Verstappen leads 1-2-3 start for Formula 1 championship finalists

ABU DHABI — In the most critical qualifying session of the season, Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen captured the pole but his championship rivals aren’t far behind.

Verstappen earned the season record of eight pole positions. The current championship runner-up will have leader Lando Norris slotted alongside him in second, with the final member of the championship trio — Oscar Piastri — in third.

The speedy George Russell finds himself fourth after nearly spinning out in the final corner, trying to find every inches possible. Then Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five.

At this circuit, the pole is important. In the previous 10 Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, the polesitters have gone on to convert their pole into a win — currently tying a Formula 1 record.

Now, Verstappen has the chance to break set a track record and etch himself further into the Formula One history book with a fifth title.

Before that, there are 58 laps around the Yas Marina Circuit and many scenarios to happen in order to achieve that benchmark.

• What needs to happen for each championship hopeful to win at Abu Dhabi

Q3

Gabriel Bortoleto converted his narrow escape from the first session to a resounding triumph back to Q3 for the fourth time this season.

Meanwhile, three drivers entered the final qualifying session with two new sets of soft tires — Championship contender Max Verstappen, George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

Both McLaren drivers burned their potential second set of new tires at the end of the first session, putting them on an early strategic offset.

That disadvantage was misleading. Once the fresh rubber went on, McLaren snapped right back to the top end of the field — and stayed there.

With Yuki Tsunoda’s poor form repaired, both Red Bull cars were together in the final qualifying session for the first time since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This development proved monumental to the team’s driver’s championship hopes but Tsunoda was ordered to give his Red Bull teammate a lengthy tow on the straightaway, boosting Verstappen to the pole.

That hindered Tsunoda’s ability to lay a lap down but he will start 10th.

2025 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Top-10 Starters

• 1. Max Verstappen – 1:22.207
• 2. Lando Norris -1:22.408
• 3. Oscar Piastri -1:22.437
• 4. George Russell – 1:22.645
• 5. Charles Leclerc – 1:22.730
• 6. Fernando Alonso -1:22.902
• 7. Gabriel Bortoleto – 1:22.904
• 8. Esteban Ocon – 1:22.913
• 9. Isack Hadjar – 1:23.072
• 10. Yuki Tsunoda – No Time

Q2

Many teams chose to start the session on used tires. The timing sheet showed little to no difference between them and the fresh rubber.

Ultimately, the times tumbled and slower teams chose new rubber. Among them was Yuki Tsunoda who snapped his seventh consecutive elimination before Q3. His tenth-placed run was enough to get through.

Oscar Piastri was the championship driver in the hot seat. He escaped the drop zone by two tenths of a second and moved through in eighth.

George Russell topped the session with a time of one minute and 22.730 seconds.

Unfortunately for his Mercedes stablemate, Kimi Antonelli, he was not so fortunate. The eliminated Antonelli showed speed in the first qualifying session but said, upon his elimination, “I can’t believe it… we have no rear again!”

The bottom five eliminated:

• 11. Oliver Bearman – 1:23.041
• 12. Carlos Sainz – 1:23.042
• 13. Liam Lawson – 1:23.077
• 14. Kimi Antonelli – 1:23.080
• 15. Lance Stroll – 1:23.097

Q1

The early pressure on the championship trio proved no worry as they all advanced to the next session.

Norris found himself sixth, half a second behind his session topping teammate Piastri. McLaren CEO, Zak Brown commented there was “nothing wrong” with his run, it was only Q1.

In total, the margins were tight throughout the first qualifying session and with the sun down, track evolution ran rampant. Whoever timed their push a lap the latest would find the best time.

What worked in theory lacked in execution as Lewis Hamilton’s late mistake in the final sector of his final push lap cost him entry into Q2.

Kick-Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto took advantage of the newly repaired Hamilton and slotted himself ahead and into the next session — extending Hamilton’s qualifying woes to three straight Q1 exits.

Both Alpine’s found themselves behind early as both cars had their initial times deleted due to track limits

The bottom five eliminated:

• 16. Lewis Hamilton – 1:23.394
• 17. Alex Albon – 1:23.416
• 18. Nico Hulkenberg – 1:23.450
• 19. Pierre Gasly – 1:23.468
• 20. Franco Colapinto – 1:23.890

Russell Tops the Final Free Practice Chart of the Season

After McLaren’s Lando Norris swept both FP1 and FP2 on Friday, it was Mercedes’ George Russell who stole the spotlight in FP3.

With five minutes left in the final practice session of the season, Russell took the top spot from Norris by a razor-thin margin of only four thousands.

The session wasn’t without drama. Midway through, the championship leader was forced to take evasive action against Yuki Tsunoda.

The Red Bull driver, possibly in his final F1 weekend, failed to move out of Norris’ path heading into turn 12 and nearly costing him valuable experience only a third of the way into the session.

Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari arrived in Abu Dhabi on shaky form and things got worse.

The five-time Abu Dhabi winner spun at high speed and slammed into the turn nine barriers, ending his session early.

“Something buckled in the front and snapped the rear,” Hamilton radioed.

Rookie Kimi Antonelli also had a moment to forget, picking up an unsafe release penalty after clipping the sidepod of Tsunoda’s Red Bull while exiting his garage.

Max Verstappen fired back soon after Russell’s flyer, slotting into third and finishing just a tenth off the benchmark.

Championship contender Oscar Piastri improved from Friday but still ended only fifth (1:23.593), trailing his title rivals.

Russell came into the Abu Dhabi mathematically out of the championship fight but his final time of an 1:23.334 looked fast enough to play spoiler as the weekends progresses.