Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying: Norris leads McLaren front row lock out
F1 NewsSaturday, 07 December 2024 at 16:10
Lando Norris took the final pole position of the 2024 Formula 1 season as McLaren confirmed their strong form around Yas Marina Circuit, locking out the front row with Oscar Piastri taking second.
With this result, McLaren have put themselves in the best position to clinch the 2024 F1 constructors' championship especially as their closest rivals, Ferrari, were unable to challenge despite Carlos Sainz qualifying in third.
Another big hit for Ferrari was Charles Leclerc eliminated in Q2 as he was 14th fastest after his best lap was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 1.
With his ten-place grid penalty for a taking a new battery, Leclerc's chances for challenging at the front have been diminished and while nothing is guaranteed in F1 and motorsport in general, McLaren can head to Sunday's Grand Prix relaxed about their chances.
It was a decent performance for McLaren as their speed at the start of qualifying was not as good as their form in practice but they kept their head down and took it one step at a time until Norris delivered pole in the end.
Nico Hulkenberg was a superb fourth in the Haas as the U.S. outfit's early form in the weekend turned out to be genuine despite Kevin Magnussen ending up in 15th.
The German, however, is under investigation for overtaking in the pit exit and will meet the stewards after qualifying.
Behind Hulkenberg came Max Verstappen who was on provisional pole after the first run of laps in Q3 having also delivered an amazing save in the final corner after the rear of his RB20 stepped out him.
But the Dutchman could not repeat the same performance on his second run and ended up being fifth fastest ahead of an impressive Pierre Gasly who was sixth for Alpine.
It was not Mercedes' session as George Russell was seventh fastest while Lewis Hamilton was 18th having driven his final Q1 lap with a bollard stuck under his car. Russell has struggles all weekend and the end result for him was not a surprise.
What the top three said
After taking his ninth F1 career pole position, Norris said: "A perfect day for us. Probably a bit tougher than we were hoping for.
"We are pleased with a one-two. Just a bit trickier than we would like. My lap in the end was strong. Just how we wanted to end today."
As for Sunday's race, the McLaren driver added: "We have to beat Ferrari but we want to do it in style. We want to win, I want to win. We know what we have to do.
"We are keeping our heads down and staying focused. We are here to win every race possible. Tomorrow we will have a good chance.
"We will give it everything we have got, knowing in the back of our minds what we really have to do to achieve our goal.
"Very happy. The team have done an incredible job. A nice Qualifying to end the year," Norris concluded.
Piastri added: "It was a bit trickier today compared to last night. We took a while to find out feet in qualifying but we got there in the end and a great result for the team, so happy with that.
"That last lap I wish I could have probably had it again, but that's ok, P2 is still a good spot," he lamented. "Of course for the team first and second is the dream at the moment so let's keep it going for tomorrow.
"We will do whatever we can to make sure we win the championship and that's by far the biggest goal tomorrow. I'm sure we'd both love to win the race but I'm sure everyone would love to win the championship even more. So we'll make sure that happens and have some fun tomorrow," the Aussie maintained.
Third-placed Sainz commented: "I think we made some good progress through the weekend. McLaren have showed all weekend they are a bit of a step ahead compared to everyone.
"We were there behind, just two or three tenths off. I put together some really good laps in Q1 and Q2 but in Q3 when they put everything together, they still had a little advantage.
"Still a race to do tomorrow and we will do everything we can to win this race and give ourselves the best chance [possible]."
As for his final race in Red, Sainz said: "I'm going to give it everything. Already today I was pushing in Qualifying like never before because I wanted to give myself the best chance for tomorrow and it might be the last time I battle for the win or podium for a while.
"At the same time, enjoying as much as possible this weekend, pushing flat out and tomorrow, nothing to lose so we will go for it," the Spaniard concluded.
Q1: Hamilton out!
With the Yas Marina Circuit flood lights on, the final qualifying of 2024 began as the track cooled down to 30 degrees Celsius while air temperature was 26 degrees.
The Aston Martins, Lance Stroll and Alonso went out on track first, the Canadian on Softs, the Spaniard on Hards as he was scrubbing the set.
Stroll posted the first lap time of the session, a 1:24.366, but soon other drivers joined the track and additional lap times were on the way.
Perez then went faster than Stroll but his lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 1. Same applied to Franco Colapinto.
Alex Albon went faster than Stroll, then Yuki Tsunoda even faster only for Verstappen to top the times on his first attempt with Leclerc slotting behind him in second.
Sainz then went fastest while Piastri and Norris were only good for fourth and fifth while Mercedes pair Russell and Hamilton were only good for ninth and tenth.
