Lewis Hamilton closed out the penultimate act of Formula One’s season with a pole for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that exemplified why the championship is already in his hands. As the sun set at Yas Marina, however, Ferrari found themselves once more in a dismal twilight of their own making, the Scuderia enduring another pointed illustration of why their season has failed to match either Hamilton’s or Mercedes’s.
Yet despite Ferrari’s travails Hamilton did keep the potential of a move to Maranello open. His contract with Mercedes ends in 2020 and this weekend the Ferrari principal, Mattia Binotto, described Hamilton as outstanding and noted his potential availability in 2021 would only “make Ferrari happy”.
The Briton responded positively to the comments. “It is the first compliment I have had from Ferrari in 13 years,” he said. “I don’t remember them ever mentioning me before. It has taken all these years for them to recognise me but I am grateful. It is positive and it is never a waste of time to be nice to someone. It is a team that I have always appreciated over the years.
“To earn the respect from someone that is high up at Ferrari is not a bad thing. They have got two great drivers, so who knows what the market is going to be doing over the next year.”
On track Hamilton demonstrated why any team would be interested. His lap was inch-perfect, another piece of the precision execution that he has displayed repeatedly on his way to a sixth title. Clearly even more satisfying for the British driver was that he is finishing strongly in the single-lap discipline having shown his best form in race pace on a Sunday this season.
This is his first pole for nine meetings, since the German Grand Prix in July. After his run he knelt in front of the car in which he has delivered so spectacularly. “To end the qualifying season with a pole and to say goodbye to this car with a pole is extra-special,” he said.
It is only his fifth pole of the year, a surprisingly low strike rate for the driver who has scored the most in F1 history. With 88 he now has a remarkable 20 more than Michael Schumacher, the next best. His form here was unmatchable; he finished almost two-tenths of a second up on his Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and more than three-tenths up on Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Hamilton’s focus has always been on the title but he clearly appreciated claiming the fastest lap once more. “It was such a long slog trying to get this pole position in,” he said. “We just kept our heads down and the guys have done a great job. I managed to dial in the car with the hard work of the engineers. We never give up, there’s always room to improve. There’s been a lot of growth in the team and not just over these last couple of races.”
For Ferrari, qualifying in Abu Dhabi reflected their flawed and largely fruitless struggles this season. Charles Leclerc was fourth for the Scuderia in front of his teammate, Sebastian Vettel. They will race from the second row, however, as Bottas will start from the back of the grid because of an engine penalty.
Mercedes looked to have the edge on the Italian team this weekend especially through the low-speed corners of the final sector, a strength of their car all season. Ferrari failed even to mount a challenge on their final laps.
They left Leclerc late to go out and he was backed up on his final out lap so that he failed to cross the start line in time to begin his last run. Vettel was slowing in front of him but he in turn was backing up from Alexander Albon. Vettel subsequently struggled for grip on his final lap and managed only a scruffy circuit.
Binotto admitted the team had made a mistake while trying to claw back time. “We knew we weren’t going to be too competitive today,” he said. “On the last lap we wanted to try and take some risks, come out last, but it was too tight on the track and we screwed up. We were aware of what the risks could be but it didn’t work today.”
In race terms, with the drivers’ crash with one another at Brazil still fresh in the mind, how they and Ferrari handle events on track on Sunday will be fascinating. They and the team claim everyone is clear how they need to race but whether they do when wheel to wheel remains to be seen. For Leclerc there are still points at stake as he trails Verstappen by 11 for third in the championship.
Bottas will start from the back of the grid having taken two new engines. Mercedes had started the weekend with a new fourth engine but the Finn took a fifth on Saturday morning when his suffered a pneumatic leak.
Albon was in sixth for Red Bull. McLaren ended their strong season of qualifying well with Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz in seventh and ninth. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg were in eighth and 10th.
Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll were in 11th and 13th. Pierre Gasly was 12th for Toro Rosso, with his teammate Daniil Kvyat in 14th. Kevin Magnussen was 15th for Haas, with his teammate Romain Grosjean in 16th in front of the Alfa Romeos of Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen. George Russell and Robert Kubica were in 19th and 20th for Williams.
