Verstappen secures pole ahead of Leclerc for Abu Dhabi

Max Verstappen will start from pole for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix ahead of Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri.

The Red Bull driver's provisional pole looked under threat from Lando Norris in the closing stages of Q3, but the McLaren driver made a mistake and did not improve.

This left Norris vulnerable to others improving, with Leclerc getting onto the front row and George Russell putting in a late improvement to go fourth on the grid.

Sergio Perez had his lap time deleted which put him down to P9 on the grid, behind Nico Hulkenberg who made it to Q3 for the eighth time this year.

Hamilton misses out on top ten

Lewis Hamilton missed out on the top ten positions in Q2, when he set a lap time that was only 11th fastest.

He missed out by just 0.081s from Oscar Piastri, he was heard over team radio saying "There is something not right with this car" to his engineer.

The Mercedes driver was joined by Esteban Ocon, Lance Stroll, Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo.

Sainz shock drop out

Carlos Sainz was the shock drop out in Q1 when he failed to make it through, qualifying in 16th on the grid.

He was held up by traffic on his out-lap and again during his timed attempt, which ultimately prevented him from being able to set a quick enough time.

It's another blow for Sainz in Ferrari's battle for second in the Constructors' Championship, as he will be looking to limit the damage.

Logan Sargeant also starts from the back of the grid, despite setting times that were quick enough to get through to Q2. The stewards deleted two laps for exceeding track limits, which meant he did not have any legal time on the board and dropped to last.