#F1 #AbuDhabiGP #Qualifying: @LandoNorris pips team-mate @OscarPiastri to pole.
Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38, arrives in Parc Ferme after scoring pole position in Qualifying at the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024, Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Image credit to Glenn Dunbar/LAT Images. Norris Abu Dhabi Pole, Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying, 2024 Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying Results, Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying Results.
Norris Abu Dhabi Pole – Lando Norris pipped team-mate Oscar Piastri to pole position in a thrilling qualifying at the season-closing Abu Dhabi GP as McLaren crucially locked out the front row in their World Constructor’s Championship fight with Ferrari. Carlos Sainz is on the second row of the grid for the Scuderia in third alongside Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg who took an impressive fourth. The other Ferrari of Charles Leclerc qualified 14th after having his lap-time invalidated and got hit with his ten-grid-placed-penalty for taking on a new Energy Store component after exceeding the limit meaning the Monegasque driver starts the race last.
This was Norris’s ninth-career pole position as the Woking based-outfit chases their first Constructor’s title since 1998.
In Q3, the initial flyers saw Hulkenberg post the first effort with a 1:23.492, then Mercedes’ George Russell was next and ended up two tenths off the German. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen then posted the quickest middle sector to go fastest on a 1:22.945 and almost lost it out of the final corner, but the newly crowned world champion managed to keep it away from the wall.
Piastri was next and ended up second and 0.040 off Verstappen’s provisional pole time until team-mate Norris pipped the Australian with a 1:22.949 to end up a very narrow 0.004 off Verstappen.
The final flying laps saw Hulkenberg hit provisional pole on a 1:22.886 then Piastri pipped the German by 0.082 seconds with his 1:22.804 effort. Sainz was next and slotted into second ahead of the Haas driver.
Norris then struck pole position setting a 1:22.595 to end up 0.209 seconds quicker than his McLaren team-mate with Sainz a further 0.229 seconds off in third.
Hulkenberg ended up an impressive fourth as Verstappen’s final effort was only good enough for fifth and wounded up 0.350 off Norris’s pole time.
BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Pierre Gasly followed in sixth place and ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell who took seventh.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was eighth as Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten.
In the second qualifying stage, which was topped by Sainz, a late improvement from Bottas saw RB’s Yuki Tsunoda knocked out of Q2 by a slim 0.040 seconds and will start the Abu Dhabi GP 11th and in-front of team-mate Liam Lawson who was 12th.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll placed 13th and ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc who initially got the quickest time in the session with a 1:22.980 – but his effort was invalidated, and he wounded up 14th. Leclerc will start tomorrow’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in last place due to his ten-grid-placed penalty for taking on a new Energy Store component.
MoneyGram Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen ended up the slowest of the Q2 runners in 15th.
In the opening segment, which was topped by Leclerc, A late improvement from Alonso saw Williams’ Alexander Albon miss out on a Q2 appearance by a slim 0.027 seconds with the Thai-Briton driver qualifying 16th but will start five grid places back due to a gearbox penalty.
Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu was next in 17th and in-front of Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton who took a shock low-18th.
The seven-time world champion ran over a bollard on his flyer that was knocked onto the track by Haas’s Magnussen. Hamilton said over the team radio after his exit from Q1: “Yeah, that was bad man,” to which Team Principal Toto Wolff replied: “Yeah, that was bad.”
Williams’ Franco Colapinto and Alpine’s Jack Doohan brought up the rear with the former also being hit with a five-grid-placed penalty for a gearbox change like team-mate Albon.
You can see the full Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024 Qualifying Results Classification at the link: https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1252/abu-dhabi/qualifying
2024 Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying – The Top Three
2024 Abu Dhabi GP Pole Position – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 1:22.595:
“A perfect day for us, probably a little tougher than we were hoping for but my lap in the end was strong. Just how we wanted to end today. We have to beat Ferrari, that’s the aim but we want to do it in style. We want to win; I want to win. I’ll give it everything I’ve got.”
2nd Place – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 1:22.804:
“It was a bit tricker today compared to last night, we took a while to find our feet but got there in the end. Last lap, yeah I wish I could have had that again but P2 is a good spot and 1-2 is the dream for the team.”
3rd Place – Carlos Sainz, #55, Scuderia Ferrari, SF-24 – 1:22.824:
“I think we made good progress across the weekend, but McLaren have been a step ahead. Still a race to do tomorrow, but we will do everything to try and win the race. I’m going to give it anything, I was pushing in qualifying like never before, the same tomorrow as it might be my last chance of a win. Nothing to lose.”
2024 F1 World Championship Standings
#F1 #AbuDhabiGP #FP3: @OscarPiastri leads team-mate @LandoNorris in another @McLarenF1 one-two.
@LandoNorris heads @McLarenF1 one-two in #AbuDhabiGP FP2. #F1
#F1 #AbuDhabiGP FP1: @CharlesLeclerc quickest ahead of @LandoNorris, @LewisHamilton.
