Piastri to launch from second in Abu Dhabi finale

Completing McLaren’s front-row lockout, Oscar Piastri will start the Abu Dhabi season finale from second on the grid, insisting “the job is absolutely not done” despite the team’s “strong position”.

Coming off the back of a 1-2 finish in the final hour of practice, the McLaren drivers were quietly confident in their qualifying capabilities.

Piastri cleared the first stage of qualifying with ease, setting the fastest first sector on his initial lap and settling into fourth fastest. 

Although falling to P8, his time of 1:23.640s left McLaren with enough confidence to call their driver in early, with the Australian advancing through to Q2 without needing to set a second lap.

In the second session, Piastri was among the first few drivers to complete a lap of the Yas Marina Circuit, lighting up the timing sheets with the aid of a slipstream from his teammate.

The Australian slotted into P3 with a time of 1:23.199s before returning to the pitlane. 

Seeking to rejoin the session, Piastri sat at the back of the slow-moving queue, however, the attempt that followed held no merit with his time in P6 more than enough to advance to the all-important final round.

Turning up his engine for the final stage of the last qualifying session of the year, Piastri avoided the pitlane chaos as he exited his garage, leaving enough of a gap to allow the mess to settle ahead of him.

Launching off the line, the Australian stole the fastest opening sector from Verstappen, however, lost out to the four-time world champion in the middle sector.

He rounded out his first Q3 attempt with a time of 1:22.985s on used tyres, with the lap initially being deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 1.

Driving out of the pitlane tunnel for his final run, the news came through that Piastri’s lap had been reinstated, placing him back into P3 and easing the #81’s nerves as he completed his out-lap.

The Australian failed to improve in the opening sector and was over a tenth down through Sector 2, however, when he crossed the line, he momentarily secured provisional pole with a time of 1:22.804s.

When it came to his teammate’s lap, Lando Norris was two-tenths quicker than the #81, stealing pole position from Piastri for the final race of the year.

“A front-row lockout is a great result for the team,” Piastri said. 

“The job is absolutely not done but it’s good to go into tomorrow in a strong position. 

“After my lap was deleted and then reinstated, I gave Turn 1 more space than I should have, so I lost a little bit of time there on the final run but we’re still in a great place. 

“We just need to keep our heads down now and not lose focus. 

“There is still a lot to do tomorrow.”

Lights out for the final race of the season will take place at 00:00 AEDT tonight.

Image: Steven Tee / LAT Images

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Schedule: 

Friday, December 6:

FP1: 20:30 – 21:30

Saturday, December 7:

FP2: 00:00 – 01:00

FP3: 21:30 – 22:30

Sunday, December 8:

Qualifying: 01:00 – 02:00

Monday, December 9:

Race: 00:00

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