It was his eighth pole of the year, even if he really gave us two sublime tours. Max Verstappen fulfilled his mission in Yas Marina, from where he will leave on Sunday before Lando Norris And Oscar Piastri. On a track where pole is synonymous with victory, it can be assumed that the four-time champion will comply with this procedure, waiting for an error from Norris, who only needs third place at the finish to be proclaimed champion.
He didn’t even seem to need a timid breath. Yuki Tsunoda in the second sector to stop the clock at 1:22.207, 88 thousandths better than his previous record. Verstappen closes the year with a pole more than Norris and two more than Piastri, shaking everything in his path, spreading terror in McLaren. Norris, two tenths behind, had to be content with having overtaken his teammate by only three hundredths.
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The accounts of Norris, Verstappen and Piastri champions
The accounts of Norris, Verstappen and Piastri champions
Verstappen still holds the fastest lap at Yas Marina, set during the quality of 2021 (1:22.109). To whet your appetite, in Q2 he stopped the clock at 1:22.9 with a set of used soft tires. During his first attempt in Q3 (1:22.295), he obtained 32 hundredths over Piastri and 45 over Norris, who had reserved the new rubber for the last attempt. George Russell He intended to reserve the right until the last ball, while waiting for this minimal change in the asphalt. However, he no longer managed to get past fourth position, ahead of Charles Leclerc And Fernando Alonsowho will start sixth on Sunday.
Another change in the engine
The most relevant news came a few minutes before the start of the session, when Red Bull disclosed that Verstappen was once again using the engine released in Brazil. This propellant that he had thrown away as a precaution a week ago in Qatar and which, after identifying its weak point, he recovered in Abu Dhabi. This power is essential for finding speed on the straights of the first and second sector, because in the latter McLaren seems to have a comfortable advantage.
Eight thousandths triggered elimination Lewis Hamilton in the third trimester. Third in a row, an unusual event in the history of Ferrari, and fourth of the year for the seven-time champion, victim of the first sieving with Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and the two Alpine drivers. “We made a lot of changes to the car, it was very good. The team did an exceptional job. Without a doubt, they deserve better”; confirmed shortly after getting off the SF-25.
Before hitting the asphalt, Aston Martin made some slight aerodynamic adjustments that reduced annoying understeer. Indeed, Alonso climbed to fourth position in Q1, only 25 hundredths behind the leader, with the soft tires used. Dissatisfied, the Asturian repeated this fourth place in Q2, only 13 hundredths behind the leader. Too fast to Lance’s Walkwhich will begin on Sunday the fifteenth. The last race in which the Canadian started ahead of his teammate was the 2024 British GP.
Carlos Sainz He delivered a prodigious first sector (16.902). All these good prospects disappeared when Williams came up against three rivals of equal magnitude: Isaac Hadjar, Esteban Ocon and Tsunoda. “The front part moved away at turn 9. Then, the third sector was terrible, I had understeer”, confirmed on the radio the Madrilenian, who will start twelfth, in the wake of Olivier Bearmana serious rival at the controls of his Haas.