Verstappen beats Norris, Piastri to pole for title-deciding Abu Dhabi GP

Max Verstappen has taken the final pole position of the season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of title rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen dominated Q3, setting two laps quick enough to seal his eighth pole of the year, the most of any driver in 2025, with a best time of 1m22.207s. His way was eased by using only used tires in Q2, making him one of three drivers – none of whom was in a McLaren – to have two new sets of softs available for Q3.

The Dutchman used them to great effect, taking provisional pole and then doubling down with his final lap with purple times in the first two sectors. It stunned McLaren, which had looked like the team to beat throughout practice, whereas Red Bull appeared to struggle with setup.

“I think that the changes [made after FP3] definitely helped me a little bit more to feel better in qualifying,” he said. “In Q3 around here track temp is coming down, you can push a bit more, and that’s exactly what we did.

“We found a bit more lap time, and of course I’m incredibly happy to be in first. That’s the only thing that we can do, that’s the only thing that we can control – try to maximize everything we have with the car, and we definitely did that in qualifying.”

The battle for the front row was fought exclusively between McLaren teammates Norris and Piastri, with the Australian drawing first blood after the first runs by 0.129s.

A cleaner lap from Norris turned the tables on the final runs, with Piastri’s response falling short by just 0.029s But neither could get close to Verstappen, with Norris’s best time 0.201s slower than the reigning champion.

“Max did a good job, so congrats to him,” Norris said. “We did everything we could.

“I think my lap was pretty good. I’m pretty happy. Of course disappointed to not be on pole for the final weekend, but we just weren’t fast enough today. We’ll have to try and do it tomorrow.”

If the title contenders finish where they’re set to start, Norris will still win the championship, needing only a podium to seal the deal regardless of where others finish.

The last 10 pole-sitters in Yas Marina have gone on to win the race.

“The time will come to think of that,” Norris said. “For now I’m disappointed to not be on pole. I still want to try and win tomorrow, so that’s going to be the goal.”

Piastri was pleased to have rebounded from a difficult Friday, having been forced to miss FP1 and having ended up off the pace in FP2.

“It was nice to finally get into a rhythm for the weekend,” he said. “Honestly, I think the last lap in Q3 was pretty good. There wasn’t a whole lot left in that. It sets up a pretty exciting day tomorrow.”

The Australian suggested that Verstappen would be hard to beat from pole position.

“We’ll find out tomorrow,” he said. “I think Max has looked very quick in the long runs this weekend, and he’s clearly very quick over one lap. Let’s see how much pace is a factor tomorrow.”

George Russell was scrappy on his way to fourth, 0.438s off the pace. He was less than 0.1s quicker than Charles Leclerc, who was surprised to make it to Q3 in his recalcitrant Ferrari.

Fernando Alonso was sixth for Aston Martin ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, who ended the season up 12-11 head-to-head with teammate Nico Hulkenberg for qualifying.

Esteban Ocon was eighth in just his third Q3 appearance of the year and his first since Monaco in May.

Isack Hadjar qualified ninth in his 16th Q3 appearance, the most of any midfield driver and more than both Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda among the frontrunners.

Tsunoda, who made just his seventh Q3 appearance for Red Bull Racing and his first since Azerbaijan in September, qualified 10th without a time after being deployed to slipstream Verstappen on the first runs. The team appeared to attempt to engineer the same scenario for Verstappen’s second lap but was unsuccessful.

Oliver Bearman missed out on Q3 by just 0.007s and will start the race 11th ahead of Carlos Sainz and Liam Lawson.

Kimi Antonelli was frustrated to be eliminated 14th, the Italian rookie complaining of a lack of grip on his final run that left him faster than only Lance Stroll in 15th.

Lewis Hamilton suffered a third consecutive Q1 knockout in the final qualifying session in a torrid last chapter to his maiden Ferrari campaign.

Hamilton’s car was ready for the start of Q1 after repairs following his FP3 crash, and the Briton reported good feelings from the cockpit during a brief medium-tire shakedown to verify the work. But the Briton couldn’t string together a competitive lap at the end of Q1, when the track was improving rapidly, and a scruffy final sector left him eliminated in 16th, just 0.008s shy of a spot in the next segment.

Alex Albon was knocked out 17th for Williams ahead of Nico Hulkenberg and Alpine teammates Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto, whose laps at the back of the pack were representative despite having had multiple laps deleted between them for exceeding track limits.

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