Verstappen beats Leclerc to Abu Dhabi pole as Perez underwhelms

The world champion overcame a difficult FP3 to top all three segments of qualifying with a dominant performance under the lights at Yas Marina as he took pole for the 12th time in 2023, 0.139s clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. 

• F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2023 - Qualifying Results

Oscar Piastri claimed a strong third in his McLaren, ahead of George Russell, who was the fastest Mercedes driver on his way to securing a spot on the second row of the grid in fourth. 

McLaren’s Lando Norris was left to rue a mistake on his final Q3 lap as he ended up fifth, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda, who starred to claim an impressive sixth for AlphaTauri. 

Seventh place went the way of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, while Nico Hulkenberg took eighth in his Haas. 

Sergio Perez struggled to match the pace of his Red Bull teammate and was a lowly ninth, 0.726s off Verstappen’s pole time, after having his best lap deleted for track limits. 

Lewis Hamilton was only 11th-fastest as the Mercedes driver was knocked out in Q2 for the second consecutive weekend. 

“There’s something not right with this car,” the seven-time world champion bemoaned over team radio after failing to reach Q3. 

An under-the-weather Esteban Ocon took 12th in his Alpine ahead of Aston Martin’s Lane Stroll, Williams’ Alex Albon and AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo. 

Carlos Sainz suffered a shock elimination in Q1 as the Ferrari driver could only manage a time good enough for 16th, ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s Haas and the Alfa Romeo pair of Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu. 

Fighting to retain his Williams drive for 2024, Logan Sargeant ended up slowest of all in 20th after having both of his flying laps deleted for track limits.