Abu Dhabi GP: Max Verstappen takes pole position, Lewis Hamilton second on grid

The Dutchman clocked a brilliant 1m22.109s to take his 10th pole position of the season, with Hamilton finishing second 0.371s back.

Max Verstapen's Red Bull in a file photo. (Image: Twitter/F1)
By Nilavro Ghosh | Dec 11, 2021 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Max Verstappen took a commanding pole position for the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, aided by a tow from Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. The Dutchman clocked a brilliant 1m22.109s on his first run to take his 10th pole position of the season, with Hamilton finishing second 0.371s back and Lando Norris a surprise third.

In Q3, Red Bull sent Perez out first, ahead of Verstappen, with the Mexican towing Verstappen down the long straight before bailing out before Turn 9 and sacrificing his own lap. Verstappen took advantage of the boost to take provisional pole, with Hamilton locking up at the hairpin and finishing nearly half a second behind.

Mercedes sent their cars out first for the second run, but with Hamilton ahead of Bottas because they declined the chance to try a tow. Hamilton improved, but he still trailed in all three sectors and will instead start on the dirty side of the front row alongside his title rival in P2.

Hamilton, like teammate Bottas, will start on the more durable medium tyre, which should allow him to run further into the race before stopping. The Red Bulls, on the other hand, will start on soft tyres, with Verstappen switching to them after flat-spotting his medium tyres in Q2.

BOTTAS IN SIXTH

Perez will start fourth, ahead of a very quick Carlos Sainz, who appeared to have made significant gains after a difficult Friday, and Bottas, who will finish sixth in his final Grand Prix for Mercedes before joining Alfa Romeo.

Charles Leclerc finished seventh, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda – who could have finished higher, having sat third before having his lap deleted due to track limits with Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the top ten.

VERSTAPPEN QUICKEST IN Q2

Mercedes and Red Bull sent their cars out on mediums, and while Hamilton was fastest, Verstappen was second by only 0.004s – the duo clearly much more evenly matched on the yellow-walled tyre. Verstappen took the lead right away, with teammate Perez – who was also running the softs – taking second. Hamilton finished third on mediums, with Bottas sixth, separated by the Ferrari duo of Sainz and Leclerc.

At the other end of the timesheets, Ricciardo edged out Alpine’s Fernando Alonso by 0.012s. Pierre Gasly made an unexpected exit, being outpaced by his rookie teammate Yuki Tsunoda, and Lance Stroll was also knocked out. Antonio Giovinazzi’s final race with Alfa Romeo – and possibly in F1 – will begin from 14th position, with Sebastian Vettel completing the drop zone.





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