Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have locked out the front row at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to keep McLaren on track to claim its first Formula 1 constructors’ championship since 1998.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz qualified third, but the Italian team’s hopes of overturning its 21-point deficit to McLaren took a considerable blow when Charles Leclerc was knocked out of Q2 after having a lap time deleted for exceeding track limits. He will start a disastrous 19th after serving a power unity penalty for taking on a new hybrid battery.
Leclerc won’t be alone among the front-runners at the back of the grid, with Lewis Hamilton set to start 16th after running over a bollard on his final lap of Q1.
The battle for pole position came down to the McLaren drivers and Max Verstappen, whose Red Bull Racing car came good in Q2, helping the Dutchman to provisional pole after the first laps of Q3. But Verstappen’s advantage — 0.004s over Norris and 0.04s over Piastri — was an illusion. Whereas his time had been set on fresh soft tires, the McLaren drivers’ opening volleys — and Sainz’s first effort, good enough for fourth — were on used rubber. With all drivers back on fresh tires, there was no real competition.
Norris improved by almost 0.4s to rocket to top spot, besting teammate Piastri by 0.209s to take his eighth pole of the season, equaling Verstappen’s 2024 haul.
With Ferrari needing an almost perfect result to have any hope of erasing McLaren’s advantage, the emphatic qualifying result puts the team in a powerful position heading into Sunday.
“A perfect day for us,” Norris said. “We’ve been very quick all weekend, and we’re pleased with the one-two. My lap in the end was strong. That’s just how we wanted to end today.
“We’ve got to beat Ferrari, that’s the aim, but we want to do it in style, and we want to win — I want to win.
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Piastri couldn’t find the same gains on fresh rubber, improving by only 0.15s, but the Australian was pleased to be part of an important McLaren front-row lockout.
“I think we took a while to find our feet in qualifying, but we got there in the end,” he said. “A great result for the team. I’m happy with that.
“My last lap, I wish I could’ve had it again, but that’s OK. P2 is still a good spot. Obviously for the team first and second is the dream, so let’s keep it going for tomorrow.”
Sainz was Ferrari’s lone top-10 representative and 0.229s off pole but was pleased with the Italian team’s progress from Friday and vowed to push to the checkered flag in pursuit of the title.
“I think McLaren have shown all weekend that they’re a bit of a step ahead compared to everyone, really, and we’re just 0.2s or 0.3s off,” he said. “But still, a race to do tomorrow and we will give it everything to see if we can win that race and give ourselves the best chance.”
Nico Hulkenberg qualified a sensational fourth for Haas after briefly having taken provisional pole at the beginning of the final runs of Q3. It puts the American team in a strong position to overturn Alpine’s five-point advantage for sixth in the constructors’ standings. The German, however, will face the stewards after the session for overtaking in the pit exit, contrary to the race director’s notes.
Verstappen bottomed out in fifth after failing to improve with his second lap, ending up 0.35s off the pace. Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpine and only 0.039s further back.
George Russell was a massive 0.537s off the pace on a difficult night for Mercedes, beating Fernando Alonso, Valtteri Bottas — in his and Sauber’s first Q3 appearance since April’s Chinese Grand Prix — and Sergio Perez to complete the top 10.
RB teammates Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson will start 11th and 12th ahead of Lance Stroll in 13th.
Leclerc was left in a crestfallen 14th after exceeding track limits at Turn 1 with his final Q2 lap, which had been the fastest of the segment before being expunged by the stewards.
Kevin Magnussen qualified 15th but will inherit a place from the penalized Leclerc. The Dane will start ahead of Zhou Guanyu, who was 17th fastest, and Hamilton after his bollard-induced Q1 exit.
F1’s most prolific qualifier had already started his lap imperfectly, compromising his preparation for having needed to rush to the start line, but his middle sector was at least a personal best that had him on a trajectory to sneak into Q2.
But Hamilton’s work was undone at Turn 14, where Magnussen knocked an apex bollard onto the track while trying to make himself scarce ahead of the fast-moving Mercedes. Hamilton had no time to react, collecting the bollard underneath his front wing.
It cost him 0.263s in the final sector relative to his personal best, locking him into 18th in the order and his third Q1 knockout in the last six races, but the Briton took responsibility for leaving himself vulnerable in the first place.
“Messed that up big time, guys,” he said. “That was bad, man. Jesus.”
Jack Doohan — who was slowest in his first F1 qualifying session — will start 17th ahead of Alex Albon, who was 16th fastest but must serve a gearbox penalty so will start 18th. Leclerc — who was penalized to 19th for changing his hybrid battery — and Franco Colapinto, who was 19th fastest but will drop to last on the grid, also with a gearbox penalty – complete the field.
