Verstappen cracks both Mercedes: Vettel picks up the last qualifying slap

The final qualifying of his Ferrari time also ended in defeat for Sebastian Vettel. Teammate Charles Leclerc clearly depends on him and, as is so often the case in this Formula 1 season, it is not enough for the top ten. Max Verstappen breaks the dominance of the Mercedes duo.

The hope of a positive end to his six years at Ferrari remains unfulfilled for Sebastian Vettel, at least in qualifying. At the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the four-time world champion once again missed the top ten and started on Sunday (from 12.30 live on RTL, on TVNOW and from 2.10 p.m. in the ntv.de live ticker) only from 13th place. "I don't think that much more was possible," said Vettel afterwards. In the 17th and final qualifying of the 2020 Formula 1 season, the 34-year-old was defeated for the 13th time by his stable rival Charles Leclerc, who underlined on the Yas Marina Circuit why the Scuderia will rely on him in the future.

In the hunt for the best starting positions, Monegasse only played a minor role. The title holder Lewis Hamilton, who has recovered from his corona infection, set the fastest time when the clock was running out, but only starts from position three. Valtteri Bottas undercut this mark by six hundredths of a second, but the second Mercedes also had to admit defeat. Because Max Verstappen showed a brilliant last lap in the Red Bull, was two hundredths faster and secured pole position. It is the first time this season that neither a Mercedes (15 pole positions) nor a car with a Mercedes engine (Lance Stroll at Racing Point at the Turkish Grand Prix) won the qualification.

Lando Norris came in surprisingly fourth in the sunset and when the track cooled down. The McLaren driver relegated Verstappen's team-mate Alexander Albon to fifth. Behind them were Carlos Sainz (McLaren), Daniil Kvyat (Alpha Tauri) and Lance Stroll (Racing Point), Charles Leclerc has to drop three places from eighth because of the accident he caused at the Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain. The Monegasse had cleared the eventual race winner Sergio Perez there in turn one and was therefore punished with a relocation.

With the third pole position of his Formula 1 career, Verstappen created the best possible starting position for an almost impossible task: To jump to second place in the drivers' standings, he would have to catch up 16 points behind Bottas at the season finale. He could get a maximum of 26 points with a win and the fastest lap.

For Vettel, on the other hand, who has signed a contract with Racing Point's successor Aston Martin for the new year, his last race for Ferrari is once again about damage limitation. For the WM-13. nothing goes forward, instead it could even fall back to 14th place. The 33-year-old was only that bad in his debut season in 2007, in which he only completed seven of the 17 races.