Lando Norris will start the Abu Dhabi GP from pole having pipped Oscar Piastri while Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes swansong suffered a severe blow with his Q1 exit having caught a bollard on his hot lap.

For Charles Leclerc it’s a back-of-the-grid as he had his lap time in Q2 deleted for exceeding track limits which dropped him to P14.

Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes swansong dealt severe blow

As night descended over the Yas Marina circuit, it so too on F1 2024’s qualifying with Lance Stroll the first driver cross the line in Q1, a 1:24.3.

But as his rivals made their marks, he dropped down the order with Max Verstappen up in P1 followed by Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver lowered the benchmark to a 1:23.4 with seven minutes remaining in the session.

And then came the McLarens. Despite topping the timesheets in all three practice sessions, Oscar Piastri was only P4 to Lando Norris’ P5. They were both just over 0.150s down on Sainz.

Sergio Perez, meanwhile, was in the drop zone having lost his lap time for exceeding track limits. But with three minutes to go it was reinstated, moving him up to P3.

As the chequered flag fell, Valtteri Bottas went P1, followed by Charles Leclerc but for Lewis Hamilton it was misery – “messed that up big time guys.” However, he didn’t so much mess up as drive over a bollard that Kevin Magnussen had clobbered.

Out went: Alex Albon, Zhou Guanyu, Lewis Hamilton, Franco Colapinto and Jack Doohan.

F1 2024: Team-mate head-to-head stats

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates

👉F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Track limits cost Charles Leclerc in Q2

Verstappen laid down the opening gambit in Q2, a 1:22.9, with Norris up to second in the early running despite running medium tyres ahead of Piastri and Yuki Tsunoda. A moment of opposite lock had Leclerc declaring “nearly crashed” at Turn 14. His team-mate Sainz was complaining about Perez getting in his way.

The drivers in the drop zone after the first run were Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas and Pierre Gasly.

Nico Hulkenberg shot up to second place with Gasly P3 and Alonso up to sixth. Leclerc went quickest over all, but had his time deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 1. He dropped to P14.

Sainz went fastest, and out went: Tsunoda, Liam Lawson, Stroll, Leclerc and Magnussen.

Lando Norris heads a McLaren front-row lock-out

10 drivers remained in qualifying for the pole position with Zak Brown declaring he was “not surprised at all” that Verstappen was in the running.

Verstappen had a huge moment out of the final corner as he lost the back end of his Red Bull that cost him valuable time but he was still quickest on a 1:22.9, 0.004s up on Norris. That he kept his RB20 out of the pit wall was impressive.

Oscar Piastri lost his lap time for exceeding track limits but as with Perez earlier in qualifying, his time was reinstated and he was up into third place.

Heading out for a second run Perez was the first to set a time and moved up to fourth place, but it was Hulkenberg who was flying, up to P1 before he was dropped by Sainz, Piastri and then Norris.

Verstappen wasn’t able to improve with McLaren taking the front row of the Abu Dhabi grid ahead of Sainz, Hulkenberg, Verstappen and Gasly.

Times

1 Lando NORRIS 1:22.595
2 Oscar PIASTRI +0.209
3 Carlos SAINZ +0.229
4 Nico HULKENBERG +0.291
5 Max VERSTAPPEN +0.350
6 Pierre GASLY +0.389
7 George RUSSELL +0.537
8 Fernando ALONSO +0.601
9 Valtteri BOTTAS +0.609
10 Sergio PEREZ +0.669
11 Yuki Tsunoda 1:23.419
12 Liam Lawson 1:23.472
13 Lance Stroll 1:23.784
14 Charles Leclerc 1:23.833
15 Kevin Magnussen 1:23.877
16 Alex Albon 1:23.821
17 Zhou Guanyu 1:23.880
18 Lewis Hamilton 1:23.887
19 Franco Colapinto 1:23.912
20 Jack Doohan 1:24.105

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