Verstappen beats Hamilton to pole for title decider

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen struck the first blow in his title decider against Lewis Hamilton by taking a stunning pole position in Abu Dhabi.  Verstappen was 0.371 seconds faster than the Mercedes driver after a brilliant first qualifying lap at Yas Marina.  Verstappen and Hamilton head into the race tied on points. The race is […]

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen struck the first blow in his title decider against Lewis Hamilton by taking a stunning pole position in Abu Dhabi. 

Verstappen was 0.371 seconds faster than the Mercedes driver after a brilliant first qualifying lap at Yas Marina. 

Verstappen and Hamilton head into the race tied on points. The race is effectively winner-takes-all, although if neither finish Verstappen will be champion because he has one more win. 

Hamilton was more than 0.5secs adrift after their first laps in final qualifying and although he improved on his final run he could not get close to Verstappen’s time.