Floodlit qualifying, final dances and a rookie ceremony - after twists and turns, a result that could be considered usual was achieved. This was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the final qualifying of the 2024 Formula 1 season.
After the first "real" timed laps of Q1, the trio of Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Kevin Magnussen were leading, but given the rapidly changing conditions it was almost certain that this would not be the final order of the stage. The world quickly turned, as Valtteri Bottas got between the two Scuderia Ferrari cars, finishing second and advancing to Q2, while Lewis Hamilton, who was saying goodbye to Mercedes, easily dropped out due to a very unfortunate situation. It happened that Kevin Magnussen knocked down a buoy, unfortunately right under Hamilton's car, who had to brake and defenselessly hit his fast bike... In addition to him, two Williams cars, Guanyu Zhou and Jack Doohan, who was participating in his first F1 qualifying, had to leave the fight early.
In Q2, Verstappen and the two McLarens showed themselves on top, then we could see the drama. Sainz, Verstappen and Nico Hülkenberg were the first to advance to Q3, but much more interesting was the list of the last to advance and drop out. While Valtteri Bottas, who also dropped out, fired Alfa Romeo into Q3 with a fantastic drive, the Ferrari team was not sure whether to laugh or cry, as behind Sainz, Leclerc was eliminated for leaving the track and will start from last place in tomorrow's race. Alongside him, there was no continuation for the two Visa RB cars, Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen.
Q3 started with a wonderful rescue maneuver by Verstappen, humorous, but the Dutchman remained in the lead even on this lap - in which he had enough time. Behind him were Norris and Sainz on the list after the first attempts, and with a big surprise Hülkenberg at the wheel of the Haas. In the end, Verstappen was unable to pull off a miracle, so Lando Norris won the qualifying ahead of Oscar Piastre and Carlos Sainz, but the field is very tight and we have a lot to look forward to for an exciting end to the season. We are looking forward to it!
