Vettel: In the end, no more tires
The second German in the field even made it into Q3 and in the end on P9. Could something even more have been possible? “I felt really good at the end of Q1 and Q2,” he reports to ‘Sky’.
“In Q3 I would have liked to have had another set of tires,” said Vettel, who only had one attempt there. “But all in all it was a good qualifying for us. We put the car in a decent position,” he said with satisfaction.
“I’m sure it will be a great day tomorrow. We have a task ahead of us: we want to try to beat the Alfa Romeo and score as many points as possible in order to perhaps still achieve P6 in the constructors’ championship,” he announces .
So his personal little goal when saying goodbye to Formula 1.
Schumacher is happy about the “positive” final qualifying
As already mentioned, the German says goodbye to Haas with a win over Magnussen from his last qualifying session and explains: “That was a positive one [Qualifying]. Coming into Q2 was a bit unexpected, mainly because FP3 and FP2 weren’t that good.”
“Moving further and qualifying on P13 was definitely an achievement,” he says with satisfaction and reveals: “I had quite a bit of understeer, but then we made some changes before qualifying and that went in the right direction. “
With regard to the World Championship fight against AlphaTauri, he explains: “Kevin is pretty close to Gasly and I’m pretty close to Tsunoda. Hopefully we’ll get off to a good start and we can keep them behind us.”
By the way: Because of the grid penalty against Ricciardo, Schumacher even moves up one place and can start his last Formula 1 race tomorrow from P12.
Marko: “Old ranking restored” again
The Austrian is also satisfied. “First, second [im Qualifying] we haven’t been for a long time,” he recalls on ‘ServusTV’. In fact, this was last the case in Mexico in 2018 – more than four years ago!
Especially after the “fiasco” in Brazil, it is good that “the old hierarchy has been restored”. “And what encourages us even more are the long runs, where we were better than Ferrari from the tire degradation and all that,” said Marko.
“I hope that will continue tomorrow,” emphasizes the Austrian, who also knows: “Racing is something else again, [der] The start has to be successful.” In addition to Ferrari, “Mercedes can probably also be expected again tomorrow.”
Verstappen: What happened at the beginning of Q3?
We remember: The Dutchman was actually supposed to give Perez a slipstream, but got stuck in the pits. He reveals: “We had a bit of a shock. The car switched itself off before the first run, so we had to restart everything.”
He is “very happy” that both cars are still in the front row. “Of course we want to win the race. But we also want to finish second in the championship with Checo,” he emphasizes.
And now you have a good starting position. “I still expect it to be a good fight tomorrow, but at least we have both cars in front and can do what we want,” he says in terms of strategy.
The most important thing for Saturday…
… you can find it again today in a separate photo series. And don’t forget: At 7:15 p.m. Kevin Scheuren and Christian Nimmervoll will be in touch with the large live analysis on the Formel1.de YouTube channel!
Photo gallery: Formula 1 2022 in Abu Dhabi: The most important thing about Saturday
Q3: Verstappen on pole!
In the second attempt, Verstappen gives his teammate a slipstream – but is still faster! Pole for Verstappen in front of Perez, Leclerc and Sainz. The two Mercedes drivers land behind them. Vettel is ninth.
Here in the ticker we continue with the votes on qualifying. Before the overview:
result
starting grid
Q3: Advantage Verstappen
In his first attempt at Q3, the Dutchman sets the first 1:23 time of the weekend. He leads with a 1:23.988 in front of Sainz, Perez and Leclerc. But that seems to have been planned differently.
Because apparently he should give Perez a slipstream – but that didn’t work. Let’s see how it looks on the second try.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
Q2: Schumacher out
Vettel is eighth and thus makes the leap into Q3 – and also beats the teammate who retires. Unfortunately, as expected, Schumacher does not make the cut.
Out are Alonso, Tsunoda, Schumacher, Stroll and Zhou. In a few minutes we will continue with Q3 and the fight for pole!
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
Q2: Schumacher wobbles
But things could get tight for him now: Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Stroll, Schumacher and Zhou would be out after the first attempts. After all: According to the current status, Vettel would make it into Q3 if he said goodbye.
But a lot can still happen, the last five minutes are running!
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
Q2: Mick says goodbye with “victory”
The Q1 result already shows that Schumacher will finish ahead of Magnussen in qualifying. He says goodbye with an internal win against his teammate.
However: Overall, Magnussen decides the qualifying duel against Schumacher relatively clearly with 16:6. In the meantime, the drivers are taking their time again in Q2.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
Q1: Both Germans get through
Breathe! Schumacher still manages to make the cut in eleventh, Vettel is even a strong sixth. Magnussen, Gasly, Bottas and the Williams pilots are out. The same goes for Q2. Then the five slowest drivers are eliminated again.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
Q1: Vettel and Schumacher wobble
After the first attempts, Vettel, Schumacher, Bottas and the two Williams drivers would be out. Let’s hope from a German point of view that this will change… The two Red Bull drivers are in front. Six minutes left on the clock.
Call up all current information in the session live ticker!
Q1: Open the session ticker now!
In a few minutes, things will start with Q1. Here at this point you will find the most important information, pictures and voices. As always, you can get the full coverage in our session ticker with Stefan Ehlen.
It’s best to just let both tickers run in parallel. And if you want to know how to watch Formula 1 live in Abu Dhabi, you can find out here!
Important points for Sargeant
So once again a quick look at Formula 2, where Logan Sargeant just finished sixth in the sprint race – and thus collected three important points in the fight for the super license.
It’s not over yet, but things would have to get really crazy on Sunday for it to go wrong. Incidentally, the race was won by Red Bull junior Liam Lawson.