Image source, Reuters
By
F1 Correspondent in Abu Dhabi
The climax to the Formula 1 world championship could hardly be better set up after the three title contenders qualified together at the front of the grid for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen put in one of the performances of the season – and of his illustrious career – to take a scintillating pole position.
McLaren’s Lando Norris, who heads into the race at 13: 00 GMT as championship favourite with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, is alongside the Dutchman on the front row.
The Briton’s team-mate Oscar Piastri, 16 points off the lead, starts third, alongside Mercedes’ George Russell on the second row.
For Norris, the maths are simple – and the task looks the same.
The 26-year-old will be champion for the first time if he finishes on the podium, regardless of anyone else’s result.
Verstappen, 28, would clinch a fifth consecutive title if he wins the race with Norris in fourth, or if he is second and Norris is lower than seventh.
Australian Piastri, 24, needs some kind of misfortune to happen to his rivals if he is to win his first title. He will also head into the race knowing that there is a possibility he could be asked to move aside and help Norris win if his own hopes are over and that is needed for a McLaren driver to beat Verstappen.
What cards will Verstappen play?
Norris kept his answers after qualifying relatively short. He seems to be working hard to keep himself settled and calm as he navigates the most intense weekend of his career.
That’s understandable. Although his path to the title is relatively straightforward, the fact Verstappen’s is not threatens to make the championship leader’s race an uncomfortable one.
With the title on the line, and winning the grand prix not good enough on its own for Verstappen, the race is unlikely to be simple, and what Verstappen and Red Bull might try to get in Norris’ way remains unknown.
“No idea,” Norris said, when he was asked whether he expected Verstappen to try to back him into the pack. “I expect everything. So wait and see.”
Verstappen was asked the same question, both in his BBC Sport interview on Thursday and in the news conference after qualifying on Saturday.
The reference here is Lewis Hamilton’s race in 2016, when he drove slowly in front of Mercedes’ team-mate Nico Rosberg in an attempt to back him into Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, knowing he needed Rosberg to finish third to beat him to the title. It didn’t work.
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