What the teams said – Qualifying in Abu Dhabi

Red Bull

The changes Red Bull made to the RB21 overnight worked a treat for Verstappen, who looked quick in final practice. He made it through Q1 and Q2 using just the two sets of tyres to have two new sets of softs for Q3. On his first lap he received a tow from his team mate, Tsunoda making Q3 for the second straight weekend. That launched him well ahead of his rivals – but it proved unnecessary, as he went even faster on his second run, even though he did not get the same tow. He starts on pole, but still has it all to do tomorrow with Norris breathing down his neck from P2. As for Tsunoda, his Q3 was sacrificed to help his team mate, at the end of a difficult day that included an FP3 crash in the pit lane when Antonelli was released into his path. That damaged his floor, meaning he is on an older spec part for the rest of the weekend now.

Max Verstappen, 1st, 1:22.207

"It was a Simply Lovely Qualifying. We did well the whole weekend, have been fine tuning the car and then also made some final changes which helped the car a little bit. This allowed me to push a bit more to the limit and extract the most out of the car. We were improving nicely in Qualifying and then found a little bit more lap time with the corners. The big question mark is can we keep up that pace in the race? Thank you to Yuki for the tow, it helped for sure, but it was nice of him to give up one of his laps. He was a great Team player, so thank you for that. Tomorrow, the plan is to win the race and then we need a bit of luck to win the Championship, it’s as simple as that. We will go all out and have nothing to lose, whether we need to attack or defend. The most important battle needs to happen tomorrow and we need to outscore them by 12 points; we knew that if we wanted to be in the fight we had to be first. I have the least to lose and I am very relaxed. It is exciting to be on Pole, but we just need a bit of luck for the rest of it and some Abu Dhabi magic."

Yuki Tsunoda, 10th, No time set in Q3

“Because of the pit lane incident in FP3, we had to change back to the old floor on my car, which did compromise performance somewhat and was not ideal. I knew it could be difficult to get through to Q3 but I was able to do that. I have been able to help Max and that was always the aim, I am proud of that today. I will try to support Max as much as possible tomorrow, that is my goal and my main focus. It might not be a straightforward strategy but if I can help Max to win a fifth Drivers’ Championship, then that is the priority. The top 10 looks very tight, so let’s see what I can do."

Laurent Mekies, Team Principal

"It really was an amazing job from everyone today, from Max, Yuki and the Team. Max could've taken pole on both his runs today he was that quick. We weren't the fastest on track yesterday, but the car has really improved with each session to get into a great condition for Quali this evening. Well done to everyone for having nailed the right window of the car which allowed us to extract everything from it. We managed to get both cars into Q3 which is great and Yuki did an excellent job on the first run with the tow he gave Max. Of course, there are no points on Saturday here, but we've given ourselves an opportunity to give it our all. Our full concentration and focus turns to maximising everything we can from the car tomorrow, because we cannot control what happens behind us. Everyone here and in Milton Keynes has worked hard to be in this position, fighting for titles to the very end, so it is a privileged position to be in. Whatever happens tomorrow, it has been a sensational end to the year for us."

McLaren

Piastri closed the gap to his team mate in FP3, and then started Qualifying very well indeed with a storming lap in Q1. That meant two McLaren cars pushing each other close in the battle for pole. Both made Q3 with ease but having used one more set of tyres than rival Verstappen. That put them half a step behind on the first runs, with it all to do on the second runs in the top-10 shootout. Both nailed their laps, with Norris just 0.029s ahead of his team mate. But neither had an answer for the pace of the Red Bull. Nonetheless, if they finish where they start, Norris will be World Champion.

Lando Norris, 2nd, 1:22.408

“We did everything we could do today, but just didn't have the pace in the car for Pole. I was happy with my lap, but I'm of course disappointed to not be on Pole for the final weekend of the year. For tomorrow, we'll focus on doing the best we can. As always, I want to win the race, so that's the goal.”

