Max Verstappen became the first non-Mercedes driver to claim pole since 2013 in Abu Dhabi after a thrilling end to qualifying at Yas Marina.
It had appeared business as usual with Lewis Hamilton leading both Q1 and Q2 from Valtteri Bottas, but in a very tight fight in Q3, it was the Dutchman who clinched P1 by just 0.025s.
Valtteri Bottas pipped Lewis Hamilton into second, with the returning world champion third just 0.086s behind Verstappen.
Q1
It was a tricky start to qualifying for Hamilton, who would lose his first time to track limits after running wide onto the sausage kerb at the penultimate corner, and only managed 10th on his second lap
As a result, he had to use a second set of soft tyres to confirm his place in Q2, posting the best time to be fractionally ahead of Bottas.
In the fight to avoid an early bath, Antonio Giovinazzi dropped Alfa Romeo teammate Kimi Raikkonen into 16th.
Kevin Magnussen was 17th in his final F1 qualifying but will start last due to engine penalties.
George Russell couldn’t repeat his Q2 heroics in 18th. As Pietro Fittipaldi led Nicholas Latifi, who spun entering the pit straight to start his final lap.
Q2
As expected most drivers opted for the medium tyre for their first run with Hamilton again leading Bottas with Verstappen in third.
Alex Albon was forced onto the softs after exceeding track limits on his first run but made it through in fourth.
Charles Leclerc impressed in sixth on the medium, seven-tenths faster than teammate Sebastian Vettel in 13th, even with the German using the supposedly faster tyre.
The two AlphaTauris improved to push out the two Renaults in 11th and 12th, as Esteban Ocon finally beat Daniel Ricciardo in a dry session for the first time this season.
Giovinazzi was 14th in the Alfa, as Sergio Perez didn’t set a lap time due to his grid penalties for a new engine.
Q3
The push for pole began with Bottas setting the benchmark with a 1m35.4s, but only a tenth clear of Verstappen in second.
Hamilton was third as a strong lap from Albon put the Thai driver only 0.156s behind in fourth.
On the second runs, however, Hamilton reclaimed P1, only for Bottas to put in the fastest final sector to reclaim pole.
Few though were expecting Verstappen to quickest in the middle sector, along the two straights, with his advantage just enough to hold on through the final part of the lap and claim his third career pole.
Lando Norris produced a brilliant final lap to secure fourth ahead of Albon, with Carlos Sainz sixth as McLaren put themselves in a great position to potentially snatch third in the Constructors’ standings from Racing Point.
Daniil Kvyat was seventh, with Lance Stroll eighth. Leclerc couldn’t repeat his Q2 lap in Q3, dropping to ninth as Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10.
Full results from qualifying can be seen below:
