Verstappen claims crucial pole edge
ABU DHABI: Max Verstappen gained a potentially decisive advantage in his epic battle with Lewis Hamilton for the Formula One world title on Saturday by claiming pole for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Verstappen goes into the season-closing race level on points with Hamilton, who took second in qualifying to join the Red Bull driver on the front row.
Lando Norris was a surprise third to park his Mclaren on the second row alongside Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez.
The last six winners in Abu Dhabi have all started from the front of the grid, with Verstappen victorious from pole last year. Hamilton, seeking a historic eighth world title, was favourite to secure the final pole of 2021 after his Mercedes left Verstappen’s Red Bull trailing in his wake in practice.
But after Red Bull’s mechanics worked on Verstappen’s car overnight, the Dutchman produced a blistering flying lap in Q3. Verstappen’s time of 1min 22.109sec left Hamilton over half a second behind.
That forced the seven-time world champion back onto the modified Yas Marina circuit for one last throw of the dice.
Although he reduced the gap to 0.371 at a venue where he is a five-time winner he could not knock his arch-rival off the top of the grid. “It’s an amazing feeling, we definitely improved the car in quali,” said Verstappen.
Given their intense, sometimes acrimonious rivalry there was a nice show of mutual respect when they fist-bumped passing each other during postqualifying interviews.
Hamilton congratulated Verstappen on “a great lap”. “We just couldn’t compete with that time at the end there,” he said.
With the two drivers locked together on 369.5 points after 21 of the 22 races, the stakes could not get any higher for the duelling duo.