Max Verstappen will start on pole position for the 2025 title decider in Abu Dhabi after beating his two championship rivals Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri to the fastest time in qualifying.
Verstappen is 12 points behind Norris in the standings heading into Sunday’s finale, meaning Norris can secure the title on Sunday with a podium regardless of where his rivals finish.
Verstappen’s best shot at a fifth consecutive title is to win the race and hope events conspire against Norris to drop him to fourth.
Piastri is 16 points off Norris in the standings, making his chances of victory slim unless something happens to the cars ahead of him on the grid.
“I think it was pretty good,” Piastri said after the session. “I think the lap I did in Q1 was nice to finally get into a rhythm through the weekend, and honestly I think the last lap in Q3 was pretty good as well. There wasn’t a whole lot left in that. Just not quite quick enough today. Sets up a pretty exciting day tomorrow.”
Verstappen took pole by 0.201 seconds from Norris after setting two laps in Q3 that would have been fast enough for pole position.
The reigning champion’s performance comes off the back of victories in Las Vegas and Qatar after a late season charge to remain in contention for the final round.
Verstappen said he needs “a bit of luck” to win the championship on Sunday.
“We’ll find out tomorrow, don’t we? Let’s see what we can do,” he said. “Of course I’ll try to win the race, but also in the back of my mind, we want to try and score a lot of points and still try and win the championship. We need a bit of luck from what is happening behind us.”
Meanwhile Norris said he was “disappointed” to not be on pole.
“It’s tough. Max did a good job, so congrats to him. We did everything we could,” Norris said. “I thought my lap was pretty good, I was pretty happy. Of course disappointed to not be on pole for the final weekend, we just weren’t fast enough today. We’ll have to try and do it tomorrow.”
He added: “I still want to try and win tomorrow. That’s going to be the goal.”
George Russell took fourth on the grid for Mercedes after showing pace that threatened to encroach on the title battle right up until Q3. He will start ahead of Charles Leclerc who qualified in fifth place for Ferrari.
Fernando Alonso secured sixth for Aston Martin ahead of the Sauber of Gabriel Bortoleto in seventh place, the Haas of Esteban Ocon in eighth and the Racing Bull of Isack Hadjar in ninth.
Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda had to settle for tenth place after having his Q3 time deleted for track limits, but Red Bull also timed his runs so that he could offer a slipstream to Verstappen on the back straight.
Oliver Bearman will start 11th for Haas after missing out on a place in Q3 by 0.007 seconds. Following his podium finish for Williams in Qatar, Carlos Sainz will start 12th in Abu Dhabi ahead of the Racing Bull of Liam Lawson in 13th.
Kimi Antonelli was disappointed to qualify 14th after complaining of a lack of rear end grip in his Mercedes and will line up ahead of Lance Stroll‘s Aston Martin in 15th on the grid.
Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in Q1 for the third grand prix in a row (the fourth session in a row including sprint qualifying in Qatar), leaving him 16th on the grid for the final race of the season. He was 0.008 seconds off a place in Q2 and 0.231 seconds off the time set in Q1 by his Ferrari teammate Leclerc.
When informed of the result, he replied over the team radio: “Every time mate, I’m so sorry.”
Williams driver Alex Albon will line up 17th on the grid behind Hamilton, with Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg in 18th place and the two Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto in 19th and 20th.
