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Lando Norris frustration signals bright future for McLaren as Max Verstappen takes Abu Dhabi GP pole
It speaks volumes for McLaren’s dramatic improvement this year that Lando Norris left the mixed zone after qualifying in Abu Dhabi on Saturday absolutely furious with himself, bemoaning a “stupid mistake” on his final lap which left him fifth on the grid for Sunday’s season-ending grand prix.
“I’m just doing a s--- job on a Saturday,” Norris fumed as he stalked off. “It was a terrible day for me today.”
What Norris and McLaren would have done for such a ‘terrible’ day at the start of this season. Eight months ago, Norris qualified 11th and finished 17th at the season-opener in Bahrain, two laps down on winner Max Verstappen.
His team-mate Oscar Piastri, in his first ever Formula One grand prix, qualified 18th and retired after 13 laps with an electrical failure.
The Australian rookie, who bounced back from that ignominious debut to emerge as one of the best stories of the season, will start third on the grid in Abu Dhabi after managing to put together a slightly cleaner final lap than Norris, albeit still not a perfect one.
It has been one hell of a recovery from McLaren. Regardless of what happens in Sunday’s race – and no one really knows what to expect as practice has been so stop-start – they will head into the winter buoyant.
New team principal Andrea Stella appears to have galvanised the workforce at Woking, the new wind tunnel and simulator are about to give the team a further shot in the arm, Rob Marshall will arrive in the new year as the technical director armed with a dossier full of Red Bull IP, and chief executive Zak Brown reckons he has “the strongest driver line-up on the grid”.
At an informal brunch with the media in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, the American was full of the joys of spring, praising his drivers, praising Stella (who he described as “The Swan... a nice guy cruising above the water, but underneath he’s paddling fast”) and looking ahead with optimism to 2024.
“It’s pretty hard to say ‘We’re going to be better than Ferrari or Mercedes or whoever’,” Brown replied when asked whether he felt McLaren could be ‘best of the rest’ next year. “But I would be disappointed if we’re not at the sharp end of the field challenging for race wins. I would be disappointed if we’re not as competitive as we are now. And more.”
Compare and contrast with the mood over at Mercedes. The Brackley team are fighting Ferrari for second in the constructors’ championship out here in Abu Dhabi, while McLaren are fighting Aston Martin for fourth. But you would never guess it from the respective body language.
Like Norris, Lewis Hamilton was also thoroughly fed up post-qualifying. But for totally different reasons. His 11th on the grid was the best he could manage and the seven-time world champion admitted afterwards he could not wait to be shot of the W14.
“It is just a very unpredictable car and it has been all year,” Hamilton said. “I am definitely happy it is nearly over. It is more inconsistent than ever. It is up and down from the moment you hit the brakes, the moment you turn, the moment you hit the apex, it is massively out of balance and hard to predict what is going to happen.”
That Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell was able to put his car fourth on the grid only left the older driver even more perplexed. “We set our cars up the same, but they don’t read the same so there is something not right on our side,” Hamilton said. “I am sure we will have a deep dive into it but I have been off all weekend and struggled. Eleventh… it takes some going for me not to get into Q3.”
There were no prizes for guessing who took pole, of course. It was Verstappen’s fourth pole in a row in Abu Dhabi and the reigning world champion will be aiming to complete his 19th win in 22 races on Sunday.
Despite a messy build-up, which had convinced Red Bull’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko to bet team principal Christian Horner €500 that the Dutchman would not make the front row, this one was never really in doubt. “I think Helmut learnt his lesson – never bet against me!” Verstappen chuckled afterwards.
It has been an extraordinary, record-breaking season for the Dutch driver and for Red Bull. But behind them, there are encouraging signs. The top nine drivers in Q2 in Abu Dhabi were all within four tenths of a second of each other. There were eight different constructors in the top 10 shootout. Mercedes will finally move to their new car concept. And perhaps most encouraging of all, Norris was furious with himself for taking P5 in qualifying. Was he being too harsh on himself given where McLaren started this year, he was asked. “Not at all,” he shot back. “I was fighting for P2 and I end up P5 because of a stupid mistake. I’m too soft on myself.” It bodes well.
Verstappen takes Abu Dhabi GP pole: as it happened
Toto Wolff also speaks to Sky Sports F1
There is a lot of pressure on that new car. Mercedes look likely to go winless in 2023, their first winless season for more than a decade. 2022 wasn’t much better, with only one victory. For the sake of the championship you hope that they (or another team, perhaps) nail their winter development.
Max Verstappen reacts to his pole position
He also sounds a bit surprised with how good his car was in qualifying.
“Very weird, the whole weekend so far has been a bit of a struggle. We definitely improved the car for qualifyng. From lap one it was all together and we could push a bit more from pole. Around here already with the tyres like if you have little slides it can cost you a lot of lap time and that was happening for us in practice but in qualifying it was better than expected.”
Charles Leclerc is surprised by second
“Honestly, considering the weekend we’ve had until now I did not expect it all until the last lap. In the last corner was a bit too much sliding but I think everyone had that. Really, really happy with the second place. At the end; a front row, so it’s amazing. When we put on the new tyres everything comes alive. Really happy to be on the front row, but it’s a big surprise.”
He also says that the main thing is getting the points to secure Ferrari second place in the constructors’ championship.
Oscar Piastri reacts to an excellent third
“Difficult session, it’s extremely tight this weekend. It’s been a bit of a messy one. The last lap I made a bit a mistake as well but it would have been quite last corner to get to the front. Happy to be back at the top of things. I think practice the pace was there, but there was a couple of big mistakes in every lap. Q1 messy, Q2 got it together finally and it was pretty good in Q3. Happy with that. Close but not quite close enough.”
Q3 - Let's see what Norris has here, then
It’s the fastest first sector of anyone so far, but again that is not where the lap is won and lost. Where is he after the second sector? He’s 0.118sec down which means he needs a belting final sector, clips the kerb and then slides around the tricky section at the end of the lap and doesn’t improve... ruined his lap that. Not sure he’d have had enough time to get pole...
That mistake costs Norris at least the front row, though, as Piastri sneaks up ahead of him! But will he keep it there?
Q3 - Verstappen crosses the line with 1:23.445 to go fastest
Hulkenberg then a second behind, Tsunoda 0.8sec. Norris goes second but is a whopping 0.371sec down on Verstappen, but on used tyres like most of the rest of the drivers.
Alonso into fifth, 0.993sec behind Verstappen. Perez third, some four tenths nearly behind Norris. Perez is then bumped down to fourth as Piastri moves third.
Leclerc only eighth after that, also on used tyres.
Russell about to cross the line...
Q2 - Let's see what Albon can do in qualifying now
He has had an excellent season for Williams and was just 0.138sec off Verstappen in Q1. He probably deserves to be in a quicker car but the Williams at least gives him the chance of getting points.
His first lap is a 1:24.965 which is some way off what he did in Q1, albeit this time on used tyres.
Hamilton crosses the line with a 1:24.826 then Russell posts a 1:24.460 to go fastest.
Q1 - Alonso moves to 11th
Leclerc in ninth. Sargeant is already out, Sainz now at risk. Piastri in 16th, too... but for how long? He’s rounding the last corner and then crosses the line to move 11th and make it through, that pushes Magnussen out. Perez now at risk. Sainz only goes 15th! So it’s either Perez or Sainz out in Q1!
Q1 - What can Hamilton do?
Hulkenberg crosses the line furth, Hamilton sets the fastest final sector but is behind the Haas driver...
Russell goes ahead of them both in third. Better. Norris now in fourth, Albon second... Stroll fifth. Lap times tumbling and the order changing at the end.
Alonso needs to find a good lap, he’s down in 17th currently.
Q1 - To be fair, that sector one from Sargeant was good
And the Williams is good in flat-out sections. Verstappen has, so far, set the fastest middle sector of the early runners, though. He crosses the line with a 1:24.160. Sargeant was about half a second behind but had his lap deleted for track limits at turn one, which might explain his rapid S1 time.
News: F1 considers introducing controversial reverse grid for sprint races
Formula One is considering introducing reverse grids to sprint races in a move which would undoubtedly be hugely controversial with fans.
Following a meeting of the F1 Commission in Abu Dhabi on Friday, it was agreed that the sprint race format needed a revamp as it was not delivering as much entertainment as hoped.
