UNITED ARAB EMIRATES -- Red Bull's Max Verstappen clinched his maiden pole position of the campaign on Saturday for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The top three were separated by only 0.086sec, but it was a disappointment for Mercedes who missed out on pole for only the second time this year. Lance Stroll of the Mercedes-powered Racing Point team claimed the other. "I am very happy with that. Luckily, for me, everything came together in that final lap. It seems like we have a decent top speed this weekend so, hopefully, this will work out for tomorrow," he said.His Red Bull team chief Christian Horner whooped with delight and described Verstappen's lap as awesome.
"I gave it my all. Congratulations to Max. It's a great way for him to seal a year of great performances. We will give them a good run for their money." After another run, the champion was seventh and in the comfort zone to proceed to Q2 as Verstappen, fastest in a Red Bull 1-2 in FP3, rose to second, three-tenths off Bottas.