The Crimson Bull driver produced a shocking lap to take his tenth pole place of the season, beating title rival Lewis Hamilton by 0.371s who will be part of him on the entrance row for the finale.
With each drives on equal factors going into the title decider, the straightforward equation is whoever finishes in entrance between Verstappen and Hamilton will seal the title, until each end exterior of the factors then Verstappen will likely be declared world champion on countback by way of most wins over the season.
After a tense climax to the 2021 F1 finale, each Crimson Bull and Mercedes have tempered their rivalry which at instances has overboiled this 12 months, with each aiming for a good struggle to resolve the result of the world championship.
Crimson Bull pulled off a well-executed tow technique in Q3 to present each drivers a prime pace enhance alongside Yas Marina’s lengthy again straight, whereas workforce boss Christian Horner referred to as Verstappen’s pole lap “insane”.
Hamilton additionally gave credit score to Verstappen to his finest Q3 lap, whereas stating he feels “one million instances higher” for this 12 months’s title decider in comparison with his 2016 title struggle towards former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg.
Behind the title contenders, Lando Norris pulled off a shock third place for McLaren, beating Sergio Perez who needed to accept fourth place for Crimson Bull, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr taking fifth place in Q3.
That left Valtteri Bottas in sixth place for Mercedes, with the Finn placing a part of his time deficit right down to the next mileage F1 energy unit.
Charles Leclerc took seventh place for Ferrari forward of AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda, as Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) rounded out the highest 10.
Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21
Picture by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Pictures
When is the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix?
Date: Sunday twelfth December 2021
Begin time: 1:00pm GMT, 5:00pm native time
How can I watch Method 1?
Method 1 is often solely proven dwell on Sky Sports activities in the UK, nonetheless Sky Sports activities and broadcaster Channel 4 have reached an settlement meaning Channel 4 may also broadcast the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP without spending a dime.
Channel 4 will use the Sky commentary and evaluation workforce, however the deal implies that followers with out entry to Sky Sports activities may also have the ability to watch the historic race dwell.
How can I watch the Abu Dhabi GP?
In the UK, Sky Sports activities will likely be dwell broadcasting the Abu Dhabi GP, with the race proven dwell on Sky Sports activities F1 and Sky Sports activities Fundamental Occasion. Pre-race protection will likely be beginning on Sky Sports activities F1 and Sky Sports activities Fundamental Occasion at 11:30am GMT, forward of the race begin at 1:00pm GMT.
• Channels: Sky Sports activities F1 and Sky Sports activities Fundamental Occasion
• Begin time: 11:30am GMT, Sunday fifth December
Autosport will likely be working a dwell textual content protection of the Abu Dhabi GP right here.
The race can also be being broadcast dwell on Channel 4, with its build-up broadcast beginning at 12:00pm GMT earlier than switching to Sky’s output of the race at 12:55pm GMT.
Channel: Channel 4
Begin time: 12:00pm GMT, Sunday twelfth December
When can I watch the Abu Dhabi GP highlights?
In the UK Channel 4 can also be broadcasting highlights of the Abu Dhabi GP at 5:30pm GMT on Sunday. The complete programme will run for one hour and half-hour, protecting the pre-race, the race highlights and the preliminary post-race response to wrap up the key speaking factors of the race weekend.
For all the 2021 F1 season, Channel 4 will broadcast highlights of each qualifying and race of every occasion. The highlights may also be accessible on Channel 4’s on demand catch up providers.
· Channel: Channel 4
· Begin time: 5:30pm GMT, Sunday twelfth December
Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521
Picture by: Alpine
Will the Abu Dhabi GP be on the radio?
Dwell radio protection of each apply, qualifying and race for the 2021 F1 season will likely be accessible on the BBC Radio 5 Dwell and 5 Dwell Sports activities Additional stations and the by way of the BBC Sport web site.
Dwell protection of the Abu Dhabi GP will begin at 1:00pm GMT on BBC Radio 5 Dwell and on the BBC Sounds app.
Climate forecast for the Abu Dhabi GP
Present climate forecasts predict sizzling and dry situations on the Yas Marina Circuit, with a really low probability of rain throughout the race. The temperature is predicted to be 25 levels Celsius for the beginning of the race – three levels colder than the Saudi Arabian GP final day out.
What number of laps is the Abu Dhabi GP?
The race is scheduled to finish 58 laps of the Yas Marina Circuit, protecting a complete race distance of 306.183km.