Discussions are now under way as to what exactly that revamp will look like, with reverse grids understood to be one idea mooted, as well as a complete overhaul of the sprint weekend timetable.
Where has the F1 season ended in the last 30 years?
1993-1995: Australian GP, Adelaide
1996, 1998-1999, 2001-2003: Japanese GP, Suzuka
1997: European GP, Jerez
2000: Malaysian GP, Sepang
2004, 2006-2008, 2011-3013: Brazilian GP, Interlagos
2005: Chinese GP, Shanghai
2009-2010, 2014-present: Abu Dhabi GP, Yas Marina
Not sure you’d put the Yas Marina track up there with Suzuka, Sepang or even China...
How Russell stacks up against Hamilton in 2023
I think there’s something in Russell’s comments in that interview that there has been misfortune, but he has also made more mistakes (large and small) this year whilst Hamilton has been more at home in a difficult car. Some of that gap last year came down to Hamilton trying more experimental set-ups whilst Russell drove the car as it was.
In fairness, it's not like qualifying has been Red Bull's strong suit recently
Verstappen took five poles in a row from Monaco to Silverstone (and Red Bull had nine of the first 10), but since then the story has been different:
Hungary: Hamilton
Belgium: Leclerc (albeit Verstappen was fastest in qualifying)
Netherlands: Verstappen
Italy: Sainz
Singapore: Sainz
Japan: Verstappen
Qatar: Verstappen
United States: Leclerc
Mexico: Leclerc
Sao Paulo: Verstappen
Las Vegas: Leclerc
So just four (or five...) in the last 11 races. Obviously the problem has been that on race day Verstappen is just head and shoulders above the others.
Final times after final practice
- George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 24.418secs
- Lando Norris (Gbr) McLaren 1:24.513
- Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:24.810
- Alexander Albon (Tha) Williams 1:24.929
- Charles Leclerc (Mon) Ferrari 1:25.099
- Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:25.153
- Esteban Ocon (Fra) Alpine 1:25.194
- Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:25.205
- Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:25.222
- Guanyu Zhou (Chn) Alfa Romeo F1 Team Kick 1:25.258
- Sergio Perez (Mex) Red Bull 1:25.259
- Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:25.292
- Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:25.303
- Fernando Alonso (Spa) Aston Martin 1:25.343
- Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:25.405
- Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo F1 Team Kick 1:25.420
- Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Haas F1 Team 1:25.584
- Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:25.597
- Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team 1:25.652
- Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:25.713
Good afternoon F1 fans
Welcome to our live coverage for qualifying for the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which takes place at the Yas Marina Circuit in the United Arab Emirates. F1 has been coming to this track since 2009 and a little while after that it became and remains the season-ending race.
Is that a good thing? I am not sure, especially when you compare it with places like Suzuka in Japan and Interlagos in Brazil. One positive of the last couple of years, though, is that a track that was notoriously difficult to overtake on has improved its passing chances. Not that it makes the Yas Marina track a worthy season-ending race, but there you go.
Anyway, the 2023 season is drawing to a close. It has been the equal-longest F1 season in history with 22 rounds and, really, after the first few of those it became obvious that the Red Bull was the class of the field and that Max Verstappen would walk away with the title in very comfortable fashion. That has come to pass and the Dutchman will be aiming for a record-breaking (breaking his own current record, this season) of winning 19 races in a single year.
Has this season been a complete dud because of Verstappen’s dominance? It’s hard to argue otherwise, even though it has been very close and interesting behind him. There are still a few spots up for grabs, the most important of which is that of second place in the constructors’ championship. Currently Mercedes lead Ferrari by four points and it is Ferrari of late who have been in the better form, though Mercedes have been ahead for almost all of the year.
The signs for Mercedes look moderately encouraging going by the lap times in FP3 as George Russell finished fastest for them ahead of the two McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The leading Ferrari of Charles Leclerc was fifth, 0.681sec down on Russell with Carlos Sainz, who crashed yesterday, down in 20th and last. Lewis Hamilton was 12th for Mercedes. though perhaps we should not read too much into those times because the qualifying session will take place under lights. Either way, it would be good for someone to challenge Verstappen this weekend, as happened in Las Vegas a week ago.
The final qualifying session of the year gets under way at 2pm GMT and we will be here for all of the build-up, live updates and reaction from it.