Max Verstappen Takes Pole in Abu Dhabi, Norris Second and Piastri Third

therookiereporters
Dec 7, 2025
5 min read

In what was the final and most important qualifying round of the season, Max Verstappen found a way to pull away in the third round and put himself on pole, setting himself up well to further cut into Lando Norris’ championship lead.

There is still some work to be done, however Max Verstappen can check one item of his “To Do” list in Abu Dhabi: claim pole position and lead the twenty drivers off the line in tomorrow’s race.

Lando Norris, who leads the Drivers’ Championship by twelve points and can guarantee his first title with a podium finish of any kind, will follow the Dutchman in second, while Oscar Piastri will battle George Russell on the second row of the grid.

Max Verstappen opened qualifying after a few mid-field drivers with a 1:23.325, George Russell soon taking the lead. Oliver Bearman arrived only 0.007 seconds behind, positively surprising spectators with a sudden spike in his performance.

Many lap deletions were seen in Q1 with both Gasly and Colapinto having all four tyres leave the track in Turn 1. Soon after Franco Colapinto was penalised by losing his lap, Lance Stroll did the same, causing his first lap time to be deleted.

Verstappen was already battling the two McLarens from the very beginning. Sector times differed greatly as the Red Bull seemed far slower in the final sector, while Piastri and Norris were setting purple times.

However, of the three championship contenders, Oscar Piastri would have the best first round of qualifying, posting a 1:22.605 on his final run of the session. Max Verstappen would also crack the 1:22s with a 1:22.887 on his own final run, while Lando Norris finished a good half a second behind his teammate, posting a 1:23.178 on his final lap.

Despite a strong first few runs, Lewis Hamilton would end up failing to improve on his final run and ended up being eliminated in Q1 for the third-straight race weekend. It wasn’t exactly a strong session for Ferrari as a whole either, with Charles Leclerc struggling to find pace on the medium tyres.

On the positive end, Fernando Alonso was able to put together some strong laps, with his best being just shy of the 1:22s. Ollie Bearman also had a strong session, putting himself 0.007 seconds from then-P1 holder George Russell at one point, while Gabriel Bortoleto pulled himself level on his teammate Nico Hulkenberg in terms of head-to-head qualifying performances; the Sauber drivers finish 2025 with 12 qualifying performances apiece in this regard.

In the beginning of Q2, both the McLarens and Max Verstappen started on used tires. In a surprising move, the Dutchman decided to stay on his six-lap old tires for the rest of the session and still set lap times rather close to the ones of his rivals.

The second round of qualifying would be won by Max Verstappen, however he was the only championship contender of the three to post a second lap time. Considering the first runs alone, Lando Norris finished fastest with a 1:22.804, with Max Verstappen just behind at 1:22.912 and Oscar Piastri the slowest of the three in Q2 with a 1:23.061.

Fernando Alonso’s strong form would continue into the second round of qualifying; he would find himself in third on his first run and then in fourth at the end of Q2. Gabriel Bortoleto would also convert a Q1 escape into a strong second round, one that saw the Brazilian into fourth on several occasions during the session.

Just as the second qualifying session came to an end, Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was heard complaining, in a far more harsh manner than usual from the Italian. As it was deducible from his tone, he was not happy at all, stating that he had no rear grip.

Like with Fernando Alonso, a strong second lap from Yuki Tsunoda would see the Japanese driver into Q3 and allow him to play a crucial role in his teammate’s ambitions (more on that later on). Although Tsunoda managed to set a great time, he was very close to being knocked out by Oliver Bearman, who was just 0.007 seconds behind the Japanese, in 16th position.

In the third round of qualifying, Max Verstappen would post a 1:22.295 on his first run after getting the assistance of a tow from Yuki Tsunoda that would eventually put him ahead for good. His second and pole-clinching lap came without any assistance from Yuki Tsunoda, with Max Verstappen posting a 1:22.207.

Gabriel Bortoleto and Fernando Alonso would continue their strong qualifying runs. The Sauber driver put together a 1:23.214 on his first run, which was good enough for P2 at the time, before eventually finding himself in seventh for the final order. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso was able to find his way into the top six to start the race.

On the other hand, after a strong first two rounds that saw him consistently end up within the top five and even in the lead at several points, George Russell would slip up on his final run in Q3, forcing the British driver to settle for a fourth-place start even after initiating a masterplan of asking to go out right behind Verstappen for a tow. However, the Brit ended up not waiting for the right time to end up exactly where he wanted. This idea of Russell was proof of how well drivers need to think. While Verstappen would have given the Mercedes driver a tow, it would have been greatly beneficial for both of them; Russell would have qualified in a good position, likely putting another car between Verstappen and his title rivals.

As it stands heading into the race, if the drivers finished in their qualifying positions, Lando Norris would take the Drivers’ Championship. While Max Verstappen is ahead of Lando Norris by a position, he would only be able to take seven points off of Lando Norris’ twelve-point lead if this were the final result.

Given that Oscar Piastri is a position behind Lando Norris and sixteen points back heading into the final race, he would be a non-factor in the final outcome if this result held.

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is set to start tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM Eastern time, which is equivalent to a 1:00 PM UK time start and a 5:00 PM local start.

Starting grid in full:

P1: Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

P2: Lando Norris (McLaren)

P3: Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

P4: George Russell (Mercedes)

P5: Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

P6: Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

P7: Gabriel Bortoleto (Sauber)

P8: Esteban Ocon (Haas)

P9: Isack Hadjar (Racing Bulls)

P10: Yuki Tsunoda (Red Bull)

P11: Ollie Bearman (Haas)