Everything is going according to McLaren's plans: Lando Norris took pole position at the Yas Marina circuit with a lap time of 1m22.595s, followed by Oscar Piastri’s 1m22.804s.

This marks Norris' 8th pole position of the season, and his teammate will line up right behind him, Both ready to race towards the Constructors' Championship win.
Carlos Sainz qualified 3rd, keeping Ferrari's already faint hopes alive. The Spaniard, who will race his last GP with the team he's been with for the past four years, said he was quite satisfied with the result, as he didn’t expect to be just 0.020s behind Oscar Piastri.

What Sainz said, highlights even more Ferrari’s deep disappointment after this qualifying session. Charles Leclerc could have been more competitive in the fight, despite the 10-place grid penalty he’ll face on the starting grid. The Monegasque driver undoubtedly had the pace to secure pole, to then drop to 11th position. However, Leclerc will start from the very back of the grid, in P19, with a mountain to climb ahead of him.

In Q2, right after making his final attempt to reach Q3, Leclerc’s time was deleted for exceeding track limits. Similar episodes occurred with Sergio Perez and Oscar Piastri, who initially had their times deleted but were later reinstated, allowing them to continue the session. What stood out was that, when comparing the Ferrari driver's situation to that of the others, it was a matter of just a few millimeters, nearly imperceptible.

Nico Hulkenberg will start from an incredible 4th position, having briefly held provisional pole. It’s a great result for the German, who will leave Haas after tomorrow's race. Max Verstappen qualified only 5th, followed by Pierre Gasly, who continued his strong form with another good qualifying result for Alpine.

George Russell will start from 7th, while Lewis Hamilton had a very unlucky session. In what was his final qualifying as a Mercedes driver, his session ended early due to a bollard. During Q1, the seven-time world champion was on a flying lap when he hit a bollard (accidentally knocked onto the track by Kevin Magnussen) that was in the middle of his racing line. This ruined his lap, leaving him in 18th place (which will become 17th due to Leclerc's penalty).

Fernando Alonso, who had been very critical of his car yesterday, calling it "the worst car ever," seems to have found some confidence again and will start 8th. Valtteri Bottas, in what could potentially be his final F1 weekend, had a strong qualifying, putting his Sauber into Q3 and starting from 9th. Finally, Sergio Perez completed the top 10.

Qualifying results

1) Lando Norris - 1:22.595
2) Oscar Piastri +0.209
3) Carlos Sainz +0.229
4) Nico Hulkenberg +0.291
5) Max Verstappen +0.350
6) Pierre Gasly +0.389
7) George Russell +0.537
8) Fernando Alonso +0.601
9) Valtteri Bottas +0.609
10) Sergio Perez +0.669