2020 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying results, full grid lineup

Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton returned for this weekend after missing the Sakhir GP due to testing positive for Covid-19 and looked to be embroiled in a battle for pole with Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas – but Verstappen crashed their party with an epic Q3 lap.

In the top-10 shootout, Hamilton set the bar on the first run at 1m35.550s but Bottas eclipsed that with 1m35.415s, and Verstappen pushed Hamilton down to third by 0.031s.

Hamilton unleashed a 1m35.332s on the second run, but Bottas beat him with a 1m35.271s, before Verstappen crossed the line with a session-topping 1m35.246s. It was his first pole since Brazil 2019.

Lando Norris (McLaren) was best of the rest, ahead of Alex Albon (Red Bull), Carlos Sainz (McLaren), Daniil Kvyat (AlphaTauri), Lance Stroll (Racing Point), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri).

Leclerc has a three-place grid penalty for causing a Lap 1 crash in last weekend’s Sakhir GP.

In Qualifying 2, Mercedes ran the medium tyres with Hamilton setting the pace at 1m35.466, 0.061s ahead of Bottas. Verstappen was third fastest, also on mediums, ahead of Albon, who led the soft users.

Knocked out at this point were the Renaults of Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and Sergio Perez, who just used this session to prep some tyres for the race due to a grid penalty.

In Qualifying 1, Bottas set the pace 1m35.699s, initially 0.098s ahead of Hamilton, who ran wide at the penultimate corner and had his time deleted as a result. That meant Hamilton had to run again, after his floor was checked for damage, and he set the fastest time on a second set of soft tyres 1m35.528s.

Falling at the first hurdle were Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, Williams’s George Russell, the second Haas of Pietro Fittipaldi and Nicholas Latifi (who spun his Williams on his final run).

Both Perez and Magnussen will start from the back of the grid due to engine change-related grid penalties.

F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying grid results

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Engine	Time	Gap	km/h
1	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Honda	1'35.246
2	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	Mercedes	1'35.271	0.025
3	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	1'35.332	0.086
4	Lando Norris		McLaren	Renault	1'35.497	0.251
5	Alex Albon		Red Bull	Honda	1'35.571	0.325
6	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	Renault	1'35.815	0.569
7	Daniil Kvyat		AlphaTauri	Honda	1'35.963	0.717
8	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	Mercedes	1'36.046	0.800
9	Pierre Gasly		AlphaTauri	Honda	1'36.242	0.996
10	Esteban Ocon		Renault	Renault	1'36.359	1.113
11	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	Renault	1'36.406	1.160
12	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	1'36.065	0.819
13	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	Ferrari	1'36.631	1.385
14	Antonio Giovinazzi		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	1'38.248	3.002
15	Kimi Raikkonen		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	1'37.555	2.309
16	George Russell		Williams	Mercedes	1'38.045	2.799
17	Pietro Fittipaldi		Haas	Ferrari	1'38.173	2.927
18	Nicholas Latifi		Williams	Mercedes	1'38.443	3.197
19	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	Ferrari	1'37.863	2.617
20	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	Mercedes
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F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying Q3 results

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Honda	19	1'35.246			209.923
2	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	Mercedes	18	1'35.271	0.025	0.025	209.868
3	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	20	1'35.332	0.086	0.061	209.734
4	Lando Norris		McLaren	Renault	17	1'35.497	0.251	0.165	209.372
5	Alex Albon		Red Bull	Honda	15	1'35.571	0.325	0.074	209.209
6	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	Renault	14	1'35.815	0.569	0.244	208.677
7	Daniil Kvyat		AlphaTauri	Honda	20	1'35.963	0.717	0.148	208.355
8	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	Mercedes	15	1'36.046	0.800	0.083	208.175
9	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	20	1'36.065	0.819	0.019	208.134
10	Pierre Gasly		AlphaTauri	Honda	20	1'36.242	0.996	0.177	207.751
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F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying Q2 results

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	6	1'35.466			209.440
2	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	Mercedes	6	1'35.527	0.061	0.061	209.306
3	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Honda	7	1'35.641	0.175	0.114	209.056
4	Alex Albon		Red Bull	Honda	6	1'35.654	0.188	0.013	209.028
5	Lando Norris		McLaren	Renault	5	1'35.849	0.383	0.195	208.603
6	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	6	1'35.932	0.466	0.083	208.422
7	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	Mercedes	6	1'36.143	0.677	0.211	207.965
8	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	Renault	5	1'36.192	0.726	0.049	207.859
9	Daniil Kvyat		AlphaTauri	Honda	6	1'36.214	0.748	0.022	207.811
10	Pierre Gasly		AlphaTauri	Honda	6	1'36.282	0.816	0.068	207.664
11	Esteban Ocon		Renault	Renault	6	1'36.359	0.893	0.077	207.499
12	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	Renault	6	1'36.406	0.940	0.047	207.397
13	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	Ferrari	6	1'36.631	1.165	0.225	206.914
14	Antonio Giovinazzi		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	6	1'38.248	2.782	1.617	203.509
15	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	Mercedes	1
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F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying Q1 results

Cla	Driver		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	km/h
1	Lewis Hamilton		Mercedes	Mercedes	8	1'35.528			209.304
2	Valtteri Bottas		Mercedes	Mercedes	6	1'35.699	0.171	0.171	208.930
3	Charles Leclerc		Ferrari	Ferrari	8	1'35.881	0.353	0.182	208.533
4	Max Verstappen		Red Bull	Honda	6	1'35.993	0.465	0.112	208.290
5	Lando Norris		McLaren	Renault	6	1'36.016	0.488	0.023	208.240
6	Sergio Perez		Racing Point	Mercedes	3	1'36.034	0.506	0.018	208.201
7	Alex Albon		Red Bull	Honda	3	1'36.106	0.578	0.072	208.045
8	Daniil Kvyat		AlphaTauri	Honda	8	1'36.459	0.931	0.353	207.283
9	Lance Stroll		Racing Point	Mercedes	3	1'36.502	0.974	0.043	207.191
10	Carlos Sainz Jr.		McLaren	Renault	3	1'36.517	0.989	0.015	207.159
11	Pierre Gasly		AlphaTauri	Honda	8	1'36.545	1.017	0.028	207.099
12	Sebastian Vettel		Ferrari	Ferrari	6	1'36.655	1.127	0.110	206.863
13	Daniel Ricciardo		Renault	Renault	3	1'36.704	1.176	0.049	206.758
14	Esteban Ocon		Renault	Renault	6	1'36.783	1.255	0.079	206.590
15	Antonio Giovinazzi		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	6	1'37.075	1.547	0.292	205.968
16	Kimi Raikkonen		Alfa Romeo	Ferrari	6	1'37.555	2.027	0.480	204.955
17	Kevin Magnussen		Haas	Ferrari	9	1'37.863	2.335	0.308	204.310
18	George Russell		Williams	Mercedes	8	1'38.045	2.517	0.182	203.930
19	Pietro Fittipaldi		Haas	Ferrari	9	1'38.173	2.645	0.128	203.664
20	Nicholas Latifi		Williams	Mercedes	7	1'38.443	2.915	0.270	203.106
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F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying as it happened