Hamilton ends long search for pole in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton claimed his first pole position in four months with a scorching record lap at the Yas Marina circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of his Mercedes teammate Valterri Bottas.

The recently-crowned champion delivered a late lap in one minute and 34.779 seconds to outpace Bottas, who will start from the back of the grid after collecting penalties for taking new engines.

It was a stunning way for Hamilton to finish the ' qualifying season' and improved his career record total to 88 poles, five of them in Abu Dhabi, the 21st and final race of the year.

It was his first pole since the German Grand Prix in July and his fifth of the year. He is more than 30 clear of his nearest rival Sebastian Vettel on 57.

"It's been such a long slog to try and get this pole position," admitted Hamilton. "Yesterday was quite wobbly so I had to regroup overnight and come back focussed."

Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull ahead of the two Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel with Alex Albon taking sixth in the second Red Bull.

The Dutchman will start Sunday's season-closer alongside Hamilton on the front row.

"As a team it's been a really strong day," said Bottas. "We saw in qualifying that we had good pace and, as I'm going to start last, we'll take that fighting spirit forward tomorrow."

Verstappen said: "I think today was the best we could do. We all know Mercedes are dominant here, but I think there are a lot of chances in this race."

Lando Norris won his intra-team qualifying battle with McLaren partner Carlos Sainz to take seventh ahead of Renault's Daniel Ricciardo with Sainz ninth and Nico Hulkenberg, in his final weekend with Renault, 10th.

After a hot day, which saw paddock regulars seeking the shade, the Q1 section of qualifying began in cooling conditions with the sun falling with the temperature. The rapidlychanging conditions were a challenge to the teams as they sought to maintain and improve tyre performance.

The first outstanding lap came from Verstappen before Hamilton took over with a lap that may have been affected by a lurid spin from Vettel.