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):
Max Verstappen has ‘different set of limits’ when racing Lewis Hamilton, says Martin Brundle
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.
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
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.
Schumacher, 23, followed in his father’s footsteps by landing an F1 drive in 2021. However, Haas has decided to part company with the German, 16th in the standings and 13 points adrift of team-mate Magnussen, after this weekend’s concluding round in Abu Dhabi.
Schumacher’s words ahead of his final race:
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
F1 to launch female-only Academy racing series next season
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 Grand Prix LIVE
Starting a petition for one grid place higher for each of the McLaren boys. Or maybe just one of them, whoever wins a vote - penguin dive or (apparently) seal impression?!
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.
Mayhem, mischief and Masi: Abu Dhabi, one year on: F1 correspondent Kieran Jackson looks back at this race, one year ago and the drama which unfolded.
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
Hamilton under investigation after overtaking during a red flag in FP3
Lewis Hamilton is being investigated after failing to slow for a red flag during final practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Hamilton finished third in the concluding running ahead of qualifying for Sunday’s season-ending race at the Yas Marina Circuit.
But the seven-time world champion passed two cars at Turn 5 as the session was temporarily suspended when Pierre Gasly suffered a puncture.
McLaren driver Lando Norris reported over the radio: “Hamilton overtook the Haas as well under the red flag.”
The incident was noted by the stewards before the FIA confirmed just minutes later that an investigation will be launched at the conclusion of the one-hour session. Hamilton and Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows have been summoned to the stewards at 4pm local time (12pm UK).
Hamilton under investigation after overtaking during a red flag in FP3
The Mercedes driver had finished third in final practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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.
But speaking on the eve of this year’s concluding round at the Yas Marina Circuit, Ben Sulayem, who succeeded Jean Todt as FIA president in the days after the hotly-disputed event, said he remains in contact with the Australian, despite replacing him with two race directors in the opening months of his tenure.
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 Grand Prix LIVE
A good weekend’s preparation for most teams you feel, ahead of qualification for the final grand prix of the season.
One or two have issues to fix, though, most notably Ferrari after that third practice.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - FP3 LIVE
One point to note is the stewards’ decision on Lewis Hamilton.
That came after the red flag for Gasly’s incident, with the Mercedes man passing a couple of cars after the red flag had gone up. He was on a fast lap while the others, including Lando Norris, were on a slow lap.
The stewards noted they would investigate after the FP3 session finished.
Philip Duncan reports that Mercedes are set to meet the stewards in about 20 minutes.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - FP3 LIVE
That’s practice over and done with for the season and it’ll be qualifying next up at the Yas Marina Circuit - it starts at 2:30pm GMT, which is just under three hours from now.
Here’s the full run-down on the classification from FP3:
- Perez
- Verstappen
- Hamilton
- Russell
- Norris
- Leclerc
- Sainz
- Ricciardo
- Vettel
- Albon
- Ocon
- Alonso
- Tsunoda
- Bottas
- Gasly
- Stroll
- Magnussen
- Schumacher
- Zhou
- Latifi
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