Norris takes yet another pole
The tight Constructors’ championship battle just saw McLaren put one hand on the trophy as Lando Norris secured his eighth pole position of the Formula One 2024, going fastest on Saturday at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024 with his teammate Oscar Piastri behind him.
Ferrari saw Carlos Sainz fight the McLaren’s at the top single-handedly with Charles Leclerc starting from the back of the grid due to a penalty. The 2024 world champion Max Verstappen could only manage fifth as the Dutchman had a rough final lap.
Here’s a quick recap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024 qualifying session.
Q1 – Hamilton’s final qualifying with Mercedes ends in disaster
The first qualifying session saw multiple cars suffer from track limitations with Sergio Pérez having his first run deleted, which put the Mexican in the drop zone while Williams’ Franco Colapinto also had his time deleted. Pérez eventually got his time reinstated which saw him move to the front of the grid but it was the Mercedes who were struggling with seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, driving his final race for Mercedes, lying in the drop zone while his teammate was just above the drop zone at P14.
As the chequered flag fell, it was Alex Albon, Hamilton, Guyanu Zhou, Franco Colapinto and Alpine’s Jack Doohan missing out with Hamilton having to deal with debris in his final flying lap, which hampered the Brit to see him get knocked out early on in a disappointing end to his Silver Arrows career.
Eliminated in Q1
Alex Albon
Guyanu Zhou
Lewis Hamilton
Franco Colapinto
Jack Doohan
Q2 – Leclerc drops the ball
Max Verstappen set the benchmark time in the second qualifying session as the Dutchman’s pace looked ominous and his teammate Sergio Pérez also keeping himself afloat in the top 10. Valtteri Bottas and Fernando Alonso were the two strugglers early on while Charles Leclerc, had his fastest time, which was also the fastest time in Q2, deleted to due track limits.
Leclerc’s time deletion led to him being eliminated in Q2 but it was Bottas with an incredible final lap to make it to Q3 while Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen missed out.
Eliminated in Q2
Yuki Tsunoda
Liam Lawson
Lance Stroll
Charles Leclerc
Kevin Magnussen
Q3 – Norris puts McLaren in pole position
Max Verstappen secured the fastest lap as the ten remaining drivers put in their first runs with Verstappen clear of both the McLarens, with Carlos Sainz just behind. Piastri had had his first lap time deleted initially but it was reinstated following rechecking by the stewards, with the Australian being 0.04s behind the Red Bull driver.
Verstappen held provisional pole before Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg stole pole away from Verstappen with Oscar Piastri going quickest to displace the German and take provisional pole. The times kept on falling as Norris stole pole from his teammate and with Verstappen’s final lap being only good for fifth, it was Norris taking pole from Piastri.
Starting Grid for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024 (prior to any qualifying session penalties, if any)
1. Lando Norris
2. Oscar Piastri
3. Carlos Sainz
4. Nico Hülkenberg
5. Max Verstappen
6. Pierre Gasly
7. George Russel
8. Fernando Alonso
9. Valtteri Bottas
10. Sergio Pérez
11. Yuki Tsunoda
12. Liam Lawson
13. Lance Stroll
14. Kevin Magnussen
15. Guyanu Zhou
16. Lewis Hamilton
17. Jack Doohan
18. Franco Colapinto (five place grid penalty for gearbox replacement)
19. Alex Albon (five place grid penalty for gearbox replacement)20. Charles Leclerc (serving 10-place grid penalty)
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