Red Bull drivers express disappointment after Abu Dhabi Qualifying

Verstappen, who has already secured his fourth consecutive Drivers' Championship, will line up on the third row of the grid for the 58-lap event. His teammate Perez got into the final part of Qualifying for a second consecutive Grand Prix, only his 15th time in total in 2024. Despite this, the Mexican driver was over three tenths slower than Verstappen on his fastest lap.

Qualifying was ultimately dominated by McLaren, as Lando Norris put in a stellar lap to beat Oscar Piastri to pole by 0.209 seconds. The Woking-based outfit are aiming for the Constructors' Title, and currently have a 21-point advantage over second-placed Ferrari in the Standings.

Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc will line up at the back of the grid for Sunday's race after receiving a ten-place grid penalty and failing to make it into Q3. This puts McLaren in good stead to secure a first Championship since 1998.

Red Bull, who are unable to challenge for the Constructors' Championship in a distant third, are not under as much pressure to perform in the final race of 2024. Nevertheless, both drivers were disappointed to not be near the front of the starting order after a subpar Qualifying.

Speaking after the Qualifying session, Verstappen believed that he had the pace to challenge the McLarens for pole position. He said: "I do think our pace was not too bad and we should have been on that front row.

"But I think that if you look at Qualifying in most places people were still on scrubs when I was on new, and then maybe we looked better than we were. But for sure we could have done better, it was just too difficult to get the car together and be consistent with it," added the four-time World Champion.

As for his hopes for the Grand Prix itself, Verstappen continued: "I just hope that we can have a good race and fight for a podium. That would be a good end.

"I think the McLaren is a bit too quick for us. But you never know, maybe there are some surprises and I know that I'll do my best," he concluded.

Perez lamented a deleted lap time in Q1, which was subsequently reinstated but adversely affected his run plan for the remainder of Qualifying. The Red Bull driver stated: "It was very unfortunate because that compromised the whole Qualifying.

"We were always going from used tyres to a new set, and so couldn't get into a rhythm of two proper new tyres. Very unfortunate there and we ended up losing a set."

Perez also expects a challenging race on Sunday: "Looking forward for tomorrow, I do expect a difficult race because potentially we have gone in the wrong direction for tomorrow but let's see what we are able to do."

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix commences Sunday 8 December at 13:00 GMT (17:00 local time). Can Red Bull end their 2024 campaign on a high?