F1 qualifying LIVE: Max Verstappen takes pole position ahead of Sergio Perez at Abu Dhabi GP
Follow qualifying updates and timings as Max Verstappen battles Mercedes pair George Russell and Lewis Hamilton for pole position at Sunday’s finale
The final race of the 2022 Formula One season is on Sunday and there’s still plenty to be decided despite the title being wrapped up.
Max Verstappen clinched his seventh pole of the season as he beat Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to top of the charts in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz filled the second row ahead of the Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell across the third row. McLaren’s Lando Norris, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Norris’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.
The likes of Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Mick Schumacher are set for their final races with their teams - the former is indeed set for his final race altogether after announcing his retirement from F1 earlier this season.
Follow F1 updates with The Independent - qualifying starts at 10:30am (GMT):
REPORT: Max Verstappen clinches pole at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Red Bull one-two
Max Verstappen clinched his seventh pole of the season as he beat Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to the top of the charts in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday.
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz filled the second row ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell across the third row. McLaren’s Lando Norris, Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and Norris’s teammate Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top 10.
Hamilton will have to pass both Red Bulls and both Ferraris to maintain his record of winning in every season of his career. The Brit, who earlier escaped a penalty for a red-flag infringement in final practice at the sport’s season-ending race, qualified only fifth.
Verstappen blitzed the field to finish two-tenths of a second clear of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, with the Ferrari duo of Leclerc and Sainz third and fourth respectively.
Perez and Leclerc are level on points in their fight for second place in the championship.
Full report from qualifying:
Max Verstappen clinches pole at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Red Bull one-two
Ferrari duo Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz filled the second row ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell
Mayhem, mischief and Masi: Abu Dhabi, one year on
The stage was set.
Billed as the “Decider in the Desert”, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the final chapter in a Formula 1 season for the ages. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were battered and bruised – but still in the fight. Level quite astoundingly on 369.5 points after 21 races, it all came down to this.
Now, as F1 returns to Abu Dhabi for the first time since that thrilling and controversial finale last year, The Independent revisits the story of Sunday 12 December 2021 from the eyes of those at the Yas Marina Circuit and around the world as history played out in a conclusion nobody could have foreseen.
F1 correspondent Kieran Jackson looks back to last season at the Yas Marina Circuit and unravels a tumultuous finale:
Mayhem, mischief and Masi: Abu Dhabi, one year on
As Formula 1 returns to Abu Dhabi, Kieran Jackson revisits the spectacle and the scandal of the sport’s most dramatic finale between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton
FIA chief Mohammed Ben Sulayem reveals talks with former race director Michael Masi
Formula One ruler Mohammed Ben Sulayem has revealed he still speaks to Michael Masi – the man accused of costing Lewis Hamilton a record eighth world championship – as the sport returns to the scene of its most contentious race.
A year on from last season’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton has moved to banish the memory of his darkest day, insisting his thirst for the sport remains unquenched.
He finished fourth in practice on Friday, six tenths back from pace-setter Max Verstappen.
Masi was sacked as F1 race director after he fudged the safety car rules – allowing only the cars between Hamilton and rival Verstappen to unlap themselves – at last year’s winner-takes-all finale.
His controversial move allowed Verstappen to beat Hamilton and take the title.
FIA chief reveals talks with former race director Michael Masi
Masi was sacked as F1 race director after he fudged the safety car rules at last year’s winner-takes-all Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Abu Dhabi GP LIVE and latest F1 news
Formula One has announced a female-only racing category will be launched next season.
F1 executives hope the new series – revealed ahead of this weekend’s concluding round in Abu Dhabi – will identify the first female grand prix driver since Italian Lella Lombardi competed in 1976.
The sport’s bosses also insist the category, called the F1 Academy and aimed at young drivers already competing in junior categories, will not replace the W Series.
The single-seater championship launched solely for women in 2019 had to abandon its most recent season amid financial troubles and its future is in major doubt.
F1 to launch female-only Academy racing series next season
The series will consist of 21 races – three races at seven rounds – and will feature on the undercard of at least one F1 event
Abu Dhabi GP LIVE and latest F1 news
Max Verstappen has told the world of Formula One not to go after his family, describing social media abuse following last weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix as “unacceptable” and “disgusting”.
Verstappen was criticised in Interlagos after he refused a Red Bull team order to yield sixth place to Sergio Perez on the last lap.
Red Bull issued a statement ahead of Sunday’s concluding round in Abu Dhabi to display a united front, labelling “death threats”, hate mail and vitriol” aimed at members of the Red Bull team and their families as “deplorable”.
Moments later, double world champion Verstappen, who was also penalised by the stewards in Brazil for crashing into Lewis Hamilton, addressed the media.
