Verstappen’s pole position was his 20th in Formula 1
Max Verstappen led team-mate Sergio Perez to a Red Bull one-two in qualifying at the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi.
Verstappen took pole by 0.228s as Perez pipped Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 0.04s in their battle for second in the championship.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was fourth as Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell occupied the third row.
Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel will start his final grand prix in ninth place.
The German drove a strong session as team mate Lance Stroll only managed 14th.
McLaren’s Lando Norris was seventh, ahead of Alpine’s Esteban Ocon in eighth, with McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo completing the top 10.
Ricciardo has a three-place grid penalty for causing a crash in Brazil last weekend and will start 13th behind Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher in his last race after being dropped by Haas in 2023 in favor of Nico Hulkenberg. .
Verstappen impresses as Red Bull recover
Red Bull had a rare weekend off in Brazil, with the team admitting they made mistakes with set-up that they couldn’t recover from because it was a sprint weekend, with only one session of ‘workouts before locking the car settings.
But they have been flying at Yas Marina and even Verstappen has missed early practice as the team gave young driver Liam Lawson a run in his car that did not affect him. And in the end, he did two laps good enough for pole.
Perez looked like he might have a chance to beat Verstappen after the world champion struggled for grip in the second half of qualifying and could only manage fourth fastest, behind Perez, Sainz and Leclerc.
But Verstappen found the car more to his liking in the final session, despite what he described as a “fright” when the car shut down while trying to leave the garage for its first run and he had to reset all systems .
Despite this, Verstappen threw down the gauntlet with an outstanding first lap as Perez came out of the final corner to stay more than 0.3 seconds behind.
Verstappen improved again on his final lap by just over 0.15 seconds and gave Perez a hand with a tow on the main straight which could have been enough to make the difference between a top spot row or the third.
After acrimony in Brazil comes harmony in Abu Dhabi: Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez and the Red Bull team struggled to lead together this weekend after the bitter words that followed to Verstappen’s failure to allow Perez to overtake him on track. last lap in Interlagos
Verstappen said: “Q3 was good, before it was all a bit up and down.
“I was supposed to get ahead of Checo, but the engine went out and we had to restart the car. We managed to keep everything under control and put in a good lap.
“The second run was easier but it wasn’t easy to find more lap time, just a bit more in the final sector.
“The car has been good all weekend, getting back to normal. We knew we had a fast car, but we made some mistakes in Brazilian hindsight.
“I saw in P1 with Checo quite happy and Liam straight, and in P2 it was about adjusting some things.”
Perez is tied on points with Leclerc but will start the Grand Prix as heavy favorite to take second place as Ferrari have struggled for pace in recent races.
Leclerc said he expected him to be “close” with Perez in the race.
The team has struggled with tire degradation in recent races, but Leclerc said the team had “paid a lot of attention to it this weekend” so he hoped it would not be a problem.
Mercedes falls behind again
Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of avoiding a first winless F1 season look bleak after qualifying fifth for the final race of the season.
Mercedes came to Abu Dhabi warning they would likely face a tougher weekend after Russell’s win in Brazil and a race in Mexico, and it proved to be the case.
The car was very quick in the slow corners of the final sector but struggled with its high drag on the straights and Hamilton finished 0.684s off the pace, with Russell just 0.03s behind.
“In terms of the result, it’s probably where we expected to be,” Russell said. “The pace may have been a bit further than we would have liked.
“We know we don’t have the most efficient car, and on the long straights we’ve just been taken by Red Bull. But I think we have a much quicker race car and the long-term pace looked very strong compared to Ferrari.”