2023 F1 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying results: Verstappen takes pole

Verstappen will start ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix grid: Verstappen on pole from Leclerc

What happened in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q1?

Verstappen produced the fastest time of 1m24.160s, 0.049s ahead of team-mate Perez.

Falling at the first hurdle were Carlos Sainz (Ferrari), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), the Alfa Romeos of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu, and Logan Sargeant (Williams, who lost both his flying laptimes due to exceeding track limits).

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez

Cla
Nº
Driver
Car / Engine
Time
Delay
Laps

1
1
Max Verstappen
Red Bull/Honda RBPT
1’24.160

6

2
11
Sergio Pérez
Red Bull/Honda RBPT
1’24.209
0.049
6

3
22
Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT
1’24.286
0.126
6

4
23
Alexander Albon
Williams/Mercedes
1’24.298
0.138
6

5
63
George Russell
Mercedes
1’24.337
0.177
6

6
4
Lando Norris
McLaren/Mercedes
1’24.368
0.208
5

7
18
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin/Mercedes
1’24.405
0.245
6

8
27
Nico Hülkenberg
Haas/Ferrari
1’24.425
0.265
6

9
44
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1’24.437
0.277
6

10
16
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1’24.459
0.299
6

11
3
Daniel Ricciardo
AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT
1’24.461
0.301
6

12
81
Oscar Piastri
McLaren/Mercedes
1’24.487
0.327
6

13
14
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin/Mercedes
1’24.501
0.341
6

14
31
Esteban Ocon
Alpine/Renault
1’24.565
0.405
6

15
10
Pierre Gasly
Alpine/Renault
1’24.600
0.440
6

16
55
Carlos Sainz Jr.
Ferrari
1’24.738
0.578
6

17
20
Kevin Magnussen
Haas/Ferrari
1’24.764
0.604
6

18
77
Valtteri Bottas
Alfa Romeo/Ferrari
1’24.788
0.628
6

19
24
Zhou Guanyu
Alfa Romeo/Ferrari
1’25.159
0.999
6

–
2
Logan Sargeant
Williams/Mercedes
–
–
6

What happened in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q2?

Verstappen set the pace here too, recording a 1m23.740s on his opening run, 0.18s quicker than McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Knocked out at this point were Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Alex Albon (Williams) and Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri).

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q2 results: Verstappen fastest from Norris

Cla
Nº
Driver
Car / Engine
Time
Delay
Laps

1
1
Max Verstappen
Red Bull/Honda RBPT
1’23.740

3

2
4
Lando Norris
McLaren/Mercedes
1’23.920
0.180
5

3
16
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1’23.969
0.229
6

4
63
George Russell
Mercedes
1’24.013
0.273
6

5
10
Pierre Gasly
Alpine/Renault
1’24.078
0.338
6

6
11
Sergio Pérez
Red Bull/Honda RBPT
1’24.116
0.376
5

7
14
Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin/Mercedes
1’24.131
0.391
6

8
22
Yuki Tsunoda
AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT
1’24.207
0.467
6

9
27
Nico Hülkenberg
Haas/Ferrari
1’24.213
0.473
6

10
81
Oscar Piastri
McLaren/Mercedes
1’24.278
0.538
5

11
44
Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
1’24.359
0.619
6

12
31
Esteban Ocon
Alpine/Renault
1’24.391
0.651
6

13
18
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin/Mercedes
1’24.422
0.682
6

14
23
Alexander Albon
Williams/Mercedes
1’24.439
0.699
6

15
3
Daniel Ricciardo
AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT
1’24.442
0.702
6

What happened in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q3?

On the first runs, Verstappen set the bar at 1m23.445s, 0.371s faster than Norris.

On the final runs, Verstappen didn’t improve but Leclerc jumped up to second, 0.139s off pole.

Piastri grabbed third from Norris, who made a big error on his final lap, and George Russell (Mercedes) just snatched fourth from his fellow Brit.

Behind Norris, Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) will start sixth, ahead of Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin), Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Perez (whose best time was deleted) and Pierre Gasly (Alpine).