Max Verstappen put in another imperious qualifying performance to take pole at Yas Marina for the 2022 Abu Dhabi GP.

The Dutchman was in a class of his own, with both Q3 laps good enough for first place on the grid tomorrow.

It was a case of two-by-two on the first three rows, with Sergio Perez, the Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz plus the Mercedes pair of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell following Verstappen.

Lando Norris was, as is often the case, closest to the ‘Big Three’ in seventh, with Esteban Ocon eighth, an impressive Sebastian Vettel ninth on his final GP weekend and Daniel Ricciardo rounding out the top 10.

Here’s how qualifying played out.

Q1

Several drivers got on track early, with both Aston Martins soon heading to the top of the timesheets.

On his last ever F1 weekend Sebastian Vettel clocked a 1min 26.285sec and team-mate Lance Stroll immediately went a tenth quicker – however, fastest of all was Yuki Tsunoda with a 1min 26.135sec.

Soon more of the heavy hitters went out, with Leclerc taking a tenth out of Tsunoda in Sector 1, half a second in Sector 2 and and almost 1sec faster by the end of the lap.

A moment later, his championship rival for second spot, Perez, bested the Monégasque’s time by 0.4sec, before Verstappen beat that lap by 0.066sec.

Norris and Ricciardo both looked sharp, 0.8sec off the pace in fourth and fifth with half the session gone. Their times appeared even more impressive when Hamilton could only insert himself between the McLaren’s on his first effort, with Russell only just ahead of Norris.

Verstappen complained of his headrest being broken, whilst Fernando Alonso had a moment and could only manage 12th on his first run.

Tsunoda, whose impressive time meant he was still tenth, was perched on the weighbridge after being randomly called in with five minutes left.

All the drivers headed out with less than four minutes on the clock, with cars queued up at the last corner in a bid to find space.

Vettel, who had to navigate a bevvy of almost stationary cars in the final sector searching for space, popped up into fifth with a 1min 25.523sec, whilst Mick Schumacher leapt to tenth.

Several big names went out in Q3 though – last week’s pole-sitter Kevin Magnussen was knocked out in 16th by half a tenth, Pierre Gasly was o.o2sec further back, Valtteri Bottas in 18th and the two Williams of Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi making up the final row.

Q2

Both Mercedes hit the track in a bid to book a banker, with Hamilton filing a 1min 25.772sec lap, but Russell immediately did better to the tune of 0.4sec.

There was a slight gap before the rest of the field went out, as an impressive Vettel got between the Silver Arrows, before Ocon then went second, 0.15sec off Russell.

Sainz, who looked the fastest Ferrari in Interlagos, hit the top of the time sheets with a 1min 25.090sec, but was soon blown away by both Red Bulls.

It was team No2 Sergio Perez who was now top on a 1min 24.419sec lap and Verstappen 0.4sec away.

Hamilton then improved, getting to within 0.355sec of the Mexican in second, as Russell was fourth fastest, half a second down on Perez.

“Three-tenths?!” exclaimed Hamilton when he was told of his gap to Perez, but in reality the Mercedes were looking strong, given their superior tyre wear on Sundays.

Vettel went fastest of all in the first sector, his time good enough for fifth, as behind him the time sheets became a revolving fruit machine with laps flying in.

Norris was once more impressive, becoming the meat in a Mercedes sandwich in sixth, while Ocon and Ricciardo also squeaked into Q3.

Ultimately knocked out was Alonso in 11th, Tsunoda in 12th, Schumacher in 13th, Stroll in 14th and Zhou.

Q3

Yet again Mercedes were out on Yas Marina first, with Hamilton putting his lap in first and going fastest on 1min 24.678sec.

Sainz was 0.4sec up halfway through his first run, and kept that margin as he crossed the finish line.

Leclerc was a whisker away – 0.062sec – whilst Perez had a wiggle in the final corner meaning he was three hundredths off Sainz.

Verstappen then hit the top, almost 0.3sec faster than Sainz, but looked to be wide in the final turn – however, his lap still stood.

Vettel went for his first run five minutes in and on an empty track his lap was good enough for seventh, 0.973sec off Verstappen.

Ricciardo also made his first attempt, but couldn’t better Vettel whilst Ocon put in a ninth-quickest time.

Leclerc struggled through the hairpin, but made up for it by going just a tenth slower than Verstappen.

Sainz couldn’t improve and stayed third, Perez slotted into second, before Verstappen then extended his margin with 1min 23.824sec – both his Q3 laps were good enough for pole.

Hamilton – who had a snap of oversteer through Turn 14 – and Russell made it fifth and sixth despite improving, whilst coming in behind was Norris, Ocon, Vettel and Ricciardo.

2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying results