Verstappen wants win in Abu Dhabi: 'But want to finish second with Perez'

Max Verstappen has secured his 20th pole in his Formula 1 career for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Sergio Perez completed the celebration for Red Bull Racing with second place. Verstappen is keen to win the race, but the Dutchman also knows that P2 in the Drivers' Championship is important for his teammate, despite their disagreement last weekend at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.

"It was a bit up and down. It started off quite well, but Q2 was a bit more messy. I don’t know why.  I couldn’t get the grip together. In Q3 it felt a bit more normal. We had a bit of a scare, because the car turned off before the first run. We had to reboot everything," Verstappen admitted after qualifying.

Because the two-time world champion had to restart his car's system, he entered the track later than planned. This prevented him from giving Perez a slipstream at the start of Q3. However, in his final run in Q3, Verstappen did enter the track ahead of his teammate, but the slipstream was ultimately not good enough for pole for Perez. However, the Mexican driver will start the race ahead of rival Charles Lecerc, which is what it is all about in the end.

Verstappen still expects battle with Ferrari and Mercedes

"Very happy that both cars are on the front row. Of course, we want to win the race, but we also want to finish second with Perez in the championship," Verstappen continued. In Brazil last week, the Dutchman refused to help his teammate, but this weekend in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull will do everything it can to secure the one-two in the drivers' championship. "It always sounds great [a 1-2], today was amazing. I still expect it to be a good battle tomorrow. We can do what we want." he said.