Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2016
15h
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) scored his 4th consecutive pole, the 61st of his career, by winning qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The three-time world champion was 3 tenths ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg who secured a front row.
Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) and Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) will start on the 2nd row, the Australian having reserved the super soft tires like his teammate Max Verstappen for the start. The Dutchman is 6th between Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and the Force India of Nico Hülkenberg and Sergio Pérez. Fernando Alonso took 9th place ahead of Felipe Massa (Williams) who was competing in his final qualifications.
15h
Ricciardo takes 3rd place ahead of Räikkönen. Vettel climbs to 5th place ahead of Verstappen. Hülkenberg took 7th place ahead of his teammate Pérez. Alonso and Massa complete the top ten.
14h
Hamilton took pole with a time of 1'38"755. Rosberg fails by 3 tenths but secures a front row.
14h
All drivers have now returned to the pits. The pilots prepare for one last attempt.
14h
Ricciardo ranks 2 hundredths behind Räikkönen. Verstappen follows his teammate by just over a tenth. Vettel is only 6th after making an error on his flying lap. The Force India of Hülkenberg and Pérez follow the second Ferrari ahead of Alonso.
14h
Hamilton sets a time of 1'39″013. His teammate Rosberg fails by more than 3 tenths. Räikkönen is in 3rd place with the same delay against the German.
14h
Massa is the only driver to remain in the pits. The Brazilian should qualify on a single flying lap.
14h
Q3 is launched for 12 minutes. This is the last qualifying session of the season. Hamilton sets off again in front of Rosberg.
14h
For his final qualifications, Felipe Massa (Williams) qualified for Q3 by setting the 9th time ahead of Fernando Alonso (McLaren). The Asturian beat by 4 hundredths Valtteri Bottas (Williams), first eliminated from the session, and Jenson Button (McLaren) who precedes the Haas of Esteban Gutiérrez and Romain Grosjean separated in less than a tenth. Jolyon Palmer (Renault) and Pascal Wehrlein (Manor) completed the list.
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) was once again the fastest with a time of 1'39''382, ahead of his teammate Nico Rosberg by a tenth. Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) were the closest to the W07 Hybrid.
14h
Red Bull finally decided to keep the super softs for the start of the GP, the drivers not having improved their times with the ultra softs.
14h
Bottas is the first driver eliminated, failing 3 hundredths behind Alonso. Button follows in 12th place ahead of the Haas of Gutiérrez and Grosjean. Palmer is 14th ahead of Wehrlein.
14h
Red Bull tells Ricciardo that he must be ready to cancel his lap. The team still seems to doubt its strategy.
14h
In the first 8, only the Red Bull drivers returned to the track for a final flying lap. Verstappen and Ricciardo are on ultra-soft tires. They will leave with these tires if they improve their times.
14h
Bottas is the first driver to return to the track. The Williams driver is wearing ultra soft shoes.
14h
The drivers return to the pits before performing a final flying lap. Grosjean is the only one on the track.
14h
Grosjean took 13th position, 5 hundredths behind his teammate Gutiérrez. The Frenchman is ahead of Palmer, Wehrlein and Button.
14h
Massa only set the 8th fastest time behind the Force India. Bottas follows the Brazilian. Alonso is the first driver in the red zone
14h
Ricciardo manages to set the 5th time, one second behind the benchmark. Verstappen did better by placing himself between the Ferraris with half a second ahead of his teammate.
14h
The Red Bulls have opted for super soft tires which should therefore be used at the start of the race.
14h
Vettel is struggling to keep up with his teammate's pace, trailing Räikkönen by 4 tenths.
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