Lando Norris claims Abu Dhabi F1 GP pole but it all goes wrong for Hamilton

Lando Norris claimed pole position for the final race of the Formula One season at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but it was a day to forget for Lewis Hamilton after he drove over a bollard in qualifying. McLaren’s Norris was in fine form at the Yas Marina circuit beating his teammate Oscar Piastri into second, ensuring the team are in prime position to seal the constructors’ championship, after what was a highly competitive qualifying session.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was in third and Haas’s Nico Hülkenberg hooked up an excellent lap to take fourth, with Max Verstappen in fifth for Red Bull. Hamilton, in his final meeting with Mercedes, was unlucky on his final hot lap, collecting a bollard dislodged by Kevin Magnussen under his car and was knocked out in 18th, while his teammate George Russell was seventh.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had his final quick lap in Q2 deleted for exceeding track limits and he finished in 14th, a setback compounded by his 10-place grid penalty for taking a new battery unit, meaning he will start from the back of the grid, all but ending any faint hope the Scuderia had of securing the constructors’ championship.

Hamilton was hugely disappointed to have such a dispiriting end to his final qualifying run with Mercedes, with whom he has taken 78 poles over his 12 seasons, as he prepares to join Ferrari next season.

“I was the last car on track and ran out of time ultimately, and then I got the bollard at the end which went under the car and I lost all downforce so it couldn’t have gone worse, really,” he said.

To mark his final meeting, Mercedes have launched a tribute campaign entitled “Every Dream Needs a Team” featuring a specially commissioned film and photographic tributes to be shown around the world including locations such as Times Square. Hamilton is carrying the names of 150 fans on his car this weekend to salute the support he has received and will return to the factory in Brackley to bid farewell in person at the end of next week. A win is not on the cards in Abu Dhabi but when the flag falls it will be a moment that will doubtless resonate strongly with the British driver.

“Every day and more than ever I’ve just tried to be really present,” he said. “Just trying to take it in because it’s the last time we will be racing and driving in Silver Arrows and it’s all my wins, all my success through my life, so every moment is a special moment and I would have loved to get a podium for the guys this weekend and it just didn’t work out.”

McLaren’s Lando Norris (centre) finished in pole with his teammate Oscar Piastri second. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz (right) is third. Photograph: Hamad I Mohammed/Reuters

On the opening runs in Q3, Verstappen set the pace, with a superb lap that included him making a startling save as he picked up an unexpected slide on the final corner which spat him towards the pit wall, before just managing to regain control and complete the lap, but he was only four-thousandths of a second in front of Norris.

On the final laps Piastri set the initial pace but was surpassed by two-tenths by Norris, who was on the rails at Yas Marina, with a time of 1min 22.595sec, which Verstappen could not match and he was also surpassed by Sainz and Hülkenberg.

For McLaren, who have not won the constructors’ title since 1998 the result ensures they are in the best possible position to close it out on Sunday. They lead Ferrari by 21 points with 44 on the table and a win for either Norris or Piastri would seal it as would either driver finishing in front of both Ferraris.

It would be no little achievement for the team after the revival sparked by the upgrades they brought to the Miami GP 17 races ago in May, since which they have overcome a 115-point deficit to take the lead from Red Bull. The team principal, Andreas Stella, rightly described it as a turnaround that was unthinkable as little as 12 months ago.

It has been a long, trying journey back to the front of the grid for the Woking-based outfit, indeed perhaps one many doubted they would manage. Winning the constructors’ title after a gruelling 24-race season that has stretched over 282 days, including this last stint of six races in eight weeks, is no little achievement for the team who have returned to the front of the grid with considerable assurance.

Pierre Gasly was sixth for Alpine, Fernando Alonso eighth for Aston Martin, Valtteri Bottas in ninth for Sauber and Sergio Pérez 10th for Red Bull.

Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson were in 11th and 12th for RB, Lance Stroll in 13th for Aston Martin and Magnussen in 15th for Haas.

Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto were in 16th and 19th for Williams but both drivers have five-place grid penalties for using a new gearbox. Guanyu Zhou was in 17th for Sauber and Jack Doohan in his F1 debut, taking over from Esteban Ocon at Alpine for this final race before joining the team full time next season, was in 20th.