Verstappen overjoyed with pole: 'It's nice to finally sit in this chair'

It looked like it was going to be another one-two for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi, but Max Verstappen managed to take pole position surprisingly on Saturday. The Dutchman is happy to finally get to sit in the other seat this season.

Last weekend Verstappen emphasized how often he finished third in qualifying this season. With a joke he claimed the 'P3' seat and this weekend he added to that by actually taking the seat with him. In Abu Dhabi the situation is very different this time.

"It's nice to finally sit in this chair, but it was a difficult qualifying session in the beginning to get good laps. I don't know, in Q1 I got my hand stuck in my steering wheel, so I had to drive another lap. But it was tough on the mediums as well. In the end we still managed to set a good time and yes, it wasn't so bad in Q3. This track has so many corners, it's very easy to make a mistake. It's a bit like Singapore, with a different one waiting for you after every corner," Verstappen explained in the FIA press conference.

An end to dominance

Nevertheless, the Dutchman managed to stay almost clear in his very last lap, winning pole position. "Fortunately, it was good enough. I crossed the line and of course I saw that I was going up in position, but there were still a few cars behind me. It feels really good. We have been getting a bit closer all year round. We've just missed some and to finally sit here now, after the whole Mercedes dominance this year, that's very nice for us and the whole team. It has been a long season in a short time."