Lando Norris
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Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen will be delighted to hear one Abu Dhabi Grand Prix stat ahead of one of the biggest races in his Formula 1 career.
The 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the last time a driver who didn’t start on pole position won the race.
Nico Rosberg was quickest in qualifying that year, only to lose the lead at the first corner and eventually finish 14th after some car troubles, with Lewis Hamilton earning his 11th victory of the season.
Hamilton won’t be a factor for Max Verstappen or the two McLaren drivers to consider this year after only qualifying 16th. But Verstappen could have done with the Ferrari driver putting in his best qualifying performance of the season to help him with the maths required to win a fifth drivers’ championship.
After qualifying, have you changed your mind about who will be champion on Sunday? 🤔
Verstappen must win the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and hope Lando Norris doesn’t finish on the podium to be crowned champion after the race, and Red Bull have done everything they can to put him back into contention over the past few months.
Yuki Tsunoda helped Verstappen with a tow in qualifying, and unsurprisingly, questions have already been asked about whether Racing Bulls will help Red Bull during Sunday’s race.
Damon Hill hasn’t kept his opinions to himself on the 28-year-old during his career, but fans are in agreement over what he’s said after qualifying in Abu Dhabi.
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Formula 1 fans react as Damon Hill says Max Verstappen is ‘flawless’ after Abu Dhabi GP qualifying
Hill took to X after qualifying and said: “Getting closer! @LandoNorris But wow, that guy Max @Max33Verstappen is an astonishing competitor. Can’t wait.”
One fan reacted to Hill’s message and said: ‘He’s flawless at the minute. Tomorrow is going to be very interesting.’
‘I just hope it’s a race with no controversy, and at the end of it, we can say that the winner deserved it on the day. Not down to team orders or drivers being involved in accidents with safety cars, etc,’ replied another fan.
One comment read: ‘I only hope we don’t get a race decided by skullduggery. But you just know Red Bull is planning something to get -say- Russell in contention.’
Another fan said: ‘Whoever wins the title, I hope they do it by winning tomorrow; otherwise it’s going to feel slightly anticlimactic.’
‘I honestly believe Max deserves the title more than Norris right now. His performances throughout the year have been champion stuff,’ suggested another response.
Finally, one fan cheekily proposed: ‘I hope Oscar does a first lap wheel banger to give Lando a little bit of his own cookie. McLaren papaya rules.’
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Max Verstappen says he has ‘nothing to lose’ ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
It was one of the closest qualifying sessions in history, but Verstappen still beat Norris by two-tenths of a second during Q3 to secure the 48th pole position of his career.
In his official post-qualifying media session, he said: “It was a Simply Lovely qualifying. We did well the whole weekend, have been fine-tuning the car and then also made some final changes which helped the car a little bit.
“This allowed me to push a bit more to the limit and extract the most out of the car. We were improving nicely in qualifying and then found a little bit more lap time with the corners.
Verstappen’s pole position won’t be enough for the title if Norris remains behind him. How do you think the trio will finish?
“The big question mark is, can we keep up that pace in the race? Tomorrow, the plan is to win the race, and then we need a bit of luck to win the Championship; it’s as simple as that.
“We will go all out and have nothing to lose, whether we need to attack or defend. The most important battle needs to happen tomorrow, and we need to outscore them by 12 points; we knew that if we wanted to be in the fight, we had to be first. I have the least to lose, and I am very relaxed.”
Verstappen also paid tribute to Yuki Tsunoda for his help in giving him a tow for his first lap in qualifying.
However, it sums up the quality of the four-time world champion that even without Tsunoda’s help on his second flying lap, he still set a time fast enough for one of the most important pole positions of his career.
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