Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Qualifying Recap

Schumacher and Mazepin’s final qualifying session of the year came to an end under the lights at the conclusion of Q1 – the opening round of three-stage qualifying. Both had three sets of Pirelli P Zero Red soft tires to attack the revised 5.281-kilometer (3.281-mile), 16-turn circuit. Schumacher went faster each time out on fresh rubber – clocking a 1:25.637, 1:25.236 then finally his best of 1:24.906 on his last charged run – the German placing P19. Mazepin banked a 1:26.462 to start, followed by a 1:25.897 on his second set. The Russian ended his Q1 session with a fastest lap of 1:25.685 on his third and final run for P20 on the timesheet.

Max Verstappen claimed pole position in Q3 with a fastest time of 1:22.109 – the Red Bull Racing title contender qualifying .371 of a second faster than his rival for the 2021 crown, Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

 

Nikita Mazepin, Driver No. 9, Uralkali Haas F1 Team

“It’s tough but there are still opportunities to potentially be extracted. The race is always a different challenge, it offers you different opportunities than qualifying and I think on this new track layout, it will be an interesting one. I’m ready to race tonight – I don’t want to wait for tomorrow.”

 

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Uralkali Haas F1 Team

“I’m happy that we had a good year overall with qualifying pace but I think today was not the best from my side – we didn’t really know what we wanted from each other, the car and I. Those things happen, we learn from them and we’ll go back and analyze what we did different and see how we can improve it. When we go back next year and we’re in the position to be going into Q2 more, we don’t have that. We had a pretty good car for qualifying, so hopefully we have an even better one for the race to go and fight.”

 

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Uralkali Haas F1 Team

“Well, there’s a positive in that it was our last Saturday of the year qualifying the VF-21. It’s been a tough year being aware of the limitations of the VF-21 pace-wise, but that hasn’t deterred Mick and Nikita from pushing each time out – they went for it once again tonight. The team has worked hard all season long to see what we can get, and tomorrow’s final race will be no difference. We’ll seek opportunities and see how the race plays out. After that, it’s all eyes on 2022.”

Today's Data

Event: Qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Saturday December 11
Location: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
Layout: 5.281-kilometer (3.281-mile), 16-turn circuit
Weather: Clear
Air Temps: 26 degrees Celsius (78.8 degrees Fahrenheit)
Track Temps: 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit)
Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:22.109) 
Result: Mick Schumacher (MSC) qualified 19th, Nikita Mazepin (MAZ) qualified 20th 

Free Practice No. 3 Rundown

Schumacher: 19th overall (1:25.340), 18 laps completed
Mazepin: 20th overall (1:26.332), 19 laps completed
Fastest: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:23.274)

Q1 Rundown: 

18-minute session with all 20 drivers – Top 15 advance to Q2

Schumacher: 19th overall (1:24.906)
Mazepin: 20th overall (1:25.685)
Fastest: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:22.845) 

Q2 Rundown: 

15-minute session featuring the Top 15 from Q1 – Top 10 advance to Q3

Fastest: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:22.800) 

Q3 Rundown: 

12-minute session featuring the Top 10 from Q2

Pole Winner: Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing (1:22.109)
Second: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes (1:22.480)