Verstappen will start ahead of teammate Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc after the one-hour qualifying session, which is split into three segments with five cars each being knocked out in Q1 and Q2 before the top-10 shootout of Q3.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying results: Verstappen on pole from Perez
What happened in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q1?
Perez set the early pace at 1m24.820s before Verstappen took over in P1 by 0.066s on 1m24.754s.
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third, three tenths off their pace but a tenth clear of teammate Leclerc.
Falling at the first hurdle were Brazilian GP poleman Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), and the Williams duo of Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi.
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q1 results: Verstappen fastest from Perez
What happened in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q2?
Leclerc set the initial pace at 1m25.345s before Sainz beat him by three tenths.
Verstappen grabbed P1 with 1m24.862s but Perez then went to the top on 1m24.419s, over four tenths clear of the rest. Hamilton was best of the rest after the first runs, 0.355s down, in P2 with a 1m24.774s.
On the final runs, Leclerc took second quickest on 1m24.517s, with Sainz taking third – a tenth further back.
Knocked out at this point were Fernando Alonso (Alpine), Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri), Mick Schumacher (in his final qualifying session for Haas), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa Romeo).
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q2 results: Perez fastest from Leclerc
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Delay % | Laps | km/h |
| 1 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull | 1’24.419 | 6 | 225.205 | ||
| 2 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’24.517 | 0.098 | 0.116 | 6 | 224.944 |
| 3 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1’24.521 | 0.102 | 0.121 | 6 | 224.933 |
| 4 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 1’24.622 | 0.203 | 0.240 | 6 | 224.664 |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’24.774 | 0.355 | 0.421 | 9 | 224.262 |
| 6 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’24.903 | 0.484 | 0.573 | 6 | 223.921 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’24.940 | 0.521 | 0.617 | 8 | 223.823 |
| 8 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’24.974 | 0.555 | 0.657 | 6 | 223.734 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine/Renault | 1’25.007 | 0.588 | 0.697 | 6 | 223.647 |
| 10 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’25.068 | 0.649 | 0.769 | 6 | 223.487 |
| 11 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine/Renault | 1’25.096 | 0.677 | 0.802 | 6 | 223.413 |
| 12 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Red Bull | 1’25.219 | 0.800 | 0.948 | 6 | 223.091 |
| 13 | 47 | Mick… |
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