Last race showdown set as Verstappen nabs pole at Yas Marina ahead of P2 Norris, P3 Piastri

Red Bull’s peerless ace Max Verstappen kept his come from behind quest for a fifth consecutive Drivers’ Championship very much alive by taking a dominant pole during Saturday Qualifying for Sunday’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Mastering the high speed twists and turns of the beautifully lit Yas Marina Circuit with aplomb, Verstappen bettered the points-leading McLaren of Lando Norris by two-tenths. Crucially for Norris, however, he was able to keep Oscar Piastri, his teammate and next closest pursuer after Verstappen, behind him when the young Aussie aspirant was unable to improve on a P3 time. Norris “only” needs a third place finish on Sunday to claim his first F1 crown. But it will be crucial that he and Verstappen keep it clean steaming down to Turn 1 when the lights go out and during the early laps in general, while Norris must also not completely abandon his aggression and cede potions to potentially  fall back into the clutches not only of his teammate and rival Piastri but also the Mercedes of George Russell, who lurks in P4 with more pace than his final flying laps in Q3 might indicate. If Verstappen wins and Norris finishes off the podium, it will be a bitter offseason as he watches Verstappen walk away with a fifth championship after looking like having zero shot after Round 14 in Hungary. For Verstappen, it would be an epic comeback that would only add to his still growing legend as one of the Formual 1 all-time greats. And for Piastri, the harsh reality of his once dominant season is that he  needs not only to win the race but then hope a series of misfortunes befalls the top two that sees him outscore Norris by 17 points and Verstappen by 5. Sunday’s GP has all the makings of a true nail biter and one the tensest F1 finales in recent memory, not to mention must watch TV — don’t miss it!

Top 10 qualifiers for the Abu Dhabi GP:

CLA	DRIVER	#		LAPS	TIME	INTERVAL	TYRES	KM/H
1	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1		6	1’22.207		S	231.264
2	L. Norris McLaren	4		6	+0.201 1’22.408	0.201	S	230.700
3	O. Piastri McLaren	81		6	+0.230 1’22.437	0.029	S	230.619
4	G. Russel lMercedes	63		6	+0.438 1’22.645	0.208	S	230.039
5	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16		6	+0.523 1’22.730	0.085	S	229.802
6	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14		6	+0.695 1’22.902	0.172	S	229.326
7	G. Bortoleto Sauber	5		6	+0.697 1’22.904	0.002	S	229.320
8	E. Ocon Haas F1 Team	31		6	+0.706 1’22.913	0.009	S	229.295
9	I. Hadjar Racing Bulls	6		6	+0.865 1’23.072	0.159	S	228.856
10	Y. TsunodaRed Bull Racing	22		5

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s season-ending, Championship-crowning race airs live on ESPN beginning at 8AM Eastern here in the States. It’s white knuckle time for Norris, as Verstappen and Piastri have nothing to lose by giving it full gas to go for the win in Abu Dhabi, while Norris will have to balance aggression with his need to only survive to a third place finish for his first title. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!