Verstappen pips McLarens to Abu Dhabi pole in title decider

The Red Bull driver delivered a superb 1:22.207s to beat Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri by two tenths, securing his eighth pole of the season and the 48th of his career.

Crucially, it places him in prime position to chase a fifth world championship, with a top-three finish potentially enough depending on how his rivals fare.

Verstappen’s early banker lap in Q3 had already looked competitive, aided by outgoing teammate Yuki Tsunoda providing a perfectly timed tow in the second sector. His final effort, however, put the result beyond doubt.

The Dutchman was satisfied with his work under the lights.

“Of course incredibly happy to be in first, that’s the only thing we can do,” he said.

 

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Norris will start alongside him on the front row after edging Piastri by just three hundredths, keeping both McLarens firmly in the fight for the title heading into the finale.

The Briton remains in the strongest position mathematically and would secure the championship if the top three finish in the order they start.

Despite missing out on pole, Norris was content with his performance.

“Max did a good job, so congrats to him,” he said.

“We did everything we could, my lap was pretty good so I’m happy.

“We just weren’t fast enough today.”

Piastri, meanwhile, remained upbeat over the radio, encouraged by his pace and the prospect of a straight fight on Sunday.

He echoed Norris’ assessment that Verstappen was simply out of reach.

“The last lap in Q3 was pretty good, there’s wasn’t a lot left in that,” he said.

“Max has looked very quick in the long runs, let’s see how much pace is a factor tomorrow.”

The title permutations remain tight. If results mirror qualifying, Norris becomes world champion. For Piastri to claim the crown, he must finish at least second—and hope Norris slips to sixth or lower should the Australian win the race.

Verstappen, meanwhile, can clinch the championship with a podium provided Norris finishes fourth or worse, completing what would be the greatest comeback title win in F1 history.

Behind the championship contenders, George Russell converted his strong FP3 form into fourth place, finishing just ahead of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Fernando Alonso continued his late-season resurgence with sixth, securing his third consecutive top-10 start and his fourth top-six grid slot of the year.

Gabriel Bortoleto delivered one of the standout performances of the day, qualifying seventh to give Sauber a fitting send-off in their final race under the iconic name. The Brazilian’s effort matched his best-ever Formula 1 starting position.

Esteban Ocon also impressed, putting his Haas eighth to equal his season’s best grid slot, while Isack Hadjar and Tsunoda completed the top 10.

Q2 proved one of the tightest sessions of the season, with the entire field compressed within four tenths of a second and just six hundredths separating 11th to 15th.

The unlucky five to miss out were Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson, Kimi Antonelli and Lance Stroll.

Bearman’s exit was particularly tough given he had run inside the top 10 in all three practice sessions. Lawson also came painfully close, finishing only eight hundredths behind teammate Hadjar, who advanced to Q3 in seventh.

Q1 had already delivered a significant setback for Lewis Hamilton, whose difficult 2025 season ended with a third successive elimination in the opening segment of qualifying.

The Ferrari driver voiced his disappointment over team radio, apologising after missing the cut by a mere eight thousandths of a second.

The first session was also exceptionally tight, with 19 of the 20 drivers lapping within a second of Piastri’s leading time.

Only Franco Colapinto fell outside that window. From Stroll in 11th to Hamilton in 16th, the spread was less than a tenth—an illustration of how competitive the field remains at the end of the current regulations.

Joining Hamilton and Colapinto in the Q1 drop zone were Alex Albon, Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly, who qualified 17th, 18th and 19th respectively.

With all three championship contenders starting at the front and the margins tighter than ever across the field, the stage is set for a dramatic and fitting finale to the 2025 Formula 1 season.

The season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix begins at 5pm local time on Sunday (12am AEDT).