The last poleman of the 2021 season is Max verstappen. The Dutchman and especially Red Bull gave a lesson to Lewis hamilton and Mercedes, who did not see coming or covering the team management that their rivals carried out. Lando norris, third ahead of Sergio perezadds the umpteenth factor of excitement to the race.
Carlos Sainz will start from a more than optimal fifth place, while Fernando Alonso will make it eleventh. The Asturian was hampered in Q2 by Daniel Ricciardo.
Q1: Calm chicha, with Hamilton ahead
On a track that dwelled remarkably as the minutes passed, neither Lewis hamilton neither Max verstappen they pressed in the first bars of qualifying. The Briton was quickest by almost half a second over the Dutchman in Q1, driven by the excitement of seeing who was left out of Q2.
On a relatively quiet run there was a short interruption in the form of a red flag by a bollard being swept away Mick schumacher, which, how could it be otherwise, will come out from the bottom of the grill. After what Lando norris hit him, race management understood that it was dangerous and they raised the red flag.
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Beyond this anecdote, Q1 finished with Hamilton in front with solvency and further improving his best time in the final stretch, as he also did Valtteri Bottas although far from Hamilton, more than two tenths. Carlos Sainz Y Fernando Alonso, with relative tranquility, they passed 9th and 12th.
Those eliminated were Kimi Raikkonen, Nicholas Latifi, George Russell, Kimi Raikkonen, Mick Schumacher Y Nikita mazepin.
Times table Q1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Q2: Verstappen and Hamilton, to a changed strategy
With the medium tires mounted on all the cars, Hamilton proved that he was the benchmark … but just barely. So much so that he, Verstappen and Bottas finished in the same tenth, to the point that there were only four thousandths between them after the first few attempts.
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For Verstappen, however, it was not a perfect run. When he was making his second attempt to return, he slipped into Turn 1 and caused a plane, which forced him to enter the pits to discard those wheels … and bet on his initial strategy: go for the soft ones, which are the ones that he used more in the long runs of free practice on Friday.
Carlos Sainz it proved that attempting the good lap on soft tires (and thus going into the race) was an optimal strategy. The Madrilenian was the fastest on the first attempt, which made many take the reds for a final stretch of Q2 to the limit.
They all took to the track, making the end of Q2 almost a race. They delayed so much that many were hampered by rivals, such as Fernando Alonso what was seen behind Daniel Ricciardo, but others did improve their times. Was what he did Max verstappen, who will race with soft while Lewis hamilton He will do it with means: it will be a key factor for the first bars of the final appointment this Sunday.
Those eliminated were Alonso, Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll, Antonio Giovinazzi Y Sebastian Vettel.
Times table Q2 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Q3: Red Bull storms the bench
Everything seemed written for a Lewis Hamilton pole, but in the first attempt in Q3, Red Bull showed that teamwork could give them a lot of joy. Verstappen swept the Briton on the first lap thanks to the slipstream that Pérez gave him: more than half a second.
While Bottas made another ridiculous performance as a squire (he will start 6th), the Mexican gave Verstappen a chance to claim his first pole since the US GP. What few expected was that Lando norris crashes third: one more factor for a career that seems unpredictable.
To highlight the fifth position of Carlos Sainz, who beat his teammate Leclerc and aims to be another important actor in the race.