Posted on 27th November 2016
In qualifying for the Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina circuit today, Lewis Hamilton claimed Pole Position ahead of team mate and championship rival Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo in a session that saw Hamilton putting in a commanding performance throughout.
In Q1, Lewis Hamilton set the pace very quickly into the session which was then swiftly followed by Nico Rosberg. As the session went on, Rosberg's second place was under threat and he finished the session in fifth place behind Verstappen, Vettel and Raikkonen who all had good form going into qualifying from FP3 earlier in the day.
As we headed into Q2, Hamilton once again set the pace very early on into the session with Rosberg closely behind him as Raikkonen in my view steps up his pace a little bit quicker to end up third.
With Q3 left, Hamilton had no choice if he wanted to be the best position to close down the gap for the title to go for it. And boy he did. Hamilton set a lap time early on in the session that no one could match and shows that he cannot be discounted just yet for the championship fight.
But it was Lewis Hamilton who claimed Pole Position for the Abu Dhabi GP with a lap time of 1:38.755 ahead of Nico Rosberg in second place who was 0.303 seconds behind him. If Hamilton wins Sunday’s race, Rosberg only needs to finish third to clinch his first F1 world title.
Rosberg was ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in third place who was 0.834 seconds behind Hamilton. Kimi Raikkonen qualified in fourth place ahead of Sebastian Vettel in fifth place, Max Verstappen in sixth place, Nico Hulkenberg in seventh place, Sergio Perez in eighth place, Felipe Massa in ninth place and Fernando Alonso who rounded off the top ten finishers.
Valtteri Bottas qualified in eleventh place ahead of Jenson Button in twelfth place, Esteban Gutierrez in thirteenth place, Romain Grosjean in fourteenth place and Jolyon Palmer in fifteenth place.
As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Pascal Wehrlein ended the session in sixteenth place ahead of Daniil Kvyat in seventeenth place, Kevin Magnussen in eighteenth place, Felipe Nasr in nineteenth place, Esteban Ocon in twentieth place, Carlos Sainz Jr in twenty-first place and Marcus Ericsson in twenty-second place.
The classification of Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi GP is as follows:-
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.38.755
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.303s
3. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 0.834s
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 0.849s
5. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 0.906s
6. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.063s
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 1.746s
8. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 1.764s
9. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 2.458s
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 3.182s
11. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 1.41.084
12. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 1.41.272
13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas Ferrari, 1.41.480
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 1.41.564
15. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1.41.820
16. Pascal Wehrlein, MRT Racing, 1.41.995
17. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1.42.003
18. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1.42.142
19. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.42.247
20. Esteban Ocon, MRT Racing, 1.42.286
21. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1.42.393
22. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.42.637
Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa
