Max Verstappen on pole position for title decider in Abu Dhabi

Max Verstappen will start the title decider from pole position on the soft tyre, with Lewis Hamilton alongside him on the front row. The Dutchman found pace at the end thanks to a clever team strategy from his Red Bull team.

Given a tow by Sergio Perez in Q3, Verstappen was able to ace his lap, and Hamilton couldn't respond. Both Red Bull drivers will, however, start on the soft tyres after their quickest lap in Q2 was completed on that compound.

Mercedes wil be on the mediums, but Hamilton might not have too much help from his teammate, as Valtteri Bottas qualified down in P6.

The McLaren of Lando Norris secured third place, and he will line up next to Perez on the second row.

Carlos Sainz, the aforementioned Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Yuki Tsunoda, Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo make up the top 10.

Q1:

With a new rear wing being fitted on both cars just moments before qualifying, Red Bull Racing were keen to get lap times on the board from the start, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez immediately out on track on the soft compound of tyre.

Verstappen went to the top of the timesheet, despite concern he would lose his lap for exceeding track limits, while Mercedes were more conservative with their entry onto the track. But, once Lewis Hamilton set his first flying lap, he went four tenths quicker than his title rival to go P1. 

While Mercedes were experiencing success, Ferrari certainly weren't. With less than 10 minutes of Q1 remaining, Carlos Sainz was in 10th, while Charles Leclerc was down in 12th, but they looked quicker than Aston Martin, who had Sebastian Vettel down in the bottom five.

Mick Schumacher knocked over a bollard at the final corner with seven minutes left of Q1, which sent it flying onto the racing line. Lando Norris then went fourth fastest, but the bollard was stuck under his car and shot out the other side as he crossed the line. That brought out the red flag as the marshals were required to remove the object from the track.

All the cars returned to the garage, but the session was quickly resumed, with Antonio Giovinazzi leading them away, followed by the two Ferrari's.

Red Bull investigated the floor of Verstappen's car in the final stages of the session, while Mercedes opted for a brand new set of softs to perfect his running. With three purple sectors, it clearly paid off.

The chequered flag came out, and Kimi Raikkonen and Mick Schumacher were both out of qualifying, while Lance Stroll managed to go through and push Nicholas Latifi into the drop zone.

However, the Canadian managed to out-qualifying George Russell for just the second time in conventional qualifying as teammates in the Brit's final race at Williams.

OUT - Latifi, Russell, Raikkonen, Schumacher, Mazepin

Q2:

Heading into Q2, the tyre choice was key. Both Mercedes and Red Bull opted for the medium tyres, and of the 10 drivers who immediately went out onto the track, only Vettel and Stroll decided to go for the soft compound. 

On his first flying lap, Hamilton put in three purple sectors again, but the difference between his opening time and Verstappen's was just 0.004 seconds, while Bottas was also within one tenth.

Both Ferrari cars also decided to use the soft tyres, and were joined on this strategy by the two Alpine drivers and Daniel Ricciardo.

Verstappen then delivered nightmare news for Red Bull, by revealing: "Flat spot. Massive" after locking up into the first corner.

While that happened, the soft tyres clearly had plenty of speed as Carlos Sainz went fastest of all, and his teammate Charles Leclerc was fourth, just 0.028 seconds behind the Spaniard.

The mix of tyre strategies left the top five separated by just 0.072 seconds with five minutes of Q2 remaining, while those in the danger zone included Gasly, who has made a habit of qualifying in the higher echelons of the grid this season.

Verstappen then came out onto the track on the soft tyres due to flatspotting his mediums.

The biggest talking point of Q2 came via the fact Red Bull will start on the soft tyres. Both Perez and Verstappen will begin the race on the soft compound as their quickest laps of the session were completed on that compound, while the Mercedes drivers will be on the mediums. Tsunoda also went through on the medium tyres.

OUT - Alonso, Gasly, Stroll, Giovinazzi, Vettel

Q3:

Perez was instructed on the radio to give Verstappen a tow on his first flying lap of Q3, and it certainly helped as the Dutchman put it on provisional pole by half a second.

Verstappen then returned the favour on his out-lap, which saw the Mexican move into P3, crucially ahead of Bottas.

Tsunoda was also quicker than Bottas, but his lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits at the final corner.

Hamilton wasn't able to dislodge his title rival, and Verstappen secured pole position.