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Max Verstappen, in qualifying for the 17th and final race of the 2020 World Cup, ended the dominance of Mercedes in the 71st season of Formula 1, expressed in the 15 poles in 16 races – 16 in 16, with that of Throw Stroll in Turkey, behind a Racing Point with a German engine. In the session that ‘fixed’ the starting grid of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (tomorrow, 1:10 p.m.), the Dutch driver covered the 5,554 km of the Yas Marina circuit in 1.35,246 m, defeating the favorites Bottas and Hamilton, respectively, for 0.025 and 0.086 s.
It is Verstappen’s 3rd pole position in Formula 1, in 119 grands prix. The 23-year-old Dutchman at Yas Marina repeated a result he achieved only in Hungary-2019 and Brazil-2019: in the first, the race finished in 2nd position; in the second, he won. Max’s ‘cannon loop’ also ended the record chain of ‘poles’ that Mercedes started in Abu Dhabi in 2013.
Tomorrow, another very demanding mission for the Dutchman, who only has one victory in 2020 (70th Anniversary Grand Prix, at Silverstone): in the hybrid era of Formula 1, which began in 2014, only Mercedes won the Grand Prix of the Abu Dhabi: In 2018 and 2019, the Germans did it with Lewis Hamilton, a pilot who has a record of five victories at Yas Marina.
Qualifying results
1st Max Verstappen, Red Bull-Honda, 1.35.246m
2nd Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-AMG, +0.025 sec
3rd Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG, +0.086 sec
4th Lando Norris, McLaren-Renault, +0.251 sec
5th Alexander Albon, Red Bull-Honda, +0.325 s
6th Carlos Sainz Jr., McLaren-Renault, +0.569 s
7th Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri-Honda, +0.717 s
8th Lance Stroll, Racing Point-Mercedes, +0.800 s
9th Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, +0.819 s
10th Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri-Honda, +0.996 s
(eliminated in the second trimester)
11th Esteban Ocon, Renault, 1.36.359 m
12th Daniel Ricciardo, Renault, 1.36,406 m
13th Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.36.631 m
14th Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari, 1.38.248 m
15th Sergio Pérez, Racing Point-Mercedes, no time
(eliminated in Q1)
16th Kimi Räikkönen, Alfa Romeo-Ferrari, 1.37.555 m
17th Kevin Magnussen, Haas-Ferrari, 1.37.863 m
18th George Russell, Williams-Mercedes, 1.38 045 m
19th Pietro Fittipaldi, Haas-Ferrari, 1,38,173 m
20th Nicholas Latifi, Williams-Mercedes, 1.38.443 m
Note: Pérez and Magnussen ‘retire’ at the end of the starting grid, penalized with the replacement of the power units in the individual seats
