Verstappen Wins Abu Dhabi GP Pole Position After Beating Hamilton

Red Bull team driver Max Verstappen undergoes the qualifying session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Kamran Jebreili/Antara)

JAKARTA - Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday to claim pole position for the Formula 1 world title-defining race at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Verstappen was helped by driving behind team mate Sergio Perez to go 0.5 seconds faster than Hamilton earlier in the session.

The Mercedes driver improved his lap time at the last attempt of Q3 but was not enough to match Verstappen's.

The Red Bull driver scored a fastest time of 1:22.109 for pole position and Hamilton will start alongside his rival after finishing 0.371 seconds for P2.

Both drivers head into the closing race of the season with the same points collection after completing 21 races this season.

"It's a great feeling. We have definitely improved the ability of this car in qualifying, we got what we wanted. I can't wait for tomorrow," Verstappen was quoted as saying by the official F1 website.

Verstappen will start with softer tires than Hamilton used after Red Bull opted for a different strategic approach when Verstappen found a flat spot on his medium tire in Q2 and had to switch to soft.

The Dutchman will try to use the softer tires that have more grip to maintain his position ahead of Hamilton, who will start on the medium tyre. Meanwhile Hamilton is quite content to be in the forefront for the race later.

"Max did a really good lap today, we couldn't beat that lap in the end," Hamilton said.

"But we are in a good position with our tires tomorrow."

McLaren's Lando Norris was the third fastest driver in qualifying and Sergio Perez secured P4 in the second Red Bull car.

Meanwhile, the Ferrari duo Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc will start from P5 and P7 flanking Valtteri Bottas' Mercedes car at P6.

Yuki Tsunoda presented the P8 to AlphaTauri as Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo completed the top ten positions for the Alpine and McLaren teams.

In the race to determine the world title later, if Verstappen and Hamilton fail to score points in Abu Dhabi so that they remain the same points, then the Red Bull driver will become world champion because he has nine wins, more than Hamilton's eight this season.

Or if Hamilton finishes P9 and Verstappen finishes P10 with one bonus point for the fastest lap, then the Dutchman will become world champion for the first time.

P10 for Hamilton when Verstappen finishes outside the points zone but with the best lap the Briton will become world champion for the eighth time, as fastest lap points are only awarded to the rider who finishes in the top ten.

In the middle of this week, the FIA has issued a stern warning against drivers who commit unsportsmanlike behavior in the final series of the season, including a point deduction penalty.