Max Verstappen reckons his ability to perform when ‘pressure is at its highest’ helped him claim pole for the Formula 1 title showdown at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver beat second-placed Lando Norris by two tenths at Yas Marina Circuit, while fellow title rival Oscar Piastri will start third at the 2025 season finale.
One of those three drivers will be crowned world champion on Sunday and Norris is currently in the driving seat, as he leads Verstappen by 12 points and McLaren team-mate Piastri by 16.
But for the four-time world champion to still be in the conversation is admirable considering the previous dominance of the McLaren pair, yet five wins in eight for Verstappen has forced it to the final day.
It is also the first time that the title will be decided at the Abu Dhabi finale since 2021, when Verstappen claimed a maiden championship by beating rival Lewis Hamilton from pole - albeit in contentious circumstances.
And when asked about his 2025 pole lap, the Dutchman compared it to four years ago, saying: “It felt really good, and of course there was quite a bit of pressure trying to do the best we could.
“It felt probably similar to 2021 qualifying - I had a really good qualifying here as well. But I like that. When the pressure is the highest or when you really need to perform, normally I perform because I enjoy that kind of aspect.
“But yeah, it was nice. You always try to do the best possible quali lap. Sometimes it works out better than other times. I think this time it worked out pretty well.”
There are some similarities to 2021 in the sense that his pole was a bit of a shock at the time, given Hamilton headed into the finale having won the last three grands prix. In 2025, meanwhile, although Verstappen won the penultimate round in Qatar, he felt like he was on the back foot after Friday practice in Abu Dhabi as Norris topped both sessions.
The Dutchman said Red Bull must be “faster” with motorsport advisor Helmut Marko also agreeing that he was behind Norris in the pecking order. But car changes overnight helped Verstappen turn it around and even though Q3 was the first session that he topped, he set two lap times that were good enough for pole.
Ultimately it was the second, a 1m22.207s, which completed the job having gone 0.088s quicker than his original, despite that being the one where he received a tow from team-mate Yuki Tsunoda.
“In general, qualifying felt a little bit more together compared to the other sessions where I always felt like we were still lacking a little bit,” said the 70-time grand prix winner. “But then with the final changes that we made going into the night, that seemed to help us a bit and then throughout qualifying, just improving nicely.
“In Q2, of course, I was on scrubbed tyres, and to be honest, I was a little bit surprised on the first run [of Q3] how much the new tyres actually gave me. But yeah, it was a good lap already, with a little bit of help also from Yuki with a tow.
“So that was very nice of him to give up one of his runs. And then the second lap, I was not sure if I was going to improve just because of the tow that I got. But then again, just found a little bit more lap time in the corners, and that gave me a little bit more lap time. So happy with that, happy with the one-lap performance at the end in qualifying. Now, of course, the big question mark is can we keep that up in the race.”
History is on Verstappen’s side as to whether he can or not, considering every Abu Dhabi GP has been won from pole since 2015 and that’s all he must do to maintain title hopes. If he does then Norris needs to finish off the podium for Verstappen to claim a fifth title, so he’s aware that he still needs “a little bit of help or luck to win the championship”.
That is why it makes his approach heading into Sunday quite simple, as when asked about his race tactic, the 28-year-old said: “All out. I have nothing to lose. So for me, of course, I’m going to try to win the race. I’m going to defend. If I need to attack, I’ll attack, because what can happen? You’re either second or third – or you win. That would be fantastic.”
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