F1 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix LIVE: Race start time, schedule and qualifying results as Norris grabs pole

“I knew it was on the limit, it’s difficult to judge, I was out of the limit in Q2, it hurts, it’s two hard hits in two days, all in all, it’s not an easy last weekend. It doesn’t make me less motivated for tomorrow.

“I still want to go very optimistic, it’s still possible, I’ll push to come back in the first two positions of the race.”

Leclerc will start P19 tomorrow due to his 10-place grid penalty.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Winner

• Lando Norris – 8/13
• Oscar Piastri – 3/1
• Max Verstappen – 6/1
• Carlos Sainz – 17/2
• George Russell – 33/1
• Nico Hulkenberg – 33/1
• Charles Leclerc – 100/1
• Lewis Hamilton – 100/1
• Pierre Gasly – 350/1
• Fernando Alonso – 750/1
• Sergio Perez – 750/1
• Kevin Magnussen – 1500/1
• Valtteri Bottas – 1500/1
• Yuki Tsunoda – 1500/1

If there was any need for a moment to sum up Lewis Hamilton’s final season for Mercedes, in what is set to be his worst-ever F1 season, it was this gigantic slice of ill fortune in Saturday’s qualifying under the Abu Dhabi night sky.

In need of improvement in his final lap in Q1, Hamilton looked pacey until a loose bollard flew below his car floor and stayed there, wedged, for the rest of his lap. Needless to say, it impacted his speed and he qualified third-slowest in his 246^th and final qualifying session for Mercedes. He will start 16^th on Sunday, due to grid penalties.

Contrastingly, Hamilton’s former team McLaren had a dream qualifying session and they are now on the cusp of their first constructors’ title in 26 years. British driver Lando Norris led home a one-two finish, with Oscar Piastri alongside him on the front row, amid joyous celebrations for the papaya-clad team on the pit-wall.

“There was more pace on Lewis’ side, he’s been ahead of me, we’ve been flummoxed why we’ve been off the pace,” George Russell tells Sky Sports.

“From Q1, just off the pace, we don’t know why, P7 is a better result than I thought going into the session. I’m not even thinking about it to be honest, we’ve got bigger things to be worried about.

“It’s got more air time than it deserved, we wanted to show, us as a group, we’re united, we know what we want from the sport, that was the message we wanted to show.”

“I just kept my head down to do a good final lap,” Piastri says.

“It was reassuring to know I had that lap [reinstated].

“We’ve got to do whatever we can to win the championship, we’d both love to win the race, but the championship even more, we’ll make sure that happens.”

“We made a step with the car and just got it right,” Bottas says.

“One of the best laps of my career, and that’s a great feeling.

“We started the weekend on the right track, feeling the car and fine-tuning it, you can be precise.

“I can actually do something, which is nice. It’s satisfying. You’re only as good as your last race? Hopefully it’ll be a good one for us.

“There’s a bit of emotion, having that uncertainty of what’s next, knowing it’s the last time, there’s more emotion for me, but nothing changes in the car. It feels a bit weird.”

“I need to apologise to Lewis, everybody who works hard for him, the set-up we choose, was to experiment next year, but we totally let him down,” Toto Wolff tells Sky Sports.

“An idiotic mistake, not going early, inexcusable, I’m rarely been so down about what has happened, maybe summarises the last races wit him, but this has been the worst, it was just idiotic.

“We were lucky they raced through the traffic, without the bollard it might have worked, but you don’t risk so much in Q1, our most valuable racing driver ever, in this sport, gets out in Q1 because we make a mistake.

“It doesn’t ruin all the legacy we have him, I can only say sorry to him. He was there, he’d have had a chance at a podium I think, now it’s pretty much impossible for him.”

“We’ll come up with some rules overnight, drivers know what’s going on, I don’t think we need to tell them,” Zak Brown adds.

“It’s hard not to get excited.”

An impressive day for the papaya, Verstappen had no answer to their one-lap speed.

“Yes to all of that,” Zak Brown accepts when pushed on the bonuses and prize money available for winning the constructors’ championship.

“But most important is the trophy, it’s important to the team and bonuses, but we want this trophy, it’s more important than anything.

“He [Leclerc] had a bad day at the office, with safety cars and all of that, we can’t rule anything out.

“The drivers over the weekend have the race pace, trying to dial it in, working on the front, today was more on the rear, it’ll be very close.

“Anything can happen, you see with Charles, battery, anything can happen, I’ll be happy after that first lap.”