“All the things that I have read are pretty disgusting,” said Verstappen. “After the last race, I looked very bad in the media, but they didn’t have the clear picture.”
More from the champion here:
Max Verstappen hits out at ‘disgusting’ abuse towards his family
Verstappen was criticised in Interlagos after he refused a Red Bull team order to yield sixth place to Sergio Perez
Abu Dhabi GP LIVE and latest F1 news
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hinted that Mick Schumacher could be offered a reserve role with the Silver Arrows after the German driver lost his F1 seat at Haas.
After two years with Haas, the 23-year-old was dropped for 35-year-old Nico Hulkenberg for 2023, the team confirmed on Thursday morning.
Schumacher is now short of options for next year, with the only available seat technically available - at Williams - set to be taken up by American driver Logan Sargeant, provided he gains the required number of superlicence points at this weekend’s Formula 2 finale in Abu Dhabi.
Yet Schumacher could still be in the F1 paddock next year should he find a reserve role - and Wolff did not dismiss the prospect when asked recently.
Mick Schumacher could be handed potential F1 lifeline by Mercedes
Mick’s father, seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, raced with Mercedes for three years
Mick Schumacher replaced by Nico Hulkenberg at Haas for 2023
Mick Schumacher is facing a fight to save his Formula One career after being dropped by Haas.
The son of the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg next year.
Hulkenberg, 35, has been without a full-time seat on the grid since 2019, but following a number of substitute appearances in recent seasons, will team up with Kevin Magnussen in 2023.
Mick Schumacher replaced by Nico Hulkenberg at Haas for 2023
The son of the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg ext year
Abu Dhabi GP LIVE and latest F1 news
Toto Wolff says that Lewis Hamilton’s 15-year win record in Formula 1 won’t be prioritised this weekend in Abu Dhabi.
Seven-time world champion Hamilton has won at least one race in every season he’s competed in F1, dating all the way back to his rookie season of 2007, but he is yet to finish top of the podium in 2022.
This weekend’s season-finale in Abu Dhabi - where Hamilton was denied a record-breaking eighth title in dramatic and controversial fashion last year - represents the 37-year-old’s final opportunity to maintain his year-on-year record.
Should he claim victory at Yas Marina, he would be out on his own for consecutive seasons with a victory - he currently ties with Michael Schumacher’s streak from 1992 to 2006.
Yet Mercedes boss Wolff insisted that Hamilton won’t be prioritised due to the record, adding that Hamilton himself admitted the streak is not at the forefront of his mind.
Lewis Hamilton’s year-on-year F1 win record won’t be ‘prioritised’ in Abu Dhabi
The seven-time world champion has won a race in every season he’s competed in F1 - but is yet to taste victory in 2022
Abu Dhabi GP LIVE and latest F1 news
Max Verstappen races to a “different set of limits” when faced with Lewis Hamilton on track, claims F1 pundit Martin Brundle.
Verstappen and Hamilton, arch rivals for the World Championship in 2021, clashed in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday straight after a safety car period, with two-time world champion Verstappen receiving a five-second penalty.
The duo clashed numerous times last year, most notably at Imola, Silverstone and Monza, as they fought thrillingly for the world title won by Verstappen in dramatic and controversial fashion on the last lap of the season-finale at Abu Dhabi.
Yet Sky F1 pundit and ex-Formula 1 driver Brundle says the evidence suggests the Dutchman competes differently with seven-time world champion Hamilton compared to anyone else on the grid.
“I have no doubt that Max has a different set of limits when in combat with Lewis, and Lewis has similarly decided to fight fire with fire,” Brundle said, in his Sky Sports column.
More here:
Verstappen has ‘different set of limits’ when racing Hamilton, says Brundle
Verstappen and Hamilton collided during the opening laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix with the Red Bull driver receiving a penalty
Daniel Ricciardo set to rejoin Red Bull as F1 champions’ reserve driver
Daniel Ricciardo is set to rejoin Red Bull as the team’s reserve driver with team principal Christian Horner hailing the Australian as one of the biggest names in Formula One.
Ricciardo, who has won eight times in F1 – seven with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018 – has been dropped by McLaren after an underwhelming two-season spell.
But the 33-year-old has been handed a temporary lifeline by Red Bull and will serve as backup to double world champion Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s motorsport adviser, revealed to German television in Abu Dhabi that Ricciardo, who discussed a reserve role with Mercedes, has signed a contract with the Milton Keynes team.
Daniel Ricciardo set to rejoin Red Bull as F1 champions’ reserve driver
Ricciardo has been dropped by McLaren after an underwhelming two-season spell
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