Russell leads in Abu Dhabi and… what’s wrong with Verstappen?

What is wrong with Verstappen? That is the main question of many where the qualifying session for the F1 Abu Dhabi GP this afternoon (3:00 pm Spanish peninsular time). He The Dutchman finished 6th in Free Practice 3 of the Abu Dhabi GP this Saturday morning and it didn’t leave a good impression. He had a lot of complaints about him slipping in the back of his car. And for him to complain, considering that his aggressive style is perfect and perfectly suited to oversteer, it indicates that the Dutchman is not comfortable at all.

Does Max do theater? Nope. The three-time champion has nothing to do with what Mercedes and Hamilton have done in their recent dominant season. Max and Red Bull always wanted to lead all the sessions and didn’t usually hide. If they get it wrong, the symptoms are real.

And from here, the next question is whether Max and Red Bull can once again break down and turn the situation around to fight for pole this Saturday. In terms of race speed on soft rubber, Max was once again the best despite his problems turning quickly. But in a race where classification is so important, F1’s reigning king will need to find a good grid position in qualifying this Saturday if he is to avoid trouble.

What was seen in FP3 makes you think of what happened in Singapore. There, Verstappen suffered and Carlos Sainz achieved what is currently the only victory for a non-Red Bull driver this season. Max wants to achieve an almost unattainable record this weekend with his 19th win out of 22 possible (more than 86% of the victories of the total number of races held in a year)but he will have to wake up to the ‘qualy’ or return this Sunday against McLaren and Mercedes, who seem to be a step forward with respect to Ferrari, with Aston Martin a long way off.

Russell takes the lead against McLaren

George Russell led Free Practice 3 with his Mercedes against two McLarens. Norris was 2nd in 95 thousandths and Piastri, third at 0″392, with Alex Albon in 4th place and Charles Leclerc as the best Ferrari in 5th position. And 6th, at 0″735, Max Verstappen.

George seemed comfortable all the time. He led the first part of the session, although against a Norris who marked his turn on his second lap and there was traffic. And in the end, Lando couldn’t beat him but the McLarens seemed to have another point.

Leclerc, 5th, was not happy with his turn and Ferrari continued to hesitate, as Sainz, who finished last., did not set a time frame that allowed good comparisons to be made or more concrete conclusions to be drawn. This track does not favor Ferrari and its strength is in sector 2. Red cars should not be in the battle for pole. This week it’s down to McLaren and maybe Mercedes, with Ferrari playing for 2nd place in the Constructors’ World Championship (those in red are 4 points behind those in stars).

Alonso, far away

Fernando Alonso finished 14th at 0″925 on a very close grid where getting into Q2 and Q3 will be very expensive for everyone. Meanwhile, his teammate Stroll was 15th at 0″987.

Fernando spent some time on the soft rubber to study his car’s race pacea pace well compared to Hamilton who finished 12th, more uncomfortable than his teammate George Russell.

A very tense and even classification, full of traps

After the null conclusions that could be obtained on Friday because Free Practice 1 was not very representative and in Free Practice 2 it was almost impossible to ride because of two red flags, in Free Practice 3 all teams accumulated a lot of work on a track that will change a lot in ‘qualy’ and race. The doubts among all the teams are bigger compared to any Grand Prix. And in that context, the possibility of surprises increases.

In that context, ‘worthy’ sounds exciting. Very tight and fight. The differences between the cars are minimal and almost anyone can opt for the Q2 and Q3. The track can be improved significantly and timing at the end can be key. And pay attention to traffic. Finding a car in the first or third sector, no matter how far they move, can be annoying. And in the second sector, it can give you a big slipstream.

That can be the key for drivers to see glory or meet failure in a ‘worthy’ where everyone must be careful not to overheat the tire in the first sector so that it arrives in perfect condition in important sectors. : the last, the most twisty and where everyone will play the longest. Let the final classification show of the year begin!