Order after the first runs was: Sainz - Verstappen - Magnussen - Piastri - Norris - Leclerc - Hulkenberg - Stroll - Russell - Hamilton - Alonso - Tsunoda - Bottas - Gasly - Zhou Guanyu.
With a little over four minutes the second round of runs started and at that moment the previously deleted time of Perez was reinstated which put him back up to third.
The track was evolving quite quickly with Bottas going to the top of the timings on his second run which could reshuffle the order.
Leclerc ended the session fastest, with a 1:23.302 and 0.179s ahead Bottas in second while Sainz was third fastest.
Verstappen was fourth fastest with Gasly in fifth ahead of Perez in sixth while Magnussen was seventh as Piastri was eighth ahead of Russell in ninth and Norris in tenth.
The 11th to 15th positions were covered respectively by: Hulkenberg - Stroll - Lawson - Tsunoda - Alonso.
The drivers who did not make it were led by Alex Albon who was 16th losing out to Alonso by 0.027s and was ahead of Zhou who was 17th fastest.
Hamilton's luck with Mercedes has really run out as he was 18th fastest on his final qualifying as a bollard, thrown into the track by Magnussen, got stuck under his Mercedes.
Colapinto was 19th while Jack Doohan was dead last on his first qualifying with Alpine.
Russell was under investigation for a potential impeding incident with Lawson but the stewards took no further action.
Q2: Leclerc misses out on Q3 for exceeding track limits
The start of Q2 was delayed as the marshals inspected the track after the bollard was taken out by Magnussen, and Verstappen, the only driver to make it into Q2 using only one set of Soft tyres, the first to hit the track.
Verstappen posted the first lap time in the session, a 1:22.998, to go to the top of the timing screens.
With ten minutes to go, the more times came through with Russell going second fastest while Hulkenberg took over that place from the Mercedes driver.
Sainz then went second with Leclerc in fifth while Norris then stripped Sainz of second, as replay showed Leclerc surprised by an Alpine at Turn 14 and almost ended up in the barriers.
With the first runs out of the way, the top ten were: Verstappen - Norris - Piastri - Tsunoda - Sainz - Hulkenberg - Russell - Lawson - Perez - Leclerc.
While the other drivers set out on track for the second run of Q2, Verstappen was out of his car, helmet off in a sign of confidence that his time was good enough for making it to Q3.
In the end of Q2, and after Leclerc went fastest, his lap time was deleted for exceeding track limits into Turn 1 and Sainz ended up fastest with a lap time of 1:22.985, 0.013s faster than Verstappen in second while Hulkenberg was third, 0.055s off the pace.
Fourth went to Gasly with Norris and Piastri fifth and sixth respectively while Alonso was seventh, Russell was eighth, Bottas was ninth, as Perez made it into Q3 by the skin of his teeth in tenth.
Out of qualifying was Tsunoda in 11th and missing out to Perez by 0.040s and was followed by Lawson in 12th as Stroll was 13th.
Leclerc, after losing his fastest lap, was 14th fastest and will drop an extra ten positions for taking a new battery as he now faces an uphill task for Sunday's Grand Prix.
Magnussen was 15th fastest.
Q3: Verstappen's great save not enough for pole...
Of the remaining ten driver, Hulkenberg was out first and started his first hot lap of Q3 and went fastest while Russell was second fastest only for Perez to drop the Briton to third.
Verstappen, despite losing the rear of his RB20 in the final corner, took the top spot after masterfully keep in car on track. He lost an estimated 0.19s with the error.
Piastri then went second fastest but was soon bettered by Norris. The Australian lost his time for track limits violation at Turn 1.
With the first runs done, Verstappen was on provisional pole, the order behind him: Norris - Sainz - Hulkenberg - Gasly - Alonso - Perez - Russell - Piastri - Bottas.
Just before the second runs began, Piastri's time was reinstated and was up to third.
With three minutes remaining, the final runs started and the fight for the final pole position of 2024 was on: Verstappen vs the McLarens.
Hulkenberg wen fastest on his second run, and the Piastri took over, then Sainz went second behind Piastri then Norris posted the fastest lap time.
Verstappen on the other hand after his heroics in the first lap of Q3 could only manage fifth, and as a result, Norris took pole with a lap time of 1:22.595, 0.209s ahead of Piastri in the sister McLaren.
Sainz was third fastest in the Ferrari, 0.229s away from pole and was 0.082s ahead of Hulkenberg who was fourth in his final qualifying session with Haas before he moves to Sauber in 2025.
Verstappen ended up 0.350s off the session in fifth with Gasly 0.039s behind him in sixth while Russell was down in seventh.
Alonso did a solid job to put his Aston Martin in eighth with Bottas delivering an even more solid performance to put his Sauber in ninth. Perez was tenth.
Latest News
Loading
