Lando Norris led a McLaren 1-2 in qualifying for the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating team-mate Oscar Piastri to pole position.
A 1:22.595s time saw Norris beat Piastri by two-tenths of a second with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz 0.029s further back in third.
McLaren looked like the team to beat at the Yas Marina Circuit coming into qualifying with Norris and Piastri fastest in FP2 and FP3 respectively.
No doubt, McLaren’s drivers would have no problem getting out of Q1, with the first 18 minutes of qualifying vital for the midfield and backmarkers to escape an early elimination.
Someone who desperately needed to avoid a Q1 exit was Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, but a lap time deletion for track limits left him bottom of the standings with five minutes remaining in the opening session.
That was the case of Williams’ Franco Colapinto as well.
Meanwhile, the likes of Haas’ Kevin Magnussen enjoyed sitting pretty in the top three, building on impressive form the team had shown through practice.
That was until Perez’s time was reinstated, putting the Mexican in a provisional third with three minutes left in Q1.
Colapinto then put a time to go 13th, but would that be enough margin for the Argentine to advance?
Lewis Hamilton out in Q1
With the track grip ramping up, a flurry of cars set final laps as the clock struck out in Q1 and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton endured his third Q1 exit in six races.
Hamilton was hampered by a bollard caught under the front of his car, which was jettisoned by Magnussen at Turn 14.
Other Q1 exits were Alex Albon in 16th, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu in 17th with Colapinto and Alpine’s Jack Doohan set to start the GP from the back of the grid.
Doohan’s early exit left Alpine with one horse in the race to fight two Haas machines in qualifying with grid positions vital for the midfield fight in the Constructors’ Championship.
At the other end of the order, Ferrari advanced to Q1 in first and third with Charles Leclerc and Sainz respectively, laying down a challenge for McLaren to rise to.
Charles Leclerc’s Q2 exit hurts Ferrari’s title chances
With the pesky Turn 14 bollard replaced, Q2 got underway and Max Verstappen and Yuki Tsunoda popped on brand new Softs for their first runs to go first and fourth provisionally.
Verstappen’s time was a tenth faster than Norris’ effort on scrubbed softs, but the Dutchman elected to stay in the garage as the remaining 14 cars went out for one final run.
Leclerc, with a 10-place grid penalty looming over him provisionally went quickest, but a Turn 1 track limits violation dumped him to 14th and the back of the grid.
A disaster for Ferrari amid its 21-point deficit to McLaren at the top of the Constructors’ standings.
Tsunoda and RB team-mate Liam Lawson both missed out on a top-10 shootout appearance in 11th and 12th respectively, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll.
Haas’ battle to overhaul a five-point deficit to Alpine for sixth in the Constructors’ standings was thrown in jeopardy as Magnussen finished 15th in Q2.
That meant a remarkable performance from Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas saw the Finn make Q3 in what was his last qualifying session for the foreseeable future.
Sainz also advanced with some decent pace as the fastest Q2 driver, albeit only four-tenths faster than 10th-placed Perez.
McLaren and Lando Norris unmatched in Q3
Verstappen wanted Red Bull to turn things around from Friday to fight for the top six on Saturday and the Dutchman survived a huge tank slapper coming out of the final corner on his first Q3 lap.
Despite the scary moment, Verstappen kept his Red Bull out of the wall, crossing the line in provisional pole with a time of 1:22.945s.
The Dutchman led Norris and Piastri ahead of the final runs.
Balance issues on the final run meant Verstappen couldn’t affect the fight for pole position as Norris swooped in to take his eighth of the 2024 campaign.
Piastri ensured the front row lock out with Sainz performing admirably to lead the second row of the grid ahead of an incredibly quick Nico Hulkenberg, putting Haas in a great place ahead of Sunday’s GP.
Verstappen was resigned to fifth, ahead of an impressive Pierre Gasly for Alpine with Mercedes’ George Russell resigned to seventh.
Aston Martin’s Fernando was eighth ahead of the surprise Sauber supremo Bottas as Perez rounded out the top-10.
READ MORE – F1 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying Results
