McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed pole for the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from teammate, Oscar Piastri.
Knowing that a constructors’ title since 1998 is in their hands, McLaren topped FP3 then left it until the very end of Qualifying to lock out the front row amidst track limits drama for Piastri.
Now here is a roundup of all the action across FP3 and Qualifying for 2024 Abu Dhabi GP.
FP3
A quiet start saw Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll venture out for installation laps, with Alpine’s Pierre Gasly first to set a benchmark time of 1m 26.040 on soft tyres.
His teammate, Jack Doohan however went 0.407 seconds quicker as times began to tumble, but Haas’ Kevin Magnussen posted 1m 24.470 in the 19th minute to set the pace from Norris at the halfway mark.
Ex Toro Rosso teammates, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz did their opening runs on medium tyres unlike the majority who opted for soft tyres, whilst RB’s Liam Lawson and Yuki Tsunoda ran the hard tyre compound.
Williams’ Alex Albon was the first driver to attempt a qualifying simulation lap and set 1m 24.378 in the 43rd minute, but Piastri six minutes later posted 1m 23.433 to top the session from Norris in a McLaren one-two.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 1m 23.433 |
| 2 | Lando Norris | McLaren | + 0.193 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.390 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.411 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.438 |
| 6 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.642 |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.660 |
| 8 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.661 |
| 9 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.685 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.850 |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | + 0.910 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Williams | + 0.945 |
| 13 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.975 |
| 14 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | + 1.001 |
| 15 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 1.020 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 1.046 |
| 17 | Liam Lawson | RB | + 1.086 |
| 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 1.098 |
| 19 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | + 1.235 |
| 20 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | + 1.333 |
Qualifying
Q1
A quiet start to the session saw just Stroll venture out in the opening minutes and set 1m 24.366 as the initial benchmark time in the fifth minute.
Once the majority of the field had set a lap time, Sainz sat top with 1m 23.487 whilst the elimination zone contained Doohan, Lawson and Albon, whilst Perez had his lap time deleted due to track limits whilst Colapinto didn’t set a time.
Colapinto however went 13th with three minutes left whilst Perez went third and Albon was up to 11th, which dropped Bottas, Gasly and Zhou into the bottom five.
At the checkered flag, track conditions ramped up but Albon couldn’t avoid elimination in 16th position ahead of Zhou.
Hamilton will start his final race for Mercedes from 18th on the grid after a loose bollard got stuck under his car, whilst Colapinto and Doohan form the back row.
Leclerc finished quickest on 1m 23.302 ahead of Bottas.
Q2
Verstappen was first to head out and set 1m 22.998 as the benchmark time which nobody beat, as he headed Norris and Piastri with 0.201s covering the top three.
Down in the bottom five, Alonso and Stroll sat 11th and 12th respectively ahead of; Magnussen, Bottas and Gasly.
Once the checkered flag fell, Bottas was last man over the line and scraped in Q3 for the first time since China at the expense of RB’s Tsunoda and Lawson.
Stroll qualified 13th ahead of Leclerc whose final lap time was deleted due to exceeding track limits at turn one, but a 10-place grid penalty will put him to the back of the grid and promoted Magnussen to 14th on the grid.
Leclerc consequently will start 19th sandwiched by Williams’ Albon and Colapinto in 18th and 20th respectively, with Hamilton promoted to 17th on the grid.
Sainz meanwhile produced 1m 22.985 to top the segment from Verstappen, Hulkenberg and Gasly.
Q3
Following a brief lull at the start of Q3, Hulkenberg was first on track and set 1m 22. as the benchmark time.
Verstappen however displaced him with 1m 22.945 to go on provisional pole despite a wild rear out of the final corner beyond track limits, but Norris went 0.004s shy in second ahead of Sainz, Hulkenberg, Gasly and Alonso.
Perez put himself seventh quickest ahead of Russell whilst Piastri’s 1m 22.985 was deleted initially following a narrow wide moment at turn one but his time was reinstated on appeal to put him third.
At the death, Hulkenberg sprung a surprise to go fastest but Piastri and Sainz displaced him to fourth, whilst Norris snatched pole with 1m 22.595 to secure a McLaren front-row lock-out.
Verstappen had to settle for fifth ahead of Gasly, Russell, Alonso, Bottas and Perez.
Speaking post-session, Norris was pleased with McLaren’s front-row lockout following a difficult Qualifying session.
“It was a perfect, perfect day for us, probably a little bit tougher than we were hoping for, we’ve been quick all weekend, we were pleased with the one-two but it was a bit trickier than what we would have liked.
“My lap in the end was strong and it was just how we wanted to end today.”
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1m 22.595 |
| 2 | Osar Piastri | McLaren | + 0.209 |
| 3 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | + 0.229 |
| 4 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | + 0.291 |
| 5 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | + 0.350 |
| 6 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | + 0.389 |
| 7 | George Russell | Mercedes | + 0.537 |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | + 0.601 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | Sauber | + 0.609 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | + 0.669 |
| 11 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 1m 23.419 |
| 12 | Liam Lawson | RB | + 0.053 |
| 13 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | + 0.365 |
| 14 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | + 0.414 |
| 15 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | + 0.458 |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | 1m 23.821 |
| 17 | Guanyu Zhou | Sauber | + 0.059 |
| 18 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | + 0.066 |
| 19 | Franco Colapinto | Williams | + 0.091 |
| 20 | Jack Doohan | Alpine | + 0.284 |
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