Lewis Hamilton excels again, this time by taking the pole for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates—November 30th—Lewis Hamilton might have already won his sixth world title. Still, the Briton made sure on Saturday night at the Yas Marina Circuit that this season would not be forgotten. He set a new track record of 1:34:779 to take his 5th pole of the season and the 88th of his career.
But the big news of the day may have been who qualified second.
Despite having to be put to the back of the grid for a recent power unit change, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished second.
“A very good qualifying session for us,” Hamilton said. “It has not been the easiest for us this year, but we have kept plugging away. The car is well suited to the track, and it has been feeling good. Yesterday was difficult, and I had to reset myself for today. The first lap felt special, and the second one was an improvement.”
For Verstappen, it was a night where his car lacked grip in comparison to his rivals. “We just seemed to lack a bit of grip compared to them,” the Dutchman replied. “They are always really dominant on this track, and we just lack a bit too much in that last sector. We have to be realistic, and I think Mercedes is quick, but we will give it everything we have in the race.”
Hamilton won the first session, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the second. But Hamilton was never threatened by anyone in the last session, as both Ferraris of Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel were never in the running, taking fourth and fifth, respectively. And it was not an enjoyable evening for the American Haas F1 Team. Romain Grosjean was knocked out of the opening session, while teammate Kevin Magnussen was also eliminated.
Alex Albon continued his success with Red Bull Racing by finishing in sixth, while Lando Norris took seventh ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.
Carlos Sainz finished in ninth, while the second Renault of Nico Hulkenberg–in his last race for the French team–rounded out the top ten.
Although he has already won the championship for this season, Hamilton is compelled to push harder. “I don’t think my qualifying has been terrible, but it is not up to my usual standard,” he concluded. “It’s my last qualifying session with this car, and it has been an incredible journey–a really good feeling to win the pole.”
