Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen overcomes practice struggles to beat Charles Leclerc to pole

Max Verstappen recovered from his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix practice struggles to take pole position ahead of Charles Leclerc in the final qualifying session of the 2023 season.

The world champion and his dominant Red Bull team had looked out of sorts in final practice earlier on Saturday but ultimately found the right setup to outpace all of his challengers for a 12th pole of the season.

Leclerc continued his fine qualifying form to take a second place that had appeared beyond Ferrari's reach, and was ultimately just 0.139s off Verstappen's leading time of 1:23.445.

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Oscar Piastri took third ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, with both taking advantage of a scrappy lap from the former's McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, who had appeared to be Verstappen's main rival for pole heading into Q3.

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Piastri was summoned by the stewards following the session for allegedly impeding Alpine's Pierre Gasly in Q3, but kept his position after being found not to have had any impact on the French driver's lap time.

Leclerc's second provides Ferrari with a boost as the Italian team attempt to overturn a four-point deficit to Mercedes in the battle for second in the Constructors' Championship.

Leclerc and Russell will lead their respective teams' hopes after their team-mates each made surprise exits, with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton only managing 11th and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz 16th.

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Verstappen's Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez appeared to have claimed sixth, but dropped to ninth after his final flying lap was deleted for breaching track limits.

Yuki Tsunoda took an impressive sixth for AlphaTauri, ahead of Fernando Alonso for Aston Martin, whose hopes of closing an 11-point gap to fourth-placed McLaren in the constructors' standings appear to be all but over.

Nico Hulkenberg claimed eighth for Haas, with Gasly rounding out the top 10.

Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying result: Top 10
1) Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3) Oscar Piastri, McLaren
4) George Russell, Mercedes
5) Lando Norris, McLaren
6) Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri
7) Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
8) Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
9) Sergio Perez, Red Bull
10) Pierre Gasly, Alpine

Rare unexpected pole for Verstappen

After the weekend's only representative practice session had been disrupted by two red flags on Friday evening, qualifying began with plenty of mystery over who would ultimately be in contention for pole under the lights.

Verstappen had expressed frustration throughout the final 60-minute session earlier in the day, and Red Bull were seen working hard to alter the setup of his car ahead of qualifying.

Any thoughts that an open goal was waiting for the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes were quickly dispelled as Verstappen jumped to the top of the timesheet with his first run in Q1.

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The pattern would continue throughout, with an almost four-tenth advantage after the opening runs in Q3, albeit with Verstappen using newer tyres than his rivals, making it clear something special would be required to dislodge him.

Norris clearly felt that pressure and a mistake in the final sector cost him several places, with the Brit saying after the session that he had "thrown away" a pole opportunity.

Leclerc, who had taken three poles in the previous four qualifying sessions for Ferrari, produced another spectacular lap but simply didn't have the pace to match Verstappen.

That meant the Dutchman's failure to improve on his second run proved irrelevant, with a career-best 12th pole of the season secured.

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"Very weird. The whole weekend so far has been a bit of a struggle," Verstappen said. "We definitely improved the car for qualifying and from lap one it all seemed a bit more together and we could definitely push more.

"So of course very happy to be on pole."

While it was relatively straightforward in the end, the uncertainty felt in the Red Bull garage ahead of the session was made clear as team principal Christian Horner revealed over team radio that he had won €500 from team advisor Dr Helmut Marko by betting Verstappen would merely make the front row.

With pole secured, few will bet against Verstappen achieving a record-extending 19th victory of his historically dominant campaign on Sunday.

Hamilton, Sainz struggle to leave Mercedes-Ferrari battle in balance

Despite having crashed to bring out one of the red flags in Friday's second practice, Sainz would have expected to ease through Q1 in a Ferrari that has excelled in qualifying over the second half of the season.

However, the Spaniard could not find the pace to advance, and despite protestations that he had been hampered by Gasly on his final flying lap, wasn't offered a reprieve.

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Similarly, Hamilton had been off the pace of his team-mate Russell throughout the weekend and couldn't summon any notable improvement for qualifying.

The seven-time world champion, who ends the season with an 11-11 qualifying head-to-head with Russell, complained that something had to be "wrong" with his troublesome W14.

While both will be disappointed with their results, Hamilton is clearly better placed to climb into the top 10 and score points that could prove crucial in keeping Mercedes above Ferrari in second in the constructors' standings.

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Also knocked out in Q1 was Williams' under-pressure Logan Sargeant, who is the only driver on the grid yet to have his seat for 2024 confirmed.

The American rookie did his hopes of being retained little good after exceeding track limits with each of his flying lap attempts in Q1 to end the session without a lap time.

Sky Sports F1's live Abu Dhabi GP schedule

Sunday November 26

• 9.10am: F2 Feature Race
• 11.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Abu Dhabi GP build-up
• 1pm: The ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX
• 3pm: Chequered Flag: Abu Dhabi GP reaction
• 4pm: Ted's Notebook

After the thrills of Las Vegas, Formula 1 heads to Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina Circuit for the 2023 season finale and another stunning spectacle under the lights. Watch the Abu Dhabi weekend live on Sky Sports F1, with lights out on Sunday at 1pm. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW