World Champion Lewis Hamilton claimed pole position for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, setting two laps quick enough for top spot.
Hamilton moved to the front with a time of 1:34.828 beneath the lights at the Yas Marina Circuit before improving to a 1:34.779s.
It marked Hamilton’s fifth pole of 2019 and his first since the German Grand Prix in July.
His effort left him almost two-tenths clear of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who will nonetheless drop to the back of the grid due to a power unit change.
It maintained Mercedes' perfect record in the hybrid era at the Yas Marina Circuit, having finished 1-2 in each Q3 session since 2014.
Max Verstappen was third for Red Bull but will be promoted to the front row of the grid due to Bottas’ sanction.
Charles Leclerc was fourth after the opening runs and a misjudgement by Ferrari meant he did not make it around to the finish line before Q3 came to an end, denying him a second hot lap.
Leclerc was behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel on their Q3 out laps and exited the final corner just as the session ended.
His effort was nonetheless good enough for fourth as Vettel, who spun in Q1, was fifth.
The Mercedes and Red Bull drivers, along with Leclerc, will start on the Medium tyres after using them in Q2 while Vettel will be on the Softs.
Alexander Albon was a subdued sixth for Red Bull while McLaren’s Lando Norris edged Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo by just 0.020s to lead the midfield battle.
Their respective team-mates, Carlos Sainz Jr. and Nico Hulkenberg, rounded out the top 10.
Racing Point and Toro Rosso dropped out of contention in Q2, with Sergio Perez edging Pierre Gasly, Lance Stroll and Daniil Kvyat, the quartet covered by just a tenth of a second.
Kvyat remains under investigation after his Toro Rosso team unsafely released him into the path of Romain Grosjean in Q1.
Kevin Magnussen was slowest in that session for Haas while team-mate Grosjean had shown midfield-leading pace on Friday but was unable to replicate that in Q1 as he took only 16th.
Alfa Romeo’s struggles continued into qualifying as neither Antonio Giovinazzi nor Kimi Raikkonen made it through to Q2, with the Italian in front of his experienced team-mate.
George Russell completed the season with a perfect 21-0 record against Williams team-mate Robert Kubica, though the squad went through the entire campaign without making a single Q2 session.
The 53-lap Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will begin at 17:10 local time
Discussion about this post