Verstappen, pole against a massive Leclerc and Alonso nails it again

Looks like this isn’t his weekend. He was not very comfortable in his Red Bull and only finished 6th in Free Practice 3. His car was jumping, sliding too much and his situation was reminiscent of what he experienced in Singapore, where Carlos Sainz took the only victory of a non-Red Bull driver all year. In Las Vegas he salvaged a difficult victory over Ferrari. Luck is with him. And a week later, Max Verstappen, three-time F1 world champion and current king of ‘Great Circus’, bounced back at the most decisive moment to take pole, his 32nd in F1where he tied Mansell for 8th place among drivers with the most pole positions in history.

Max Verstappen came out of a seemingly difficult situation and performed again. Unlike in Las Vegas, there is no clear favorite rival like Ferrari. McLaren was very fast, but not to the level of Ferrari in the American event. And Max raises the bar again with a twist. His team found a way and the champion was there again from the start. He didn’t just make a mistake. But he also allowed himself to reach Q3 with two new sets of soft tires while the others.

That gave Max a lot of confidence. He knew that, unlike others, he had two attempts, which allowed him to take his first bullet more calmly. And so, the champion made the difference from his first lap of Q3, with a 1’23”445 where he left Norris more than 3 tenths behind and Piastri half a second away. But the last attempt remained. The McLarens want to keep Max. Also a George Russell more in tune than Lewis Hamilton on this track. And Leclerc also wanted to try to pull off one of his divinely inspired turns even though his Ferrari was no match for Abu Dhabi. However, no one can beat Verstappen. Norris set a record in the first sector, but sank in the second and ran out of tires, with a skid making it clear that it was not his day.

19th shooting victory and an incredible record

Verstappen has everything in mind to achieve the most difficult thing this Sunday. A record that seems difficult for anyone to surpass. He would achieve 19 victories in 22 races on the same course, 86% of the total wins. Something different. He has everything to do it. In Abu Dhabi, in 9 of the 14 races held at Yas Marina, the winner has started from the pole, in the last 8, consecutively. Qualy is very important, more than half a win. He knew this and went back to obey. Like a champion.

Finally, Leclerc surprised with a turnaround to stay at 0.139. Another turn of genius from the Monegasque, married to classifications, his strong point. Piastre surpassed Norris and 3rd at 0”337. And George Russell also faced a Lando who failed again in qualifying with a 5th place that would have been better. Tsunoda was 6th with AlphaTauri and Fernando Alonso finished 7th, made the most of his Aston Martin again Hülkenberg (8th), Pérez (9th) and Gasly (10th) on an increasingly even grid where the only trend is the Verstappen.

Alonso, 7th

Fernando Alonso finished 7thconfirmation that his Aston Martin has taken a step forward in recent races after a mid-season drop in performance and the many (and positive) experiments carried out in Austin and Mexico which culminated in a mix of new and old pieces that allowed Alonso to return to the podium in Brazil. In Las Vegas, the race went well after the win. And in Abu Dhabi, the green car was once again in the top 10 with Alonso’s wheel again dominating it.

In a classification where there are many pitfalls such as track limitations, pit lane exit traffic, how much traffic affects the lap and the need not to overheat the tires to perform well in the main third sector, Fernando avoided each one. of these complications to return to being among the top 10 on a grid where entry into Q2 and Q3 is increasingly expensive.

Alonso finished 7th, 0.639 off the best, just a tenth behind Tsunoda6th in his improved AlphaTauri3 already in one of the best cars in Abu Dhabi, the McLaren dand Lando Norris. Alonso was overtaken by just 24 thousandths Nico Hulkenberg (Haas, 8th) and less than a tenth of Red Bull’s ‘Checo’ Pérezthat this Sunday will have a better race pace. Gasly closed out the Top-10where Carlos Sainz cannot be.

Sainz, out of Q1 (16th)

Alonso (7th), will battle Norris (5th), Leclerc (2nd) and Carlos Sainz for fourth place in the Drivers’ World Championship. And in that match, the one with the worst of it was the one from Madrid. He starts on the 16th this Sunday at a track where it’s hard to catch. Carlos is tied on 200 points with Fernando, with Norris on 5 and Leclerc on 12. It’s going to be an uphill climb for Carlos, who is in danger of this last appointment severely tarnishing his year in Ferrari. Sainz was hurt due to too much traffic during his Q1 lap. He couldn’t set a good time at a track where he didn’t start well, with an accident in FP2 and feeling uncomfortable in FP3. He had to go for the return.