Lewis Hamilton is looking to return with a bang and secure the final pole position of the 2020 F1 season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver missed last weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix with George Russell deputising for the Brit, who was sidelined by coronavirus. But Hamilton is back this weekend and is looking for his 11th pole of the year.
Valtteri Bottas, his Mercedes team-mate, is likely to be Hamilton’s greatest rival while Max Verstappen in the Red Bull is always a threat and was quickest in FP3 this morning.
Verstappen was also fastest in FP1 and third quickest in FP2 with Hamilton improving in the second session and going just 0.034 seconds slower than pace-setter Bottas.
The seven-time world champion said after: “I was very, very happy and grateful this morning just to be back here and obviously to be able to finish this season strong.
“Super excited, it felt like the first day back at school. It’s definitely been a bit of a messy day – there’s a lot going on and the guys have been on the road for three weeks.
“We’ve had a couple of gremlins, but we punched through them like we always do and tomorrow, I know, will be better.
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“It felt like I’d spent a lot of time away from the car – it was very odd. It was about refamiliarising myself with the car.
“The car was not quite the way it was when I left it, in the sense that the balance wasn’t the same that I had got to previously, but I am working my way back to where I am comfortable with it.
“It definitely took a minute to get back and used to it for the first session and the second one, still getting my bearings, but not too bad.
“I think we got through most of the stuff we missed out in the 40-minute session in the start of the day.”
Bottas meanwhile said: “It was good. Immediately the car felt pretty good. Still, as always, work to do on the balance.
“The main issue is really getting the balance together through the lap. Some corners I am struggling with the front end and some corners with the rear end but, overall, it’s not far off as the time shows.
“I didn’t get the softs into the window today. On my opening lap, I started the lap and didn’t have grip. I think they were below the temperature window and then the following lap they were overheating massively.
“So there’s still work to do there because, from my side today, the medium actually felt like the better tyre, and it shouldn’t be that way. If we can get everything out of the softs, in theory, that should be better.”
And Verstappen declared: “[We have] a little bit of work to do to close the gap to Mercedes. They seem very strong again even though I didn’t really get a lap in on the softer compound.
Asked if he expects to qualify in third after saying a week ago it was his seat, Verstappen said: “I do, yeah. I’m going to claim my seat again.”
But the Dutchman was quickest in FP3 with the two Mercedes only sixth and ninth, offering hope of some surprise in qualifying.
Elsewhere, this will be Sebastian Vettel’s final qualifying for Ferrari before his move to Aston Martin for 2021 and Sergio Perez’s last for Racing Point, with it expected the Mexican – who won the Sakhir Grand Prix – will be without a seat until 2022. AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat is also likely to be without a drive next season.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying LIVE
Q1 Results
16) Kimi Raikkonen 17) Kevin Magnussen 18) George Russell 19) Pietro Fittipaldi 20) Nicholas Latifi
George Russell in the Williams can only go 18th quickest – although he comprehensively outqualifies Nicholas Latifi yet again, the Canadian going for a spin at the final corner late in the session.
That means Russell maintains a perfect qualifying record while at Williams, having been beaten by Valtteri Bottas during his temporary stint with Mercedes a week ago.
Both of the Haas cars of Kevin Magnussen and Pietro Fittipaldi both drop out too, as does Kimi Raikkonen in the Alfa Romeo although his team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi makes Q2.
Lewis Hamilton goes quickest of the lot with a 1:35.528 with Bottas second and the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in third.
Q2 Results
11) Esteban Ocon 12) Daniel Ricciardo 13) Sebastian Vettel 14) Antonio Giovinazzi 15) Sergio Perez
And Hamilton is quickest again in Q2, going 0.061 quicker than Bottas. He’s looking far better than he did earlier today.
The Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Alex Albon are third and fourth fastest.
Sebastian Vettel hasn’t made Q3 in any of the last 13 races and fails to do so here, in his final Ferrari race. That’s despite Leclerc going fourth.
Daniel Ricciardo drops out in the Renault despite being on soft tyres, while team-mate Esteban Ocon also misses out. That’s a very disappointing performance for them.
Racing Point’s Sergio Perez does not set a time, knowing that he will start from the back of the pack tomorrow anyway after engine penalties.
Q3 Results
Results will appear once the session takes place.