Oscar Piastri, 3rd, 1:22.437

“I felt like we maximised what we could today. I was happy with my Q3 laps; we just didn't quite have the pace to answer Max. Our long run pace looks okay, so let's see what we can do tomorrow. I'll focus on delivering the best race I can, and we'll see what happens.”

Andrea Stella, Team Principal

“The final Qualifying session of the year is symbolic of the close displays we’ve seen from Lando and Oscar throughout the season. Overall, we can be reasonably happy with our performances as the drivers extracted everything from the car in what was an extremely tight session.

“We’re now in a strong position to fight for the Championship tomorrow. We are aware that we’re not alone with very competitive drivers starting beside us on the first and second row. However, as a team, it is in our hands. We will make sure we maintain this strong position and execute our preparation at the highest level to be in condition to ensure the reward goes to a papaya driver at the Chequered Flag.”

Mercedes

Russell certainly looked in the mix from the word go on Saturday, winding up on top of the standings in FP3 to really give the championship rivals something to consider. He made Q3 comfortably and thus had two sets of fresh tyres to work with, but his car suddenly became more of a handful and after fighting it on his first lap, he got all out of shape in the final corner of his second hot lap. He was also tempted to try and get a tow from Verstappen, who would have loved a car in between himself and the papaya ones – but the timing did not work.

Antonelli was eliminated in Q2, radioing afterwards to say the rear of his car was missing in action when it mattered. That ended a tricky day for the youngster, who suffered front wing damage when he was released in the pits into the path of Tsunoda in FP3, the duo making contact for which the team were later fined for an unsafe release.

George Russell, 4th, 1:22.645

"We were near the top of the timing screens in both Q1 and Q2, but we knew that Verstappen and the two McLarens had more pace to show come Q3. That turned out to be the case, and I think P4 was ultimately us maximising the package we had this evening. Q3 didn’t go too smoothly on our side but I don’t think we were ever in the fight for the front-row.

"Tomorrow’s race will be interesting with the three title contenders starting ahead of us. On ultimate pace, I don’t believe that our race is with them but there could be some strategic implications of that battle that open opportunities for us. We will be considering every eventuality that can help us gain positions and ultimately bring home the points we need to secure P2 in the Constructors’ Championship. That is our only focus for tomorrow and, if we can do that, we can end the season on a high."

Kimi Antonelli, 14th, 1:23.080

"Qualifying started well in Q1. I was happy with the balance of the car and was able to extract a decent lap time out of it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in Q2, and we were knocked out in what was a very tight session. That was a shame as I think we had the pace to be starting in the top six for tomorrow’s race.

"Despite tonight’s disappointment, we will refocus now for Sunday’s race. We will do our best to get back into the points and secure P2 in the Constructors’ Championship for the team. Every point could be crucial so that is what my full focus is on. It is important for all of us that we achieve that and end the season on a positive note. Hopefully we can do that and I can end my rookie season in F1 on a high."

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

"Qualifying didn’t go quite the way we wanted today. P4 is an OK position to start but obviously P14 is less so. The car has been on a bit of a knife’s edge this weekend. At moments we’ve had good performance, but it’s been difficult to extract consistently. We saw that this evening where we topped Q2 but also had one car fail to make it through. The narrow gaps between all cars also meant that any small mistake was punished heavily.

"Despite having the three drivers who will be fighting for the title in front of him tomorrow, I am sure George will just be focused on driving his own race. He will be looking to end his season on a high and hopefully he can do that by getting on the podium. That will be the same with Kimi even though it will be a challenge for him to fight back into the major points-scoring positions. Let’s see how it all plays out though, and we will be ready to take advantage of any opportunities that come our way."

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

"The session was a bit of a disappointment considering that we'd shown good pace earlier today and in the opening stages of qualifying. George was the only car to get through Q1 on a single new set of Soft tyres and Kimi's second push lap put him P3. For Kimi though, his session began it to unravel in Q2. We didn't change anything in our approach, but he started to get the odd snap which in turn caused high temperatures and compounded these issues. Unfortunately, he couldn't reproduce his Q1 pace and finished the session in P14.

"George was quickest in Q2, once again on a single new set of Soft tyres but then had similar issues with a loss of rear grip in Q3. With the pace of Verstappen in the Red Bull and the two McLarens, P4 wasn’t a bad result. It was slightly frustrating given what we had seen earlier but if we have good race pace tomorrow, we can still score good points with both cars. That is our sole focus as we look to bring home P2 in the Constructors’ Championship."

Ferrari

It was a very mixed bag for Ferrari in Abu Dhabi. Leclerc changed his car completely overnight, and seemed much happier in FP3. His car still looked a handful, but he made it to Q3 and qualified a pretty decent P5 – but has no idea what his race pace will be like, having made so many set-up changes. But Hamilton had a very tough day. He spun out and crashed in FP3, and although the team managed to rebuild his car in time for Qualifying, he made a mistake on his last flying run. That meant a third straight Q1 exit for the Brit – fourth if you include Sprint Qualifying from Qatar.

Charles Leclerc, 5th, 1:22.730

"I’m satisfied with my lap in Q3 and I don’t think there was much more to extract today. I feel that our team has done a really good job in turning things around this weekend. We made some changes on the set-up between FP2 and FP3, and if paid off. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow, to see if the changes we made will also help us to get ahead in the race. We can’t get our hopes up too high, because the cars ahead are very fast. It’s up to us to maximise our result tomorrow, and I’ll do my best to take action at the start and hope to bring home a last podium for our whole team this season."

Lewis Hamilton, 16th, 1:23.394

"Clearly it wasn’t the result we were aiming for today. The team did a great job after FP3, in getting the car ready in time for qualifying, but a mistake in the last sector cost us. I know this track well and I’ll be aiming to deliver a more positive result for the team tomorrow."

Fred Vasseur, Team Principal

"Overall, we are happy with Charles’ result, as we had a very tough time in both Friday sessions and when it came to deciding on today’s set-up we were quite aggressive and it paid off. For sure, if practice had been better then maybe we could have fought for an even better position, but it is what it is. Now, let’s see what happens tomorrow, let’s see what our race pace is like. It’s been difficult for Lewis, because he did not drive in FP1, having given up his seat to Arthur, and then came the crash halfway through FP3 and in this kind of situation where there are only two tenths separating P4 and P18 if you miss so much running, it’s too much to recover from. You can’t produce a performance based just on FP2. Now let's focus on how to do the best possible for our team to get the best result to end the season well."

Aston Martin

Alonso admitted to plenty of changes to the car after a disappointing Friday, and whatever he did clearly worked. He was right in the mix at the front in FP3 and the early stages of Qualifying, and made it to Q3 for the third straight race. From there he grabbed the ‘best of the rest’ slot for his team, as Aston Martin begin the slightly unlikely task of trying to chase down Racing Bulls for sixth in the championship. As for Stroll, he exited in Q2 and thus starts a fair few places back.

Fernando Alonso, 6th, 1:22.902

"Extremely happy to finish Qualifying in P6. I am surprised by such a strong result on a circuit with so many low-speed corners, but it is clear the setup changes we made overnight worked well. Hopefully we can maintain this pace tomorrow and continue building momentum throughout the weekend. The aim is to secure some valuable points in the final race of the season."

Lance Stroll, 15th, 1:23.097

"It was a super tight Qualifying today and we were looking good for Q3, but missed it in the end by less than one tenth. I had a bit of a messy Turn 14 and lost time there on my final push lap in Q2 so that's where it got away from us. When it's that tight, a small margin makes a big difference so a good effort today, but would have hoped for a bit more."

Mike Krack, Chief Trackside Officer

"It was an exceptionally close field today in the Qualifying session. Lance progressed into Q2, delivering a series of clean laps and narrowly missing out on a spot in Q3 by less than a tenth of a second. Fernando, meanwhile, advanced to Q3 and put in a strong performance to secure P6. We hope this puts us in a good position to score points in the final race of the season tomorrow – we will aim to maximise every opportunity."

Kick Sauber

Kick Sauber impressed on Friday, and continued their strong form on Saturday. But when it came to Q1, Bortoleto was the one to scrape into Q2 while Hulkenberg somewhat surprisingly exited. The Brazilian found a much better turn of speed in Q2 to make it to the top-10 shootout for the first time since Monza. He grabbed seventh on the grid for his joint-best Qualifying of the year, as he looks to finish his rookie season in the points one last time.

Nico Hulkenberg, 18th, 1:23.450

"It’s very disappointing, it feels we just tripped over ourselves today, especially as the car’s setup felt very good and there was the potential for a very good result. The run plan and sequence just didn’t work out: we were the last car out there. We waited long in the pitlane, which meant the tyres were a bit too cold, and I hit a lot of traffic both on the out-lap and the timed lap. With the field as tight as it has been at the last few events, those small margins make a big difference, and we let it slip through our fingers. The potential in the car was there earlier in the weekend and even this morning, but we didn’t put it together in Q1 and made our lives very hard for tomorrow. Following and overtaking here are very difficult with this generation of cars, so starting from the back will be a challenge, but we’ll do what we can from there."

Gabriel Bortoleto, 7th, 1:22.904

“It feels great to finish the season with a qualifying like this one. The whole session was incredibly tight: we were just a few thousandths away from being knocked out in Q1, then pulled out a mega lap in Q2 and kept it strong in Q3 as well. I think it’s been a really good performance today, one to be proud of, and hopefully we can turn it into a top ten finish tomorrow – it would be a great way to wrap up the season. The car has been working well, and we’ve been making the right changes to keep up with the shifting conditions from day to night. It’s never easy, but we found a balance I was really happy with. Now, the goal is to hold our position at the start and try to make our way forward.”

Jonathan Wheatley, Team Principal

“First of all, I want to apologise to Nico. He was absolutely capable of making it into Q3, but the timing was compromised, which affected his opportunity to progress to Q2.

“On the other side of the garage, though, it was an incredible performance from Gabi. He delivered exactly what was needed on every lap. It was great to be fighting up there with the front-runners, and he fully earned that outstanding qualifying position. He’s really shown his class today.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow, we’re starting from a strong place, but our key competitors are all around us. There’s no clear advantage within that group, and our goal is very clearly to outscore Haas and Aston Martin. It’s going to be tougher than we originally expected, but still within our reach. Our focus now is on maximising the opportunities for both cars, doing everything we can to score points and to help Nico recover and get back into the best possible position.”

Haas

Bearman’s strong form continued into FP3 and Q1, with the Briton looking the pick of the two Haas drivers by far. But after Ocon managed a last-gasp lap to make it out of Q1, he excelled in Q2, pulling a mega lap out of the bag. That landed him in Q3 for the first time since Monaco, while Bearman was left slightly disappointed with P11 after looking in the fight for the third row. But both drivers can fight for points from there, which they need to, with rival Aston Martin having Alonso up the road in sixth.

Esteban Ocon, 8th, 1:22.913

“I’m super happy – delighted to say the least. It was honestly the lowest moment of the season yesterday, it was really a bad feeling being half a second away from where we should be. We were lost and changed everything on the car overnight, and the car today feels much better. It’s transformed, and we’re suddenly where we should be, so a big thanks to the team for their continual support. In the tough times, we’ve stuck together, and that makes the difference. It’s a bit late, so there are some regrets there as we could’ve had a lot more points, but we’ll take today, review things, and hopefully it's a good foundation for next year. It’s all to play for tomorrow, we start from the points, and hopefully we convert that.”

Oliver Bearman, 11th, 1:23.041

“It’s a shame to miss out, but it was a very tight session and every millisecond counted out there tonight. Ultimately, I had a bit of an interrupted qualifying, being on a used set for my first run in Q2, then, as a result, it was a big jump to go onto the new set. The car has the pace, but I just didn’t quite put the lap together. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow as I think there will be some opportunities, and generally the car has been quick all weekend.”

Ayao Komatsu, Team Principal

“I’m very happy to get Esteban back up there in qualifying today. He was the best part of half a second off it yesterday, without any obvious issues. Overnight, we made set-up changes to the car, and that worked very well straight away. That was very pleasing and gives the team confidence, and of course it gives lots of confidence to Esteban as well. In Q1, we operated well – using two new sets of tires with Esteban – and although we knew there was a chance of only needing one set with Ollie, the margin was too tight to park it.

"In Q2, Esteban did a great job. Ollie’s reference wasn’t a new tire because he kept two new sets of medium tires for the race, which meant he’d have one less set for Q2. He missed getting into Q3 by seven thousandths of a second, and the frustrating thing is you could see the loss in a straight line, so we’re looking into that.

"Esteban in Q3 – using one set of used and one set of new softs – did a very good job. It’s very difficult around here to put a perfect lap together, so for us to be frustrated about losing P6 by one hundredth, but being where we were yesterday, we’ve come a long way. The potential is high with this car, and what Ollie has felt all weekend is very good. Tomorrow, we need to get a good start, focus on ourselves, race hard and do the best we can. What will happen, will happen, but I don’t think we can be too hung up on the result, we just need to concentrate on our own race.”

Racing Bulls

Racing Bulls are sixth in the championship, but might have a tense night with so many of their rivals looking strong here. Hadjar did make Q3 for the team, winding up ninth, and will be targeting points in the final race of his rookie season. Lawson is a few places back but not out of contention for the top 10, especially if the team gamble and split strategies.

Isack Hadjar, 9th, 1:23.072

"It was a decent day today. Compared to yesterday, I’m really happy as I definitely made a step up in my driving, which allowed us to find something special and get to Q3. In Q2, I put it all together and did a very good lap, which unfortunately I couldn’t repeat in Q3 as I didn’t find more grip. I have no regrets as I think P9 was our best possible result today, and we maximised what we had to do in a track that doesn’t suit our car as much as Qatar did. Tomorrow should be a one-stop race, but yesterday we noticed a higher track degradation than expected, so I think we’ll keep having a look at it and we’ll give our best to try and score points.”

Liam Lawson, 13th, 1:23.077

"The car felt quick during Quali, so it's frustrating to be out in Q2. We ended up playing things too conservatively today by using three sets of tyres in Q1, which we didn't need to do. It meant we only had one new set for Q2, resulting in us missing out on Q3 by a small margin. After missing FP1 yesterday, a lot of our data was taken from FP2, which was the first session in the car for me. In hindsight, we were over cautious, so it's something we'll learn from going into next year.”

Guillaume Dezoteux, Head of Vehicle Performance

“With the track temperature swinging between afternoon and evening sessions, it’s always difficult here to optimise the cars, assess the performance and relative competitiveness in Free Practice 3. Qualifying was extremely tight, once again. Both cars got through Q1 but the gaps were small, and perfect execution was required to progress in the session. In Q2, we had all 15 cars within 367 milliseconds! Isack went through after a great second lap in new tyres, while Liam got knocked out by less than half a tenth. Finally, in Q3, Isack secured P9 on the grid, extracting everything from the car and the tyres. Our cars are in a good position for the race but our direct competitors are there too. Tomorrow, the tyre management will be key. It’s a long race and we will give everything to finish in the points.”

Williams

Williams did not seem to have the same sort of pace they showed last weekend in Qatar, the track here not suiting their car as much. They have not been helped by some of their rivals going well here, nor the fact the gaps in the midfield are incredibly tight. As such, Albon exited in Q1 and Sainz in Q2. But with fifth in the championship already secure, those two can race without too much pressure tomorrow and see what happens.

Alex Albon, 17th, 1:23.416

"Difficult session. We couldn’t get the tyres in the right window and hit traffic in the final sector of the lap. There were a few small details which I couldn’t quite nail and, with such a tight field, every millisecond counts. Strategy will make a big difference in the race tomorrow, so it will be interesting to see how each team approaches it. Tomorrow will be tough, but we’ll look to take advantage of any opportunities that come our way."

Carlos Sainz, 12th, 1:23.042

"I’m relatively happy with where we are today, as we made a good step from the practice sessions. It was one of the tightest sessions I remember, with only one tenth separating P6-P15 in Q2, and I unfortunately fell short by 0.008 of a second. For tomorrow, it’s looking to be on the limit between a one and a two-stop race, which can result in interesting strategies. I’m confident we can fight to make our way into the points, and the aim is to finish off the 2025 season strong!"

James Vowles, Team Principal

"First of all, congratulations to Max. Really impressive laps out there and he was dominant through sector 3. Speaking of which, that was the sector we couldn't quite get right today. The gaps were miniscule. Just a handful of milliseconds separated five cars but that is the state of the sport today and it's brilliant – it is really the highest level of competition we have ever seen, and you have to get absolutely everything perfect. In the case of Carlos today, he was strong everywhere, we just need to review what else we can do to get more performance out of sector 3. With Alex, when the field is this tight, just a tenth punishes you, but he is competitive and I'm confident we can come back fighting tomorrow. These races are unpredictable and we're in the best seat in the house to see what happens on race day."

Alpine

Alpine have struggled for pace throughout the season, so it was no surprise to see the team lose both cars in Q1. They occupy the back row, with both drivers losing lap times in Q1 to boot after exceeding track limits. In the end Gasly out-qualified Colapinto for the sixth straight race, at the end of a tricky year for the team.

Pierre Gasly, 19th, 1:23.468

“We did a great job overnight to improve the car and it felt like we made a good step from yesterday. The car was set-up well but today's result is, quite honestly, just a reflection of our performance at this track. It was a very tight Qualifying throughout and we have been on the wrong end of a tenth or two to our competitors across the weekend so far. We had to go for it on the final run on Softs as we had the lap time deletion for track limits on my first run. I was very happy with my final lap, all the corners came together and that was really all we had in our hands. We have the final race of the season tomorrow. It is also the final race with our colleagues from Viry on the power unit side. I am very grateful for everything they have done especially in my Alpine career. We will give it our all for them and see what result we come out with at the end.”

Franco Colapinto, 20th, 1:23.890

“The difficulties of yesterday carried over to today unfortunately. I think Pierre found more pace and did a better job than me. We made some changes which made a difference, but I still didn't feel totally comfortable. I felt in a decent place at the start of the weekend, and we need to understand why we haven't been able to make the same improvements across the weekend as others did. We put a lot of pressure on our final lap due to track limits, which was my own doing. There are a few places around the lap where you're right on the limit, and the margins are so tight, you have to push or risk losing time. We need to work hard overnight and give it our best tomorrow. It's an important day for everyone at the team at the final race for Viry, so we'll give it our all to try and give them a nice result.”

Pirelli

Mario Isola, Motorsport Director

“Congratulations to Max Verstappen, who sealed pole just when it mattered most. In qualifying, some drivers chose to keep new soft C5 tyres for the quickest laps in the final Q3 session, even though we saw that used softs were still capable of setting fast times after a few cool-down laps.

Looking at the tyre sets that the teams have kept back for the race, there are two different approaches. McLaren is the only team that has saved two sets of new hards, while most other teams – including Red Bull – have saved two sets of mediums. This shows that teams are keeping the possibility of two stops open, but only McLaren – the winners of the constructors’ championship this year – have gone for the most conservative option.

The two quickest strategies tomorrow are one-stoppers. One option is to start on the medium and switch to the hard between laps 20 and 26. An alternative is to start on the hard and then take advantage of the soft’s extra performance by stopping between laps 39 and 45.

A two-stop strategy seems to be a bit less competitive, especially given the difficulty of overtaking here. The best way to do it is with a combination of medium and hard for the first two stints, followed by a final stint on the medium – which in theory would be quicker for the run to the flag than the hard or the soft under these circumstances.

It's not been possible to assess how graining has progressed from the short runs seen today, but there is no evidence of it so far this evening. Track evolution suggests that the situation will be better compared to Friday, especially thanks to the tyre management that we expect from the drivers during the Grand Prix.”