F1 – Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Qualifying – Live information, lap-by-lap updates

Here we go then… will Max Verstappen make it 12 poles for the season?

1. Verstappen

3. Leclerc

4. Russell

8. Tsunoda

9. Hulkenberg

10. Piastri

Russell knocks Hamilton out of qualifying as he edges him off the highest 10 checklist! Another main shock right here.

Hamilton – a five-time pole setter at Abu Dhabi – will begin in eleventh.

A catastrophe for the seven-time world champion.

Hamitlon and Rusell are each out and desperately must submit a greater time, with the pair at present within the elimination zone.

Alonso can be in peril with Verstappen nonetheless clear in first.

Carlos Sainz has simply been talking after his early shock elimination to Sky Sports.

‘It was a really unhealthy state of affairs we discovered ourselves in, leaving the pits because the final automotive. Also the state of affairs with the visitors within the first and second sector, all the blokes who had simply completed their lap. I do not assume they received out of manner very properly however it’s our fault. We had downside within the entrance wing which delayed us fairly a bit. This has been a ticky weekend as a result of it isn’t the tempo we want… It can be very tough to safe P2 in Constructors Championship now. We must work out what to do to get first rate factors tomorrow.

Ricciardo, Gasly, Albon, Ocon and Hulkenberg are at present within the elimination zone, with the latter seeing a lap time deleted.

Norris is at present second quickest, +0.180 seconds behind Verstappen.

Hamilton is flirting on the cusp of it in tenth plcae and he appears to be like set for a second run in Q2 imminently.

Alex Albon is the primary to submit a time in Q2.

He’s recorded a time of 1:24.965 which is 0.7 seconds faster than Q1 however he’s on used tyres.

Interestingly each Red Bulls are on new tyres and Verstappen has gone 0.720 seconds clear

Here we go…

Verstappen on a brand new set of tyres.

1. Verstappen

3. Tsunoda

5. Russell

8. Hulkenberg

9. Hamilton

10. Leclerc

11. Ricciardo

12. Piastri

13. Alonso

Wow! What drama, Sainz can solely submit the sixteenth quickest time and he’s OUT!

A torrid week for Sainz continues and Ferrari look gutted.

A number of expletives are heard on the staff radio.

He is suggesting folks purposely blocked and delayed him within the pit zone when making an attempt to come back out for his lap.

Several drivers are liable to crashing out right here, with Sainz and Piastri each at present within the hazard zone.

Alonso has risen as much as eleventh, Hamilton to eigth and Russell is now in fourth.

Piastri wil breathe a sigh of reduction as he edges as much as eleventh.

But Sainz is barely fifteenth and he may very well be out!!

Sargeant had bounced again by leaping as much as fourth on the leaderboard.

But, oh no! He’s had his time deleted once more after breaching observe limits on flip one.

He’s nearly sure to be out of qualifying already and he has been out-qualified by Albon, his team-mate, every time this yr.

Meanwhile, there’s a little bit of a queue within the pit lane heading out and Verstappen shouldn’t be completely happy, which comes after yesterday’s drama.

A good lap time for the American, nevertheless it’s been deleted for breaking observe limits on flip one.

ALong with Hulkenberg and Zhou, they reamian the three drivers and not using a time.

There’s a couple of second between Verstappen in first and Stroll in 14th.

However, Hamitlon has are available at thirteenth, whereas Russell is ninth.

A reasonably underwhelming begin from the Brits…

No surprises Verstappen is at present main, though it wasn’t his biggest lap.

He posted a time of 1:24.160, with Norris 0.208 seconds behind him and Leclerc a bit of bit additional again.

And we’re underway with automobiles on the observe.

Here we go…

No one appears to be in a rush to go out as we’re nonetheless with none automobiles on the observe.

Perhaps they’re ready for the very best situations.

A reminder there are 18 minutes on this qualifying session and it is simply ticked down into 14 minutes.

We’re now simply minutes away from qualfying getting underway.

Lewis Hamliton has probably the most poles of any driver in Abu Dhabi with 5 ?

Could he add to that at present? His current kind does not imply so, however what a manner that might be for the seven-time world champion to finish what has been

a dramatic week.

If you hear noise emanating from the Mercedes hospitality space right here in Abu Dhabi, it’s the sound of toes being stamped.

The staff who as soon as dominated the game with serene effectivity are actually in a state of meltdown. The newest instance of Toto Wolff’s skinny pores and skin got here when he ordered his PR operative to ask me to depart their constructing forward of Lewis Hamilton’s press convention.

My chief offence, it appears, was to have questioned Wolff within the press convention in Las Vegas final week when observe was delayed. Wolff was denying the apparent embarrassment this represented on the sport’s all-new showpiece occasion.

Read Jonathan McEvoy’s full Pole Position column from this week under…

Max Verstappen reignited his rivalry with Mercedes by hitting out at ‘gradual’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell after a weird conflict in observe which noticed the Red Bull driver try to overtake each within the pit-lane.

An impatient Verstappen was seen weaving previous rivals within the slender pit-lane throughout observe on the Abu Dhabi circuit.

While lots have been left unimpressed by Verstappen’s antics, the Dutchman turned the main target round onto Hamilton and Russell who he felt have been ‘foolish’ in making an attempt to ‘squeeze’ him into the wall.

Understandably, Max Verstappen has probably the most pole positions in 2023, which isn’t any shock given he has received 18 of the 21 races.

However, he has solely really began in pole on 11 of these events, with Charles Leclerc fronting the grid the second most on 5 instances.

Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz each have two poles, whereas Lewis Hamilton has one.

There is likely to be an enormous Premier League sport involving his former membership happening proper now, however Sergio Aguero is likely one of the many celebrities out in Abu Dhabi.

The Manchester City icon was rocking a club-themed racing gear outfit earlier at present as he walked via the racing paddock.

His previous City quantity, 10, adorned his outfit in a flourish that can deliver again many reminiscences for the membership’s followers.

The huge drama in F1 this week has been surrounding Lewis Hamilton’s future.

Red Bull chief Christian Horner claimed in an unique interview with Mail Sport {that a} consultant of the seven-time world champion approached his staff over a possible transfer.

Hamilton dennied this and labelled Horner a ‘lonely stirrer’ as they exchanged a disagreement.

It appears solely yesterday that the 2023 F1 season was getting underway in Bahrain however right here we’re with the ultimate race of the yr in Abu Dhabi.

It’s been one-way visitors for just about the entire marketing campaign with Red Bull profitable all however one of many 21 races to this point.

18 of these have gone to Max Verstappen, with the Dutchman lifting his third world title final month in Qatar.

They’ve wrapped up the Constructors championship too, on a whopping 822 factors, however second place remains to be up for grabs with on Mercedes simply 4 factors away from Ferrari on 392 and 388 respectively.

And welcome to Mail Sport’s stay weblog of qualifying on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Be positive to stick with us over the following couple of hours for all of the motion and updates as we discover out who will begin on pole for the ultimate race of the 2023 season.