Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen ends championship-winning season with pole
19th November 2022Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has rounded out his championship-winning season with pole position ahead of the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Q1
As the pit exit light went green, to start the final qualifying session of the 2022 season, the Williams of Nicholas Latifi was the first driver to venture out in his last qualifying session in Formula 1.
In the opening laps, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda topped the timing boards with a 1:26.135 ahead of Haas’ Mick Schumacher and both Aston Martin’s of Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel – in his final qualifying session – respectively.
However, the heavy hitters quickly ventured out onto the Abu Dhabi circuit and knocked Tsunoda off the top spot. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was the first to do so with an outstanding lap, a 1:25.211, to go nine-tenths faster than Tsunoda.
After the first set of runs, across the field, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen topped the timing boards but the Dutchman had to quickly return to his respective garage for a broken headrest.
With four minutes left on the clock, Vettel stood on the cusp of the elimination zone – in P16 – 0.018 seconds behind Stroll who sat in P15, temporarily safe. Fortunately, the four-time world champion was able to jump clear of the elimination zone before the chequered flag fell.
Eliminated:
20. Nicholas Latifi, Williams
19. Alexander Albon, Williams
18. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
17. Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri
16. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
Q2
When the pit exit light went green, once again, it was the two Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell who were the first drivers out on the circuit – on used soft tyres. Naturally, the seven-time world champion was the first to set a lap time to beat which was beaten by Russell who secured a 1:25.363.
The remaining 13 drivers quickly veered out onto the circuit as Hamilton and Russell peeled back into the pit lane.
The two Ferrari’s and Red Bull’s jumped to the top of the timing board, with the latter pairing out in front, on a fresher set of tyres.
The two Mercedes quickly returned to the circuit on a fresh set of tyres. As a result, Hamilton split the two Red Bull’s in P2 (Perez in P1 while Verstappen sat P3) and Russell slotted between Verstappen and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) who was in P5.
In McLaren’s fight for P4 – against Alpine – in the constructors, the Woking outfit found both of their drivers in Q3. At the same time, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was the only driver from the Ecclestone team to progress through as Fernando Alonso was knocked out in P11.
Eliminated:
15. Guanyu Zhou, Alfa Romeo
14. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
13. Mick Schumacher, Haas
12. Yuki Tsuonda, Alpha Tauri
11. Fernando Alonso, Alpine
Q3
Unlike Q2, a number of drivers cruised down the pit lane as they ventured out into the pit lane as the pit exit light went green to signal the start of Q3. The two Mercedes of Hamilton and Russell were the first to venture out onto the circuit, quickly followed by the Ferrari pairing.
Perez soon came over the radio asking ‘what happened?’ as he peeled out onto the circuit ahead of Verstappen. It was revealed, the Dutchman had a gearbox issue.
Eight of the remaining 10 drivers were out on track, with Vettel and McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo were the only ones to remain in their respective garages.
Hamilton set the fastest lap on the board with a 1:24.678 but this time was soon beaten by the likes of both Red Bulls and Ferrari’s. After the initial laps, Verstappen stood out in front with a blistering 1:23.988 lap, 0.293 seconds ahead of Sainz and Perez.
As the eight drivers returned to the pit lane, Vettel and Ricciardo finally peeled out onto the circuit to complete their qualifying laps. On their final laps, for their respective teams, Vettel could only manage P7 while Ricciardo slotted in behind – in P8.
Top 10:
10. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
9. Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin
8. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
7. Lando Norris, McLaren
6. George Russell, Mercedes
5. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
4. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
3. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
2. Sergio Perez, Red Bull
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
That’s it for the article; Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen ends championship-winning season with pole!
As the grid is set, who do you think will lead in the opening corners for the F1 season finale? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Abu Dhabi GP: Verstappen returns to the top in FP2
- Abu Dhabi GP: Hamilton tops final FP1 session of 2022
- Red Bull release statement regarding Brazil GP
- Nico Hulkenberg returns to F1 with Haas
- Haas to part ways with Schumacher
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
