Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Hulkenberg kept his VF-23 hooked up and firmly in the top-10 in all three stages of knockout qualifying under the lights around Yas Marina Circuit. While the German saw his opening runs in both Q1 and Q2 deleted for track limits at Turn 16, he progressed with his second flying laps on new Pirelli P Zero Red softs – a 1:24.425 for P8 in Q1 and a 1:24.213 for P9 in Q2.

Locked into Q3, Hulkenberg banked a 1:24.435 run on scrubbed softs before one last attempt on fresh rubber to end qualifying. He duly delivered a hot lap of 1:24.108 to claim P8 at the checkered flag while up ahead Max Verstappen completed his personal clean sweep qualifying’s three stages – the Dutchman taking pole in Q3 with a 1:23.445.

Magnussen, who just one week earlier had steered his way into Q3 in Las Vegas qualifying, didn’t fare so well in the final qualifying session of the season. Unable to find the pace with his VF-23, the Dane exited in Q1 – his best lap of 1:24.764 placing him P17 with only the top-15 progressing through to Q2.

Kevin Magnussen:

“I didn’t really know what to expect as it’s been a bit up and down. In FP2, in the dark, it looked good and FP3 looked fairly good – at least on mediums – as we didn’t run on softs, so it might’ve been a different picture. It’s the last race of the year, so we’ll try again and I’ll go out there to collect data for the team, but I’m looking forward to next year.”

 

Nico Hulkenberg:

“I didn’t expect this result to be honest as I hardly drove yesterday, I did one lap on the mediums, which wasn’t a good starting point for today. This morning, I found a good harmony and had confidence in the car straight away, which was nice, and managed to take that into qualifying. I put in solid laps and didn’t leave anything out there – so I’m happy. There’s a lot of fast cars starting behind and we’ll need some racing circumstances to help us, but we’ll give it everything as we have done all season.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal:

“FP3 wasn’t the best for us with the winds and the hot conditions, we couldn’t get the car to perform. It looks like that performance came back when the winds fell and temperatures dropped. Kevin didn’t make it, his lap wasn’t his best, but Nico did a very good job to get into Q3 and achieve P8. That’s better than we could’ve expected for the final race of the season, and tomorrow we will approach it as always. We’ll try our best knowing in the race we don’t have the best car but the whole team keeps trying – we keep pushing.”

 

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Saturday November 25
Location: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
Layout: 5.281-kilometer (3.281-mile), 16-turn circuit
Weather: Mostly Clear
Air Temps: 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit)
Team Result: Nico Hulkenberg qualified 8^th, Kevin Magnussen qualified 17^th 

 

Free Practice 3 (FP3) Rundown:

Hulkenberg: 17^th overall (1:25.584), 22 laps completed
Magnussen: 19^th overall (1:25.652), 20 laps completed
Fastest: George Russell of Mercedes (1:24.418)

 

Q1 Qualifying: 18-mins with all 20 Drivers – Top 15 Advance to Q2

Hulkenberg: 8^th overall (1:24.425) – Advanced to Q2
Magnussen: 17^th overall (1:24.764)
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:24.160)

 

Q2 Qualifying: 15-mins – Top 10 Advance to Q3

Hulkenberg: 9^th overall (1:24.213) – Advanced to Q3
Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:23.740) 

 

Q3 Qualifying: 12-mins – Top 10 Drivers

Hulkenberg: 8^th overall (1:24.108)
Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:23.445)