Abu Dhabi - Qualifying

The beginning of December brought the very last qualifying session of the season. Some drivers relished in the feeling of driving a Formula One car maybe for the last time in their careers, some appreciated the last race for their current team, and one, namely Jack Doohan, enjoyed his first full weekend in the series, having replaced Esteban Ocon in Alpine. No matter which way we looked, the emotions ran high for all twenty drivers. 

While the constructor's championship remains unresolved, the scales of victory tipped in McLaren's direction after yesterday's FP1. Leclerc was stranded in his garage for the first 20 minutes, having some issues with his battery. The issue was fixed by fitting a new one, his third this season. With the limit standing firmly at two, Leclerc was punished with a 10-place grid penalty. 

The start of the session was much slower than some of those we have seen in recent times as drivers waited for the track to reach its optimal condition. While throughout most of the session, the top 3 consisted mostly of the usual suspects, Magnussen's great effort saw him place 3rd after the first runs. Perez was the first out of many drivers who saw their lap times deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 1. While the stewards were sure that all four wheels of his Red Bull went past the white line, he wasn't and instructed his team to carefully check the footage. Turns out he was right, his time was reinstated with a few minutes left in the session. 

Q1 ended with Leclerc, Bottas, and Sainz as the, quite unexpected, top three. The elimination zone was made up of Albon, Zhou, Colapinto, Doohan, and Hamilton. The 7-time world champion was disappointed to see his last qualifying with Mercedes ending so quickly, but the disappointing result was not necessarily his fault. As Hamilton was on his prep lap, Magnussen drove into one of the bollards lining the track and sent it right onto the racing line. It, quite unfortunately, lodged underneath the floor of Hamilton's car and stayed there during his push lap, severely impacting the Brit's performance. 

Verstappen set a great first time in Q2, managing to get down into the 1:22s. He was chased by the two McLarens, who almost matched his time, all while driving on used tires. As always, the real fun began with only a few minutes to go and the action came down to the very last seconds. This time, the situation looked quite dangerous for the two Ferraris who tried their best to secure the team's constructor's championship, as the drivers found themselves in 10th and 13th. The spirits were raised when they crossed the line with a 1-2, but fell again when Leclerc's time was deleted for exceeding track limits at the same corner Perez had trouble with earlier in the session. The Monegasque fell into the elimination zone and, with his 10-place penalty, will be starting tomorrow's race from the very back of the grid. Tsunoda, Lawson, Stroll, and Magnussen also didn't make it into Q3.

Once again, Verstappen began the session with a great time, made only more impressive by the fact that it was achieved during a lap in which he barely avoided losing control of his car in the last corner. The McLaren of Norris was only 0.004s behind him. The Brit's teammate saw his time deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 1 but, just like Perez before him, got it reinstated after a couple of minutes. During the second wave of push laps, Hulkenberg managed an incredible lap that put him on a provisional pole. He did not stay on the front row but will be starting the Grand Prix from P4. The pole, once again, went to Lando Norris, and the day was only made sweeter for McLaren by Piastri settling into P2. Sainz, carrying the burden of fighting for Ferrari placed third. Even though for the Italian team to win the WCC, nothing short of a miracle would have to occur, stranger things have happened in Formula One. 

Order of the grid:

1. Lando Norris

2. Oscar Piastri

3. Carlos Sainz

4. Nico Hulkenberg

5. Max Verstappen

6. Pierre Gasly

7. George Russell

8. Fernando Alonso

9. Valtteri Bottas

10. Sergio Perez

11. Yuki Tsunoda

12. Liam Lawson

13. Lance Stroll

14. Kevin Magnussen

15. Alex Albon

16. Zhou Guanyu

17. Lewis Hamilton

18. Jack Doohan

19. Charles Leclerc 

20. Franco Colapinto