Red Bull driver Max Verstappen will be starting the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the top spot on the grid after finishing the fastest in the Qualifying round.
Max Verstappen beat title rival Lewis Hamilton taking pole position for the final race in Abu Dhabi which will decide the 2021 Formula 1 World Champion.
Verstappen made the fastest lap recording a jaw breaking 1m 22.109s lap time beating Hamilton with more than a third of a second in the Saturday evening session. This was after Red Bull pulled off a slipstream with Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez along the back straight which was very crucial in the battle for the top spot in the Qualifying round.
Lewis Hamilton tried to take over the record time but to no avail as the session came to an end. McLaren’s Lando Norris maintained a good form after finishing the third fastest despite a slow start on the Friday practice. Coming in at P4 was the second Red Bull car with Sergio Perez despite team efforts to land him directly behind Verstappen on the grid.
Carlos Sainz also put an impressive performance for Ferrari after finishing P5. Valtteri Bottas will be starting Abu Dhabi Grand Prix down in sixth place with Charles Leclerc just beside him in P7. The first AlphaTauri and Alpine cars will start on P8 and P9 with Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon respectively.
Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top ten slots for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after making a compromise for Fernando Alonso in the last sector. This did not sit well with Alonso as he was eliminated in Q2 and will be starting from P11. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was the second to be eliminated in Q2 on P12 despite complaining his brakes were too cold and too much slow traffic.
Lance Stroll finished P13 ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi as Sebastian Vettel landed himself P15. Both Williams will be starting from P16 and P17 with Nicholas Latifi and George Russell respectively. Kimi Raikkonen will start from 18th place for his final race in Formula 1. Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will start from the back of the grid in P19 and P20 respectively.
2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualification Results
| Pos | No | Driver | Nat, | Car | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Laps |
| 1 | 33 | Max Verstappen | NED | Red Bull Racing | 1:23.322 | 1:22.800 | 1:22.109 | 20 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | GBR | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:22.845 | 1:23.145 | 1:22.480 | 19 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris | GBR | McLaren F1 Team | 1:23.553 | 1:23.256 | 1:22.931 | 20 |
| 4 | 11 | Sergio Perez | MEX | Red Bull Racing | 1:23.350 | 1:23.135 | 1:22.947 | 24 |
| 5 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | ESP | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:23.624 | 1:23.174 | 1:22.992 | 22 |
| 6 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | FIN | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team | 1:23.117 | 1:23.246 | 1:23.036 | 20 |
| 7 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | MON | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:23.467 | 1:23.202 | 1:23.122 | 23 |
| 8 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | JAP | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:23.428 | 1:23.404 | 1:23.220 | 22 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | FRA | Alpine F1 Team | 1:23.764 | 1:23.420 | 1:23.389 | 20 |
| 10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AUS | McLaren F1 Team | 1:23.829 | 1:23.448 | 1:23.409 | 19 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | ESP | Alpine F1 Team | 1:23.846 | 1:23.460 | 12 | |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | FRA | Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda | 1:23.489 | 1:24.043 | 16 | |
| 13 | 18 | Lance Stroll | CAN | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1:24.061 | 1:24.066 | 17 | |
| 14 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | ITA | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:24.118 | 1:24.251 | 17 | |
| 15 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | GER | Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team | 1:24.225 | 1:24.305 | 18 | |
| 16 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | CAN | Williams Racing | 1:24.338 | 8 | ||
| 17 | 63 | George Russell | GBR | Williams Racing | 1:24.423 | 7 | ||
| 18 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | FIN | Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN | 1:24.779 | 8 | ||
| 19 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | GER | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1:24.906 | 9 | ||
| 20 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | RAF | Uralkali Haas F1 Team | 1:25.685 | 9 |
