Abu Dhabi – Qualifications: Hamilton Outmaneuvers Verstappen
For this last qualifying session of the 2019 season, Hamilton achieved a pole position that had eluded him for a long time. The Red Bull vs. Mercedes battle ultimately ended in favor of the Grays, confirming their status as the best constructor. The rest of the positions mirrored the constructors' standings, with logic being respected as Renault and McLaren were the best of the rest.
Q1: Grosjean surprise elimination
The leaders Hamilton, Bottas, and Verstappen secure passage to Q2 without wavering in the first laps with times in the 1 minute 36 second range.
A little scare for Ferrari, Vettel guilty of an error at the entrance of the straight almost got eliminated in Q1 following his spin.
BIG SPIN for Sebastian Vettel as he loses the back end and goes sliding 🔄
He recovers to go P5 on his next flying lap#AbuDhabiGP 🇦🇪 #F1 pic.twitter.com/oXl3BshcM0
— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 novembre 2019
At the bottom of the standings, the stakes are higher, but logic prevailed with the elimination of Williams and Alfa Romeo, who were not at all on pace this weekend. However, a major disappointment for Romain Grosjean, who exited qualifying in Q1 despite promising results in FP1 and FP2 and a Q3 appearance in Interlagos.
The session was marked by the incident between Kvyat and Grosjean. The latter, heading to the pit lane, narrowly avoided contact with Daniil Kvyat released just in front of the French driver.
Q2: A top 5 on Medium tires except for Vettel who will start on soft tires.
At the start of Q2, Hamilton succeeded in his first attempt on Medium tires with 1:35.634. The same tire choice was made by Red Bull, determined to complicate matters for Mercedes. A different strategy was adopted by Ferrari, whose cars were fitted with soft tires. The reds, lacking pace, did not want to take the risk of moving to Q2 on Medium tires. With a few seconds remaining, Leclerc gambled on the Yellow-banded tires, a successful bet that propelled him to the top of Q2 with 1:35.543.
Renault confirms its good form and passes the Q2 test without a hitch, placing both of its drivers in Q3.
At Toro Rosso, Pierre Gasly expressed his great frustration at the pit entry after being eliminated in Q2 and finishing in 12th place.
Q3: Hamilton back in pole position after a long absence
The start of Q3 was given under the spotlight of the Yas Marina circuit. Determined to secure a pole position that has eluded him since the German GP, Hamilton goes below a minute and 35 seconds for the first time this weekend by clocking a lap in 1:34.828!
Bottas played the qualifying game to the end, even though he was certain to start from the back of the grid following his second engine change of the weekend.
For the second attempt, the teams equipped their cars with a new set of fresh tires to chase the World Champion’s time, in vain. Hamilton even managed to improve his time and definitively sealed the fate of this final qualifying session.
| N° | Driver | Team | Times Q1 | Times Q2 | Times Q3 | Laps |
|
1
|
Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1’35.851 | 1’35.634 | 1’34.779 |
19
|
|
2
|
Bottas | Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1’36.200 | 1’35.674 | 1’34.973 |
16
|
|
3
|
Verstappen | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | 1’36.390 | 1’36.275 | 1’35.139 |
16
|
|
4
|
Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1’36.478 | 1’35.543 | 1’35.219 |
16
|
|
5
|
Vettel | Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow | 1’36.963 | 1’35.786 | 1’35.339 |
16
|
|
6
|
Albon | Aston Martin Red Bull Racing | 1’36.102 | 1’36.718 | 1’35.682 |
21
|
|
7
|
Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1’37.545 | 1’36.764 | 1’36.436 |
17
|
|
8
|
Ricciardo | Renault F1 Team | 1’37.106 | 1’36.785 | 1’36.456 |
15
|
|
9
|
Sainz Jr. | McLaren F1 Team | 1’37.358 | 1’36.308 | 1’36.459 |
17
|
|
10
|
Hülkenberg | Renault F1 Team | 1’37.506 | 1’36.859 | 1’36.710 |
18
|
|
11
|
Perez | SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team | 1’36.691 | 1’37.055 |
13
|
|
|
12
|
Gasly | Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda | 1’37.198 | 1’37.089 |
12
|
|
|
13
|
Stroll | SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team | 1’37.528 | 1’37.103 |
14
|
|
|
14
|
Kvyat | Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda | 1’37.683 | 1’37.141 |
12
|
|
|
15
|
Magnussen | Haas F1 Team | 1’37.710 | 1’37.254 |
14
|
|
|
16
|
Grosjean | Haas F1 Team | 1’38.051 |
8
|
||
|
17
|
Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing | 1’38.114 |
6
|
||
|
18
|
Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing | 1’38.383 |
6
|
||
|
19
|
Russell | ROKiT Williams Racing | 1’38.717 |
8
|
||
|
20
|
Kubica | ROKiT Williams Racing | 1’39.236 |
6
|
