Formula 1 News: Verstappen wins crucial pole for Abu Dhabi GP

In need of a win to take his 5th straight world title, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (pictured) turned a lap of 1m22.207s to win the crucial pole for the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP around the Yas Marina Circuit.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Verstappen’s first lap in Q3 was good enough to take his 8th pole of the year, but on his second run, he went even faster, going purple on the clock in all three segments.

Both McLarens attempted to claim top spot on their final runs, but Norris had to settle for second after clocking a lap 0.201s slower. Piastri, meanwhile, took third place as the top three prepare to battle for the World Championship on Sunday.

“Track temp comes down; you know you can push a bit more. Incredibly happy to be in first, that’s all we can do right; that’s all we can control,” said Verstappen.

“”I’ll try and win the race, but at the back of my mind is to win that championship. So we’ll see what happens.”

Point leader Lando Norris, who only needs to finish 3rd on Sunday to win the world driving title, was 2nd fastest in the #4 McLaren, 0.201s behind Verstappen.

“It is tough. Max did a good job, so congrats to him,” said Norris. “We did everything we could, so I’m pretty happy. Disappointed not to be on pole for the final weekend, but we’ll just have to do it tomorrow.

“I still want to try and win tomorrow; that is the goal.”

Oscar Piastri, 3rd in points, qualified in third place, 0.230s behind Verstappen.

“The lap I did in Q1 was nice to finally get into a rhythm and the last lap in Q3 was nice too, there wasn’t a lot left in that,” said Piastri

George Russell, who was fastest in FP3, could only manage 4th best in qualifying, 0.438s behind Verstappen.

Charles Leclerc rounded out the top-5 in his #16 Ferrari, 0523s behind Verstappen.

Fernando Alonso was a brilliant sixth for Aston Martin. Gabriel Bortoleto was seventh, ahead of Esteban Ocon, Isack Hadjar and Yuki Tsunoda.

The big story from Q1 was another early exit for Lewis Hamilton, the Ferrari driver finding himself down in P16 just hours after a crash into the barriers during third practice.

Norris and Piastri were very evenly matched, just 0.029s between them. In truth, even if they’d had two runs in Q3 on fresh tires, they looked unlikely to beat Verstappen, who did not even need the tow on his second run.

Norris knows in the back of his mind that he just needs to bring it home in second. He was cautious off the line last weekend and was pipped by Verstappen as a result – so might we see something similar with Piastri tomorrow?

In many ways, Norris might be safer with Piastri challenging Verstappen for the win and keeping the Dutchman busy – as third would be more than enough.

But a lot depends on Russell, who has said he will be racing hard but fair this weekend with respect to the championship contenders.

2025 Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying Results