Max Verstappen on pole at last for Red Bull in Abu Dhabi
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ByEurosport
Updated 12/12/2020 at 14:51 GMT
In the final qualifying session of the season, Max Verstappen gets his first pole of 2020. Verstappen finished just 0.025s ahead of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. World champion Hamilton, back in the car after his Covid-19-enforced absence in Sakhir, was third and 0.086 seconds off the pace.
Max Verstappen
Image credit: Getty Images
Red Bull's Max Verstappen seized his first pole position of the year in the last qualifying session of the Formula One season in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Valtteri Bottas qualified alongside the Dutch driver on the front row for Mercedes, with seven times world champion Hamilton qualifying third on his return from a one-race absence due to Covid-19.
It's the first time in the modern turbo hybrid era that Mercedes have failed to secure pole at Yas Marina.
Verstappen's display around the 5.5km long lap earned him only the third pole of his career and his first since last year's Brazilian Grand Prix.
It was only the second time Mercedes had been denied pole this season and the first time all year that a non-Mercedes powered car will start from the front, with Lance Stroll having started on pole for Mercedes-engined Racing Point in Turkey. It ended the Brackley-based team's streak of six straight pole positions in Abu Dhabi.
"Mega, mega lap," team boss Christian Horner told Verstappen on the radio. "That's the first non-Mercedes pole this year."
Verstappen was delighted at the end of a difficult season.
"The whole year when you're behind, getting closer it's getting sometimes a bit frustrating," the 23-year-old said. "Very very pleased with today."
Behind the top three, Lando Norris was fourth for McLaren ahead of Albon and team mate Carlos Sainz, who was sixth in his final qualifying for the Woking-based team before his move to Ferrari.
Daniil Kvyat, who could also be driving in his last race for AlphaTauri, was seventh ahead of Stroll. Charles Leclerc was ninth for Ferrari but the Monegasque will drop three places on the grid due to a penalty for causing a collision at the last race in Sakhir.
Pierre Gasly rounded out the top 10 for AlphaTauri.
Sebastian Vettel was knocked out in the second phase of his final qualifying session for Ferrari. The German, moving to Racing Point which is rebranding to Aston Martin next year, was 13th
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