Norris Claims Pole in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton to Start 18th

Lando Norris, who has secured three race victories this season, claimed pole position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, finishing ahead of his team-mate Oscar Piastri. This result places McLaren in an advantageous position to secure their inaugural constructors’ title since 1998. Norris concluded the qualifying session, which was described as gripping and topsy-turvy, 0.209 seconds faster than Piastri. This session marked the final qualifying event of the season. Carlos Sainz secured third position for Ferrari. Ferrari currently trails McLaren by 21 points as they head into Sunday’s race, where a maximum of 44 points are attainable. Charles Leclerc, Sainz’s team-mate, is set to commence the race from the back of the grid. He initially qualified 13th, but his fastest lap in the second qualifying session was invalidated due to exceeding track limits, and he also faces an impending 10-place grid penalty. Lewis Hamilton qualified 18th in what marks his final race for Mercedes. His crucial lap during the first session was compromised when his vehicle struck a bollard. This bollard had been dislodged by Kevin Magnussen’s Haas as Magnussen attempted to move aside for Hamilton. Hamilton is projected to begin the race from 16th position, following penalties applied to Leclerc and Alex Albon of Williams. Nico Hulkenberg achieved an impressive fourth place in qualifying for Haas. However, the German driver received a three-place grid penalty for passing other cars at the pit exit. This penalty relegates Hulkenberg to seventh, elevating world champion Max Verstappen to fourth, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly to fifth, and Mercedes’ George Russell to sixth. Russell will now start directly behind Verstappen, following their recent disagreement this week. McLaren had demonstrated dominance in the practice sessions preceding qualifying and were considered frontrunners for pole position. Nevertheless, they only revealed their full potential on the final lap of a session characterized by violations of track limits and various other occurrences. During the initial runs of the final session, Verstappen recorded the fastest time in his Red Bull, notwithstanding a significant slide exiting the final corner that he narrowly prevented from becoming a collision with the inner pit wall. For their initial runs in the top 10 shootout, both McLaren cars were equipped with used tyres. Norris was only 0.004 seconds adrift of Verstappen, who was using new tyres, with Piastri trailing by an additional 0.036 seconds. Verstappen failed to improve his time on his concluding lap, consequently falling to fifth place, behind Norris, Piastri, Sainz, and the notable Hulkenberg. The Dutch driver ultimately finished 0.350 seconds slower than the leading time. He commented: “You never really had a good compare because many people kept aborting on their new tyres and when I went P1 other people were on scrubbed (tyres) so it didn’t give a fair performance assessment.” He added: “If I didn’t drop it on the last corner I think I could have fought for second.” Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Valtteri Bottas of Sauber, and Sergio Perez of Red Bull rounded out the top 10. Leclerc had initially set the fastest lap at the conclusion of the second session, but this lap was subsequently deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn One. Following his penalty, he is scheduled to start 19th, one position ahead of Williams’ Franco Colapinto. Colapinto, who qualified 19th, also incurred a five-place penalty, similar to Albon, for exceeding gearbox usage limits. Leclerc expressed that he still harbored hopes for an unexpected turnaround in the constructors’ championship. He informed BBC Sport: “The joy will be even bigger if we pull it off after such a tough weekend. I hope we can turn this around in the best possible way.” He further stated: “I am very disappointed with my performance today and I am very disappointed with what happened on the engine yesterday but that makes me more determined to do something special tomorrow. So I will give it my all.” Hamilton approached the weekend with aspirations of concluding his 12-year tenure with Mercedes on a strong note. He experienced two favorable days, establishing himself as the consistently faster driver for the Silver Arrows. However, his initial lap in the first session proved insufficient for advancement, necessitating a second attempt. He was on course to progress to the second session until his encounter with Magnussen in the vicinity of the marina. Magnussen veered off the track, inside the kerb at Turn 13, in an effort to avoid obstructing the Mercedes. Nevertheless, he struck a bollard on the kerb, dislodging it onto the track. Hamilton’s car subsequently collected the bollard, which became lodged in the front of his floor for the final four corners of that lap. The seven-time champion consequently missed advancing by a margin of 0.093 seconds. He conveyed to BBC Sport: “I was the last car on track and ran out of time ultimately, and then I got the bollard at the end which went under the car and I lost all downforce so it couldn’t have gone worse really.”