Abu Dhabi – Q2: Gasly and Alonso do not pass, Verstappen best time

It's without Kimi Räikkönen (Alfa Romeo), eliminated in Q1 for his last qualification in Formula 1, nor the Williams and Haas that the second round of this last session of the 2021 season took place. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) opened the track on medium tires, like his teammate Valtteri Bottas and four single-seaters powered by Honda. Following on from his Saturday, the seven-time world champion further marked his territory in Yas Marina by setting the first benchmark in 1:23.185, but Max Verstappen (Red Bull) closed to just four thousandths of his pursuer in the championship before damaging his set of tires due to poor braking. With Bottas, the first three were held within 0.061!

At nightfall, Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) was the fastest on soft tires (1:23.174). Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Lance stroll (Aston Martin), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo), Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin) and Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) were in difficulty mid-session. The end of the session was marked by heavy traffic and Ricciardo was the only one to leave the red zone, condemning Fernando Alonso (Alpine), the Spaniard being hampered in his last attempt by the Australian... Max Verstappen set the best time in 1:22.800 on soft tires and the Red Bulls found themselves in a shifted strategy against the Mercedes for this Sunday's start.