The last qualifying sessions of the F1 season offered two giant bangs – Max Verstappen’s rampage caused the rules to be tightened

The last qualifying sessions of the F1 season in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina circuit have been run. Red Bull Max Verstappen scored his 12th pole position of the season. Verstappen has already broken his winning record from last season, which was 15 wins. The flying Dutchman has a chance for his 19th win of the season tomorrow.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the valuable second starting grid, as Ferrari is fighting Mercedes for second place in the manufacturer’s points table.

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was third in qualifying. Alfa Romeo For Valtteri Bottas qualifying was sad, 18th place.

This is how the time trials progressed

Bottas got the Abu Dhabi weekend off to a strong start when he was fourth in the 1st and 2nd practices. However, in Saturday’s 3rd practice session, he was 16th in the Mercedes George Russell was the fastest in the 1st and 3rd exercises. Instead, world champion Verstappen was still quiet in training.

However, it was not worth giving much weight to Friday’s exercises in particular. Indeed, many teams gave their test drivers driving opportunities, when, for example, the Frenchman was seen in the Red Bull cars in the 1st practice Hadjar Isack and a British driver Dennis Jake.

When qualifying started, there was no more information about Alfa Romeo’s strong practice pace anyway. Bottas was 18th in qualifying and Zhou Guanyu 19th century

– Unfortunately, that Alfa Romeo situation went exactly as I feared. Their trend has often been these weekends to start strong but go down session by session. Of course, this time trial was a failure for them, said Viaplay’s expert Heikki Kovalainen.

The time trial was a giant bang Carlos Sainz staying in the first section, in 16th place. The others who stayed in the first section were Haas Kevin Magnussen (17:s) and Williams’s Logan Sargeant (20’s).

A part of Sainz’s failure could have been due to the run-out in Friday’s second practice. The Spaniard rammed his Ferrari at speed into the curbs and the team had to work. Sainz complained According to Motorsportthat changes have been made to the track since last year, and now turns 2 and 3 have small hills.

A surprise was also seen in the second part of the time trial, when Mercedes Lewis Hamilton finished 11th and out of the final section, for the second race in a row. The other qualifiers in the second section were from Alpine Esteban Oconof Aston Martin Lance Strollby Williams Alexander Albon and AlphaTaurin Daniel Ricciardo.

– Of course, it’s a big blow that Hamilton drops already at this stage and only shows how difficult it has been to find a set-up for that car, stated Viaplay’s expert Ossi Oikarinen.

Oikarinen pointed out that in qualifying the skills of the drivers were now especially emphasized, when in several teams one driver advanced to the last section and the other did not.

– There is something wrong with this car, Hamilton wailed on the team radio.

In the final section, Verstappen was again unbeaten.

– Really strange, the whole weekend has been a bit of a struggle. We improved the car for qualifying and I was very happy to get on pole. I have no idea how good we can be in the competition. This has been a very special season, Verstappen said after qualifying.

There are still enough stakes

Red Bull and Verstappen have dominated the ending season to their heart’s content. However, there is still a tough battle for second place among manufacturers, with Mercedes only four points ahead of Ferrari.

In Häntänpää, AlphaTauri is in eighth place with 21 points. Alfa Romeo has 16 points and jumbo team Haas has 12 points.

The importance of one ranking in the battle of the teams means about 10 million dollars in money, and the amount can increase, for example, through bonuses tied to sponsorship contracts. That’s the assessment, for example, of Urheilu’s expert Jukka Mildh earlier in the season when Alfa Romeo surged past Haas.

Sainz’s time trial farce is also of great importance in the drivers’ points. Verstappen is the champion, Sergio Perez second and Lewis Hamilton third, but Sainz and Aston Martin Fernando Alonso will start tomorrow’s race with 200 points, so the fate of the fourth place is still open.

In the background, there is still the drama of last weekend, when Sainz wrecked his car on the Vegas track due to a detached pit cover. Although it was the fault of the race organisers, Sainz received the statutory 10 grid penalty as the car had to have parts replaced.

Even Botta’s ranking can still change. He is 15th in the points table (10 points). AlphaTaurin Yuki Tsunoda has 13 points, Haasin With Nico Hülkenberg 9 points.

Verstappen caused the rules to be tightened

Verstappen already caused trouble in practice on Friday, when he started on the pit straight to pass those in front of him. At least the Mercedes drivers did not appreciate Verstappen’s rush, but tried to block his way.

– I mean they have to move. They all drive slowly and I want to get on track because we have limited time and they just keep driving in the middle,” Vertappen vented his frustration.

The actions of the drivers on the exit straight of the pit area have been talked about this season, especially when the International Automobile Federation FIA introduced a maximum lap time for time trials. Due to different tactics, the drivers have slowed down when leaving the pit, so in the Brazilian GP, ​​the FIA ​​decided to accept overtaking on the pit straight.

So Verstappen didn’t exactly break the rules, but the potentially dangerous situation got the F1 race director by Niels Wittich to intervene.

– Overtaking is prohibited on the pit exit road, unless the car in front slows down due to an obvious fault, Wittich announced to the teams on Saturday morning According to Autosport.

The last F1 race of the season starts on Sunday at 15:00 Finnish time.