Max Verstappen finished ahead of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in qualifying for the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

The final battle of the 2025 Formula 1 Championship starts with Max Verstappen in the position he needed. Verstappen secured the pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, leaving Lando Norris in second place. Oscar Piastri will start third.

The math favors Norris: 408 points against Verstappen's 396 and Piastri's 392. Norris will be crowned champion if he finishes sixth or better, regardless of where the Red Bull finishes. But the pole changes the dynamics: Verstappen controls the start and can dictate the strategy from the front.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

McLaren made questionable decisions under pressure. They sent Piastri and Norris out for their first Q3 laps on used soft tires, leftovers from aborted attempts in Q2. Verstappen went out directly on new tires.

Verstappen set an unreachable time on his first lap, enough for pole on its own. Piastri beat Norris by a tenth on the old tires, but both were far off the Red Bull. On their second attempts with new tires, they improved their pace but could not catch Verstappen, who also improved.

Red Bull used Yuki Tsunoda as a tactical tool throughout qualifying. Tsunoda gave Verstappen a tow on multiple occasions and qualified tenth after receiving a lap time deletion for exceeding track limits on his final attempt.

Russell qualified fourth fighting Mercedes instability

George Russell ended up in fourth place for Mercedes after losing control momentarily twice in Q3. Russell had a slip at turn 14 during his first lap and a more severe one at turn 16 on his second attempt.

Charles Leclerc qualified fifth for Ferrari after reporting over the radio that he was "about to abort the lap like five times" during Q2 due to his car's unpredictable behavior. Fernando Alonso ended up sixth ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, Esteban Ocon, Isack Hadjar and Tsunoda.

Bearman missed Q3 by seven thousandths

Oliver Bearman showed competitive pace throughout the weekend but was eliminated in Q2 by just seven thousandths of a second. Bearman qualified eleventh, one position behind Carlos Sainz - a difference of one thousandth between them.

Liam Lawson fell out of the top 10 when Hadjar improved in the final minutes. Kimi Antonelli suffered from rear traction problems in the final sector and ended up fourteenth. Lance Stroll will start fifteenth.

Photo By Red Bull Content Pool

Hamilton still has no answers at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q1 for the third consecutive qualifying session. Hamilton qualified sixteenth just hours after hitting the barriers during the third free practice session. Ferrari has not found a solution to the problems that have plagued the seven-time champion for the last three qualifying sessions.

Alex Albon registered the seventh best time after his last fast lap in Q1, but improvements from the rest of the competitors sent him down to seventeenth when the session ended. Nico Hulkenberg could not replicate his Friday performance and qualified eighteenth. Pierre Gasly ended up nineteenth ahead of Franco Colapinto, who received two lap time deletions for exceeding track limits.

The stewards investigated multiple incidents for not respecting the maximum delta time between fast laps but decided not to sanction any driver after reviewing telemetry.

On Sunday

Verstappen needs to win if Norris finishes seventh or eighth. If Norris falls to ninth or worse, second place gives the title to Verstappen. Piastri keeps remote mathematical chances: he must win with Norris out of the points and Verstappen fifth or worse to become the first Australian champion since Alan Jones in 1980.

McLaren showed in Qatar that it can collapse when decisions matter. They kept Piastri and Norris on track during the safety car on lap 7 when everyone else pitted to change tires. Verstappen inherited a strategic advantage and never lost it. The error cost them an almost certain victory and reduced Norris's lead from 22 to 12 points.

The pressure is on McLaren. Verstappen did exactly what he needed: maximize the opportunity and force errors from his rival. The pole gives him control of the race from the start.

Qualifying Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Formula 1

Pos	Nº	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3
1	#1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:22.207	1:22.207	1:22.207
2	#4	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:22.408	1:22.408	1:22.408
3	#81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:22.437	1:22.437	1:22.437
4	#63	George Russell	Mercedes	1:22.645	1:22.645	1:22.645
5	#16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:22.730	1:22.730	1:22.730
6	#14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:22.861	1:22.861	1:22.902
7	#5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	1:22.874	1:22.874	1:22.904
8	#31	Esteban Ocon	Haas F1 Team	1:22.913	1:22.913	1:22.913
9	#6	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	1:22.997	1:22.997	1:23.072
10	#22	Yuki Tsunoda	Red Bull Racing	1:23.034	1:23.034	1:23.083
11	#87	Oliver Bearman	Haas F1 Team	1:23.041	1:23.041	-
12	#55	Carlos Sainz	Williams	1:23.042	1:23.042	-
13	#30	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls	1:23.077	1:23.077	-
14	#12	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	1:22.894	1:23.080	-
15	#18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:23.097	1:23.097	-
16	#44	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	1:23.394	-	-
17	#23	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:23.416	-	-
18	#27	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	1:23.450	-	-
19	#10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:23.468	-	-
20	#43	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	1:23.890	-	-