Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying: Max Verstappen overcomes practice struggles to beat Charles Leclerc to pole
Max Verstappen struggled in final practice earlier on Saturday before taking a 12th pole position of the season; Charles Leclerc second for Ferrari ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri; watch the Abu Dhabi GP live on Sky Sports F1 at 1pm on Sunday, with build-up from 11:30am
Last Updated: 25/11/23 3:23pm
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Max Verstappen takes another pole position in Abu Dhabi as teammate Sergio Perez slips to P9 after his lap time was deleted.
Max Verstappen takes another pole position in Abu Dhabi as teammate Sergio Perez slips to P9 after his lap time was deleted.
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.
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.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lewis Hamilton was knocked out of Q2 by Mercedes teammate George Russell at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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.
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.
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
More to follow…
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
About The Author
