ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton will start alongside each other on the front of the grid at the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Any other front row would not have seemed right ahead of Sunday’s winner-take-all showdown, and given the performance of the two title rivals at recent races, it was never really in doubt.
Verstappen’s 0.3s advantage over Hamilton was a surprise, however. Throughout practice and the first two sessions of qualifying, the Mercedes driver held the advantage. But when it mattered, when the pressure was at its highest, Verstappen delivered.
“I’m incredibly happy with this,” he said after getting out of the car. “This is of course what we wanted.
“It is never easy, especially with their form in the last few races, but now I’m just looking forward to tomorrow because of course that’s the most important thing.”
Everything you need to know about Verstappen vs Hamilton
Hamilton also rose to the occasion and delivered a good lap, but after the session he said his car simply wasn’t fast enough to challenge the Red Bull.
“The last lap was nice and clean, I just couldn’t go any quicker,” Hamilton said. “I don’t know if it’s tyre prep or something in terms of the outlap but nonetheless I couldn’t beat that time that he did today. He fully deserved the pole.”
Verstappen was aided by a slipstream on the back straight from teammate Sergio Perez on his fastest lap, but it wasn’t a big enough advantage to account the entire 0.371s gap. The pre-agreed, perfectly orchestrated example of teamwork saw Perez leave the pits first and punch a hole in the air along the fastest part of the track between Turns 7 and 9, which Verstappen was then able to exploit to reduce the drag acting on his car.
The tow increased Verstappen’s speed along the straight, but a quick glance at the sector times on his fastest lap hints at something even more special…
Source : espn
