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- Max Verstappen at Red Bull cheated on the two Mercedes drivers and started the last Formula 1 race of the season in Abu Dhabi from first place on the grid.
- Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes have to be content with starting positions 2 and 3.
- The two Alfa Romeo drivers will start Sunday’s race from positions 14 (Antonio Giovinazzi) and 15 (Kimi Räikkönen).
Max Verstappen took pole position for the third time in his career in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi GP. He had previously achieved this at the Hungarian and Brazilian Grand Prix last year. It is also the first time since the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era a good 6 years ago that no Mercedes driver is in pole position at the Yas Marina circuit.
Legend:
3. Race pole
Max Verstappen sets the fastest time in qualifying in Abu Dhabi.
imago images
Who will be the vice world champion?
The Dutchman was 25 to 86 thousandths faster on the final decisive lap than Valtteri Bottas and world champion Lewis Hamilton, who missed the Sakhir GP a week ago due to a positive corona test. In the second row next to Hamilton, will be his compatriot Lando Norris in the McLaren.
After Hamilton was world champion for a month, the seventeenth and final race of the season is still about who will be the runner-up. Bottas has the best chances with 205 points, but Verstappen (189) can also climb to second place.
Giovinazzi wins stable duel
The duel between the Alfa Romeo team drivers was won by Antonio Giovinazzi. The Italian reached Q2 and secured starting position 14. Kimi Räikkönen got stuck in Q1 and will start the race on Sunday from position 15.
