.023	237.841
14	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	8	1'24.251	1.451	0.185	237.319
15	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	8	1'24.305	1.505	0.054	237.167
View full results

What happened in Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen – with the benefit of a tow from Perez – lapped in 1m22.109s compared to Hamilton’s 1m22.660s, which was 0.551s slower after he locked up at the new hairpin.

A lap later, Perez jumped up to third, getting a tow off Verstappen in return, and even though he was 0.8s off the pace, Perez was ahead of Bottas at this point.

On the final runs, Hamilton improved to 1m22.480s, but that was still 0.371s off Verstappen. Norris jumped up to third on his last lap, beating Perez, Sainz, Bottas, Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren).

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q3 results: Verstappen takes pole

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	7	1'22.109			243.510
2	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	7	1'22.480	0.371	0.371	242.415
3	Lando Norris	McLaren	7	1'22.931	0.822	0.451	241.096
4	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	7	1'22.947	0.838	0.016	241.050
5	Carlos Sainz Jr	Ferrari	6	1'22.992	0.883	0.045	240.919
6	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	6	1'23.036	0.927	0.044	240.791
7	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	6	1'23.122	1.013	0.086	240.542
8	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	6	1'23.220	1.111	0.098	240.259
9	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	6	1'23.389	1.280	0.169	239.772
10	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	6	1'23.409	1.300	0.020	239.715
View full results