Verstappen thumps Hamilton for Abu Dhabi pole

Max Verstappen starts the 2021 Formula 1 world championship showdown on pole, dominating qualifying to beat Lewis Hamilton by nearly four-tenths.

Hamilton starts next to his title rival in second but begins the race on the medium compound tyres. Verstappen starts on the softs after a lock up on his mediums in Q2.

Verstappen had his teammate Sergio Perez give him a tow on his final lap. But Red Bull reckons that had little impact on Verstappen’s ‘insane’ lap.

“The tow, even on the following lap that we got him to back off on, he matched the time, and the tow was probably worth a tenth or two, not half a second,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said.

“I think that’s one of Max’s best laps of the year. “

Mercedes, who were pre-qualifying favourites for pole, says they had little answer to Verstappen’s sublime one-lap speed.

“We just could not compete with that time at the end there,” Hamilton said.

“It was looking really strong through practice. We just couldn’t answer to that lap. That was a fantastic lap from him.”

Lando Norris starts an impressive third in the lead McLaren.

Perez qualified fourth, ahead of Carlos Sainz and the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. It puts the Red Bull driver in a better position to play wingman to Verstappen in tomorrow’s race.

If Bottas has a better start and gets in front of Perez early, he says he’s already prepared to ‘sacrifice’ his race for Hamilton.

Charles Leclerc qualified seventh, in front of Yuki Tsunoda. The rookie had one of his best qualifying performances and would have finished sixth without having his fastest lap deleted.

Esteban Ocon starts ninth, with Daniel Ricciardo joining him on the front row.