HAmilton grAbs pole for showdown
A DOMINANT Lewis Hamilton delivered another crushing display over his title rival Nico Rosberg to secure pole position for today’s championship-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton was in a field of one under the floodlights at the Yas Marina Circuit to finish more than three-tenths of a second ahead of Rosberg.
But the German, who is 12 points ahead of Hamilton, will join his Mercedes team-mate on the front row, and should he finish in the top three this evening, he will be crowned world champion.
Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line as the best of the rest to line up in third with Kimi Raikkonen fourth on the grid for Ferrari.
Hamilton has been in imperious form in recent races and his pole here never appeared in doubt.
The 31-year-old’s margin of victory was an emphatic one, and will send a strong message to his rival on the opposite side of the Mercedes garage.
Yet a victory today will not be enough for Hamilton who is being cheered on this weekend by his mother Carmen.
He needs Rosberg to finish outside the top three, but based on today’s result, it would appear only a mechanical issue or firstcorner tangle will stop the German from emulating his father Keke, the 1982 world champion.
Ricciardo was a distant third, half-a-second down on Rosberg with Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel
and Max Verstappen even further back. Rosberg is doing all he needs to do.
“It has been a great weekend so far,” said Hamilton, after securing the 61st pole of his career.
“It has been strange coming here realising this will be the last practice and qualifying sessions with this car. It has been such a privilege driving this car.”
Rosberg said: “I am not ecstatic today. Lewis just did a good job. There will be opportunities for tomorrow. I’ll try to go for the win.”
Away from the championship battle Jenson Button is treating today’s grand prix as his final in the sport. The 2009 world champion, who will step aside for McLaren’s highly-rated reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne next year, lines up 12th on the grid for his 305th and probably final race.
Button, 36, missed out on the top-10 shootout by just two-tenths of a second, but seemed pleased with his evening’s work.
Jolyon Palmer out-qualified his Renault team-mate Kevin Magnussen in 15th.
Magnussen will start 18th.