Max Verstappen reveals Red Bull changes ahead of crucial F1 showdown pole

After clinching a vital pole position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Max Verstappen explained that Red Bull made valuable changes to his RB21 between FP3 and qualifying.

The Dutchman set two push laps in Q3 that were quick enough for first on the grid. The four-time F1 drivers' champion is joined by Lando Norris, who leads him in the standings by 12 points.

Oscar Piastri, who is four points adrift of the Dutchman ahead of the final race of the campaign, was third fastest.

When asked about the challenge of setting up a car for qualifying in cool night conditions after a final practice session under the setting sun at the Yas Marina Circuit, Verstappen acknowledged the tweaks made by the Milton Keynes-based squad "definitely helped" his charge to pole.

"You have to try and guess a little bit how much the track is going to improve," the 70-time grand prix winner said.

"Of course, it cools down a lot, but you're never 100% sure if it's going to work.

"But I do think that what we changed definitely helped me a little bit more to feel better in qualifying."

McLaren, through both Norris and Piastri, looked to have the edge on outright pace through the grid-setting session, but Verstappen managed to seize the impetus between Q2 and Q3.

"In Q2, I stayed on scrubbed tyres, and I think those laps already felt quite decent, and of course, in Q3 around here, track temperature is coming down, you know that you can push a bit more, and that's exactly what we did," he explained.

"We found a bit more lap time, and, of course, are incredibly happy to be in first. That's the only thing that we can do, right? That's the only thing that we can control.

"Try to just maximise everything we have and then what we can with the car. And we definitely did that there in qualifying."