Saturday, December 6

Franco Colapinto was a pure disappointment and the fight for the championship remains open with Max Verstappen in pole position

Max Verstappen For six months, McLaren has suffered from defending its four Formula 1 titles: McLaren has done everything (almost) so well that it has succeeded Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris They will alternate leading the championship and relegating their Red Bull. But something changed in September and, strangely enough, it coincided with the departure of successful and controversial team boss Christian Horner. The four-time Dutch champion, who had only two wins in 15 Grands Prix, started winning and reached the end of the season 12 points behind, but with a pole position in Abu Dhabi that gives him the confidence that he will do everything to retain his crowns.

It was a dominant classification Crazy Max. Although Norris was the best Friday test and George Russell surprised in FP3 as an unexpected guest in the three-driver competition with a chance for the title, Verstappen was so overwhelming in the third quarter that, as his race engineer (Gianpiero Lambiase) told him, he took pole position twice: the first start record of 1:22:295 minutes could not be improved by Norris and Piastri on the last timed lap, which he himself managed to finish First with a time of 1:22:207 minutes, two tenths behind the McLarens.

“I’m incredibly happy to be first, that’s all we can do, right? That’s all we can control. I’ll try to win the race, but ultimately my goal is to win the championship. We’ll see what happens.”who commented achieved the 48th pole of his career and eighth of the season, allowing him to say goodbye as the one who won the most ratings despite McLaren’s dominance. She is also the fifth in her career at this very special track, having won her first F1 title there four years ago in that riveting finale with Lewis Hamilton. So she knows that nothing will be determined until the end of the 58 laps this Sunday.

For Norris The last ranking of the year was a disappointment. Although being the pole driver is not a guarantee of victory – to name just the last race, Piastri was the best on Saturday in Qatar but finished second behind Verstappen – and he doesn’t need it to become champion – a place on the podium will be enough – the Englishman, who is aiming for his first title, said: “I was disappointed not to get pole last weekend, but we have to do it tomorrow. I still want to try to win tomorrow; that’s the goal.”

For Andrea Stella, the boss of McLaren, it was “a positive day” in terms of the championship. “It’s in our hands,” he argued, “but we have to perform tomorrow.” The closeness between Oscar and Lando is the story of the season; “It symbolizes the close performance they have shown all year and it makes sense that both will fight for the title.”. Perhaps it is time for the team to abandon the “Papaya Rules” and ask Piastri to work with Norris, as from the third starting box he is at a disadvantage in the fight for the title, in which he is third, 16 points behind his teammate.

The other person involved in this launch could be it Russellwho will start fourth is ahead of him Charles Leclercwhich was the only joy at Ferrari after Lewis Hamilton’s crash in FP3 and his elimination – for the third race in a row, the fourth, albeit the last sprint race – in Q1. He was also there in this first elimination round Franco Colapintowho came last with the Alpine, four tenths behind his teammate Pierre Gasly, with whom he will share the last row of the grid.

“It was bad torture, I had no grip. The truth is that I don’t understand how we started FP1 relatively well because we were so close, and in qualifying I improved by less than a second and probably a lot more. With the improved route the asphalt was colder at night… less fuel and with the engine map it should be significantly more. I don’t quite understand why I can’t extract more in Quali. You have to understand everything and work. But it’s complicated, we changed things but it didn’t make much difference.”lamented the Argentine, whose times were canceled twice in the first quarter because he exceeded the track limits in the first corner.

“Obviously I didn’t want to finish like that. It is what it is. We have to work for tomorrow now, have a good race and hopefully it will be a better day.”added, who started his season on the 7th day in Imola and completed all the races he took part in, with the exception of the British GP, where he was unable to start because the A525 did not start. In Abu Dhabi, therefore, the only consolation is to add the 58 laps, ending a disappointing season for the French team, which moved from sixth place in 2024 to last place when it left as an engine manufacturer, as it will race as a Mercedes customer in 2026.

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