pole position for Max Verstappen ahead of Lewis Hamilton at the Abu Dhabi GP

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Sensational Max Verstappen! Like the previous week in Saudi Arabia, the qualifying session was punctuated until the last second, Saturday, December 11. But this time, the Dutchman did not finish in the wall but in the lead, best time of the qualifying session with a cannon lap.

For this, the Red Bull team sacrificed Sergio Pérez, who served to give the aspiration to his teammate to bring down the lap times. Behind, Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) has tried everything, but must bow. He will start in second position. Be careful, however, a mistake by Verstappen during the session reshuffled the strategy for the race on Sunday, which was decisive for the drivers’ title.

We thought that almost everything had been decided during the second part of the qualifying session when “Mad Max” failed to brake on his second attempt, seriously damaging his front tire. Forced to have to leave his last medium compound to swap soft tires (faster but with more limited durability) that he will have at the start, Verstappen seemed to have shown a first flaw in the fight for the title. It was without counting on the strategists of the Red Bull team.

Who said that F1 was not a team sport? While Lewis Hamilton previously dominated the hierarchy – following the logic of the start of the weekend – Red Bull pulled out of its sleeve an asset that we had not seen coming. The Austrian formation used Sergio Pérez as a hare to give him suction. Mission successful. “We were a little lucky“agreed the Mexican pilot at the microphone of Canal +. A stroke of luck or stroke of genius, this teamwork allowed Max Verstappen to strike very hard and relegate Hamilton to nearly four tenths.

The two title contenders, tied in the driver standings before the start, will therefore set off side by side, with tires theoretically more conducive to an overpowering flight for the Dutchman. Everything but a detail, while the poleman has won in the last six editions in Abu Dhabi.

Lewis Hamilton could only admit defeat, ensuring the exit of his tub not to have been able to “respond” to the turn of his opponent. The Briton will not be able to be helped even more by his pit neighbor, Valtteri Bottas signing only a disappointing sixth time for his last Grand Prix with Mercedes. The Finn is preceded by Lando Norris, surprising third with his McLaren, Sergio Pérez, who will start fourth in the exhausts of Lewis Hamilton, and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), fifth.

Behind, the best Frenchman at the start is, for once, Esteban Ocon, ninth at the wheel of his Alpine. Pierre Gasly could not do better than 12th place, beaten for the first time this season in qualifying by his teammate at Alpha Tauri, Yuki Tsunoda (8th).

The start on Sunday was already going to be hot. Between the first line of dreams, opposing strategic choices and tension at its height, it is now suffocating.


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