|
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen will
be hoping that a remarkable statistic about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix comes
true again tomorrow: the driver who started from pole has won the race for
the last 10 years.
The Dutchman’s time on both his first and second
runs in Q3 were good enough for pole: two tenths of a second faster than the
McLarens – which line up second and third with Lando Norris and Oscar
Piastri respectively.
This means that all three title contenders will
start the decider together at the front of the grid, after an extremely
close qualifying session. Tactics already played a part, with some drivers
aiming to benefit from an aerodynamic tow down the straights during
qualifying.
All the drivers used the soft tyre to set their fastest
laps, with Verstappen selecting scrubbed tyres in Q2 before sealing his
fifth pole in Abu Dhabi on a new set: going three tenths of a second faster
than last year’s pole position.
With the competitive margins so
closely poised, drivers will be relying heavily on tyre strategy to make a
difference in the 58-lap race tomorrow, which gets underway at 17:00: one
hour before today’s qualifying time.
The session started today under
the lights in ambient temperatures of 25.6 degrees centigrade and track
temperatures of 27.5 degrees, remaining largely consistent throughout the
hour-long session.
The Pirelli Pole Position Award was given to
Verstappen by Benson Boone. The American singer dominated the charts in 2024
with his hit ‘Beautiful Things’: the best-selling single of the year. Boone,
who performed in concert at Yas Marina on Thursday night, has a new album
out called ‘American Heart’.
Tomorrow, Verstappen will also receive
the 2025 Pirelli Pole Position of the Year award, which he sealed with his
result today. The Red Bull driver pulled clear of Norris in the final
rankings for overall pole positions during the season, sealing his eighth
pole of 2025: one more than his McLaren rival.
THE DAY ON TRACK
Track temperatures were the
hottest they have been all weekend (36 degrees centigrade) for FP3, which
began at 13:30. Running was consequently limited in the non-representative
conditions; especially at the start of the session. Nonetheless, all the
drivers eventually ventured out on a combination of medium and soft
compounds, with Aston Martin being the only team to scrub in hard tyres. In
the closing minutes, as track evolution ramped up grip, Mercedes driver
George Russell went quickest on the soft by just 0.004s from Norris. The
session was interrupted by a red flag halfway through the hour, after the
Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton – the most successful driver in the history of the
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – went off. |
|
MARIO ISOLA - HEAD OF F1 AND CAR RACING
“Congratulations to Max Verstappen, who sealed pole just when it mattered
most. In qualifying, some drivers chose to keep new soft C5 tyres for the
quickest laps in the final Q3 session, even though we saw that used softs
were still capable of setting fast times after a few cool-down laps.
Looking at the tyre sets that the teams have kept back for the race, there
are two different approaches. McLaren is the only team that has saved two
sets of new hards, while most other teams – including Red Bull – have saved
two sets of mediums. This shows that teams are keeping the possibility of
two stops open, but only McLaren – the winners of the constructors’
championship this year – have gone for the most conservative option.
The two quickest strategies tomorrow are one-stoppers. One option is to
start on the medium and switch to the hard between laps 20 and 26. An
alternative is to start on the hard and then take advantage of the soft’s
extra performance by stopping between laps 39 and 45.
A two-stop
strategy seems to be a bit less competitive, especially given the difficulty
of overtaking here. The best way to do it is with a combination of medium
and hard for the first two stints, followed by a final stint on the medium –
which in theory would be quicker for the run to the flag than the hard or
the soft under these circumstances.
It's not been possible to assess
how graining has progressed from the short runs seen today, but there is no
evidence of it so far this evening. Track evolution suggests that the
situation will be better compared to Friday, especially thanks to the tyre
management that we expect from the drivers during the grand prix.”
Formula 2:
On his final weekend as an F2 driver, Arvid Lindblad took his
third victory in the series after leading from pole. His Campos Racing team
mate Nikola Tsolov claimed a debut podium in third, behind runner-up Joshua
Duerksen (AIX Racing), who briefly challenged for the lead after a virtual
safety car with two laps to go.
With Invicta failing to score today,
the F2 teams’ championship will now be settled tomorrow: although the
reigning champion team still holds a significant advantage.
All the
drivers used the medium tyre throughout the 23-lap race, which got underway
at 16:00. With no pit stops in the sprint, managing wear and degradation
efficiently was key to success.
|
