F1: Verstappen wins pole for Abu Dhabi GP

World Champion Max Verstappen turned a lap of 1m23.824s in his Red Bull Honda to win the pole position for the Abu Dhabi and in the process towed his teammate Sergio Perez onto the front row, 0.228s behind his teammate.

It was the 7th pole for Verstappen in 2022, his 3rd consecutive pole in Abu Dhabi for the flying Dutchman.

“Yeah, was a bit of an up and down qualifying, Q2 was a bit messy, I couldn’t get the grip together,” said Verstappen. “But in Q3 it felt more normal – we had a bit of a scare as the car turned off. For sure today was amazing, but I expect it to be a good battle tomorrow.”

The two Red Bulls are ahead of the two Ferraris on row 2 and the two Mercedes on row 3.

“It’s a good starting place, I just didn’t make that final step in Q3,” said Perez. “But it’s good to lock out the front row for tomorrow, and Max did a good job for me. Thank you to all the fans that are here – I hope tomorrow we can have a strong race. Should be an interesting one.”

Perez and Charles Leclerc are tied for 2nd in points, and they start 2nd and 3rd separated by just 0.04s

Leclerc in 3rd was 0268s behind Verstappen, while his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz jr. was 4th, 0.418s behind.

“I locked up in Turn 6, 7 but we are in the position we deserve, the Red Bull were stronger,” said Leclerc.  “Should be interesting with Checo tomorrow. I’m sure we can work together with Carlos and maximize the team result.”

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell turned almost identical times, 0.684s and 0.687s behind respectively.

Lando Norris was seventh in the end, Esteban Ocon eighth, Sebastian Vettel in his final race a respectable ninth and Daniel Ricciardo P10 – the Australian will drop down on the starting grid though once his penalty is applied.

More to follow later…..

Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying Times