Red Bulls Max Verstappen took his first pole position in the campaign for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the end of the season.
The Dutch driver was Valtteri Bottas second and Finnish Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who is racing for the first time since winning the championship after acquiring the coronavirus, third in today’s Grand Prix.
It was Verstappen’s first pole since the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix and the third of his career after setting his best lap in one minute and 35.246 seconds to beat Bottas by 0.025 seconds.
He expressed his delight over team radio after hearing his time. “What! Come on guys!” Verstappen roared. “Oh, that feels good! Well done guys. Amazing.”
The top three were just 0.086 seconds apart but it was a disappointment for Mercedes, which missed pole for the second time this year. Lance Stroll from the Mercedes-powered Racing Point team claimed the others.
Lando Norris, who achieved his best performance so far, was fourth for McLaren ahead of Alex Albon in the second Red Bull and Carlos Sainz in the second McLaren.
After Verstappen said on Thursday that he expected to claim “his place” again for third place, he was thrilled.
“I am very happy with it. Fortunately, it all came together on this last lap. It looks like we have a decent top speed this weekend. I hope it works tomorrow, ”he said.
“It’s been a long season for everyone with many races in a row. That was good for the whole team.”
His Red Bull team boss Christian Horner cheered with joy and described Verstappen’s lap as great.
“Well earned for Max,” said Horner. “He put it together and in the end drove an incredible lap. He just did it himself.
“It was a long season on Saturday afternoon, but to end the season on pole we just have to rebuild it.”
Hamilton said he did his best after his illness.
“To be honest, I’m really grateful to be back on the team. It was a difficult weekend to get back on track,” said the Briton.
“I gave everything. Congratulations to Max. It’s a great opportunity for him to seal a year of great accomplishments. We’ll give them a good bang for their buck. “
Kevin Magnussen was the first man, followed by his Haas teammate Pietro Fittipaldi, when the sun set on the Yas Marina Circuit and, most likely, the Dane’s F1 career at the American team’s 100th Grand Prix.
Hamilton had cleared his earliest best lap because he exceeded the track limits with a bumpy ride over the curbs. “Check the ground. I could be damaged, ”he said to Mercedes.
After another run, the champion was seventh and in the comfort zone to move on to the second quarter when Verstappen, who was fastest in a Red Bull 1-2 in FP3, climbed to second place, three tenths ahead of Bottas.
It was a contrasting story for old Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who retired in the second quarter and was qualified by his teammate Estaban Ocon.
“It was a strange one,” said Ricciardo. “We didn’t really have the pace, but we had it in practice a few hours ago. I don’t like being grumpy pants so tomorrow I’ll try to do what the others did last week – come from behind and be on the podium. “
As the third quarter began, Stroll walked the track first in full floodlights, but Norris set the early pace before being dropped off by Sainz.
The Mercedes men, again at full strength, rejoined the fight when Bottas shadowed Hamilton for the provisional pole and Verstappen split them into fourth place for Red Bull and Albon.
Just 0.156 seconds covered the top after their first few runs in which Hamilton made a small mistake. It was a classic final, with Hamilton taking the lead only to be beaten by Bottas and then, with just a few seconds left, a breathless Verstappen.
– AFP
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