Max Verstappen, last poleman of the season in Abu Dhabi!

It couldn't be otherwise. The 2022 world champion, Max Verstappen, took the final pole position of this season, on the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. The Dutchman, already the author of 6 pole positions before this last session of the year, added a 7th pole to his credit in the 2022 financial year. Solid in his last timed lap, Verstappen was the fastest in 1'23 ″824, two tenths better than his teammate Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc. The Mexican and the Monegasque, fighting for the honorary title of vice-world champion, will start one behind the other on Sunday for the Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen takes last pole of the season 🔝

The Red Bull will be at the forefront in front of the Ferrari and Mercedes 👏#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 | #F1 pic.twitter.com/5ryTlopWeT

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) November 19, 2022

The Ferraris, who seemed out of the loop during the free practice sessions, woke up during qualifying and were placed in ambush behind the Red Bulls. Carlos Sainz will start on the 2nd row behind his teammate but in front of the two Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. The Silver Arrows come out of this final qualifying session with a touch of disappointment, relegated to more than 6 tenths of the poleman.

Vettel 9th ​​for last, Alonso eliminated in Q2

Behind the three top teamsIs the McLaren de Lando Norris who took on the role of “best of the rest”. The Briton got the better ofAlpine byEsteban Ocon. For his last qualifying session of his career, Sebastian Vettel managed to enter Q3 and take 9th place on the grid. A very good performance with theAston Martin, far in front of his teammate Lance stroll (14e). 

However, this did not happen for Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard missed a final pass in Q3 with Alpine for only 28 thousandths of a second! An elimination which did not however disturb the double world champion, who will start 10th since Daniel Ricciardo, penalized by 3 places following his accident with Magnussen in Brazil, moves from 10th to 13th place on the grid.

Mick Schumacher, not renewed by Haas, concludes his season (and perhaps his adventure in F1) with a victory against his teammate in qualifying. The young German driver made it through Q1 and qualified 13th, unlike Kevin Magnussen. The poleman from Brazil was unable to get out of the first session with the 16th time.

At the back of the pack, Pierre Gasly (17e) and Valtteri Bottas (18th) were trapped by extremely heavy traffic during Q1, so much so that some drivers found themselves stopping in sector 3 to give themselves a gap with the previous driver. For his last qualifying session with Alpha Tauri, the Frenchman failed just 77 thousandths from Q2, in a very compact peloton: less than two tenths separated the 11th from the 17th! Both Williams will bring up the rear on the grid on Sunday.

The start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will be at 14 p.m. (French time) and will be followed in live text, on AUTOhebdo.

The qualifying rankings in Abu Dhabi: 

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