It seemed like it might not be his weekend. He wasn’t too comfortable with Red Bull and had just finished sixth in free practice three. His car was jumping and slipping too much, and his situation was reminiscent of what Carlos Sainz experienced in Singapore, where he achieved the only victory for a non-motorcycle team. He will be a Red Bull driver throughout the year. In Las Vegas he salvaged a difficult victory against Ferrari. He had good luck. A week later, three-time F1 world champion and current world champion Max Verstappen… ‘The Great Circus’ re-emerges at the most decisive moment of winning pole for the 32nd time in F1This puts him 8th in line with Mansell among drivers with the most pole positions in history.

Max Verstappen came out of what seemed like a difficult situation and performed again. Unlike in Las Vegas, there was no clear favorite rival like Ferrari. McLaren was very fast, but could not match Ferrari’s level in the American event. Then Max twisted the bar up again. His team found a way and the champion was there from the beginning again. Not only did he not make a single mistake. But he also gave himself the luxury of fitting two new sets of soft tires during the break to advance to Q3.

It gave Max a lot of confidence. Unlike other players, he knew he had his two attempts and could aim for the first shot more calmly. And the champion made the difference from the first lap of Q3, clocking a 1 minute 23.445 seconds to put him over three tenths ahead of Norris and half a second ahead of Piastri. But one last attempt remained. McLaren wanted to stand up to Max. Also, George Russell is in better shape than Lewis Hamilton on this song. And Leclerc also wanted to pull off a divinely inspired turn, even if his Ferrari was not up to par in Abu Dhabi. But no one could beat Verstappen.Norris set a record in the first sector, but sank in the second, losing his wheels and causing him to skid, making it clear that it was not his time..

19th shooting victory, an amazing record

Verstappen has everything in mind to achieve the most difficult thing this Sunday. A record that seems difficult for anyone to surpass. He won 19 of the 22 races on the course, achieving a winning rate of 86%. Something unique. He has everything to do it. In Abu Dhabi, in nine of the 14 races held at Yas Marina, the winner started from consecutive pole positions for the final eight races. The qualifying round was decisive, with more than half the wins. He knew it and he came back to obey. Like a champion.

In the end, Leclerc surprised him with a reversal of just 0.139. Another transformation of the Monegasque genius is linked to his strong point: the classification. Piastri Beyond norris He finished third with a score of 0”337. George Russell also came in ahead of Lando, who also failed to qualify, and finished fifth, which should have been better. AlphaTauri’s Tsunoda finished sixth, with Fernando Alonso seventh. Making the most of Aston Martin again. Hulkenberg (8th), Perez (9th), Gasly (10th) With an increasingly equalized grid, the only trend is Verstappen.

Alonso, 7th place

Fernando Alonso finished 7thsaw his Aston Martin take a step forward in recent races after a mid-season drop in performance and a number of (and positive) experiments carried out in 2016. austin and Mexico The result was a mix of old and new work, allowing Alonso to return to the podium in Brazil. In Las Vegas, my race pace was good after what I had to overcome. And in Abu Dhabi, Alonso’s green car again finished in the top 10, achieving another excellent result.

In a classification that had multiple traps, such as track limits, traffic on the pit lane exit, traffic affecting the lap, and the need to not overheat the tires to get a good result in the important third sector, Fernando He Avoided each. These complex issues need to be resolved if we are to get back into the top 10 on a grid where it becomes increasingly expensive to advance into Q2 and Q3.

alonso He finished in 7th place, 0.639 behind his best, just one tenth of a difference. Kakudaimproved 6th place alphataurithere are already three McLaren Ds, one of the best cars in Abu Dhabi.And Lando Norris. He beat Alonso by just 1:24,000. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas, 8th place) Less than 1/10th of Red Bull “Czech” Perezrace pace will be better this Sunday. Gasly rounds out the top 10Carlos Sainz was impossible.

Sainz, Q1 loss (16th place)

Alonso (7th) will battle Norris (5th), Leclerc (2nd) and Carlos Sainz for fourth place in the Drivers’ World Championship. And the worst player in that battle is the one from Madrid.He is scheduled to start in 16th place. This Sunday at a track that is difficult to pass. Carlos is tied with Fernando on 200 points, Norris has 5 points and Leclerc has 12 points. It will be an uphill climb for Carlos. Carlos is at risk of having this latest appointment seriously damage his year at Ferrari. Sainz was injured during the Q1 lap when he encountered too much traffic. I had an accident in FP2 and wasn’t comfortable in FP3, so I wasn’t able to set a good time on a course that didn’t start well. He will have to go for a comeback.