Lawson qualifies 12th for Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Liam Lawson and his RB teammate Yuki Tsunoda lock out the sixth row for thee season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix following their elimination in Q2 in this morning’s qualifying session.

Tsunoda pipped Lawson by just 0.043 seconds to claim 11th, leaving the Kiwi 12th to start directly behind Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who was the last-placed driver in Q3.

McLaren boosted their chances for Constructor’s Championship success with a front row lockout, with Lando Norris claiming pole with a 1:22.595 flyer, pipping Australia’s Oscar Piastri by two-tenths.

Carlos Sainz ensures the pressure remains on the McLaren duo for Ferrari, having qualified third, but he’ll be forced to fight without his teammate at the front following Charles Leclerc’s Q2 elimination after his best effort was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 1.

Further compromising Leclerc’s chances is a grid penalty for a battery change which demotes him to the back row for the Grand Prix.

Nico Hulkenberg delivered a spectacular effort in his final qualifying session at Haas to put the #27 car on the second row in fourth, bettering World Champion Max Verstappen by 0.059 seconds.

Verstappen survived a large slide out of the final corner to lead after the first runs in Q3, but could not improve on his final run, allowing Norris, Piastri, Sainz and Hulkenberg to sneak ahead.

Pierre Gasly continued his impressive run of form at Alpine to qualify sixth, ahead of George Russell and Fernando Alonso, who make up the fourth row.

Remarkably, departing Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas outperformed under fire Red Bull driver Perez for ninth, leaving the latter in the grasps of the two drivers fighting to replace him in 2025.

Leclerc looked to have the fastest time in Q2, only for his lap to be deleted for his Turn 1 violation, which put him in the drop zone and allowed Perez to sneak through into Q3 just four-hundredths ahead of Tsunoda.

Joining Tsunosa, Lawson and Leclerc in the bottom five of Q2 was Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen.

Lewis Hamilton, in his final race for Mercedes, was the shock elimination from Q1, having followed Magnussen on his final flyer. The Haas driver cut the Turn 14 and his a bollard into the path of the seven-time World Champion, compromising his run through the final corners.

He would fail to improve on his personal best, and given the rapid track evolution, was eliminated in 18th.

Joining Hamilton in the bottom five were Alex Albon, Zhou Guanyu, Franco Colapinto and Jack Doohan.

Grid penalties for Albon and Leclerc elevate Hamilton to 16th, while Colapinto is relegated to 20th, where he’ll start alongside Leclerc

The Qatar Grand Prix begins at 2.00 am NZST on Monday.

Qatar Grand Prix Provisional Starting Grid

Header Image: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool