Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez locked out the front row of the grid for the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with Red Bull big favourites to win the final race of the Formula 1 season.
Verstappen had two laps that were good enough for pole position as he beat Perez by 0.228 seconds.
Charles Leclerc was 0.040 seconds adrift of Perez and whoever finishes highest out of the pair, providing they both score points, will finish runner-up in the championship.
Behind Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell locked out the third row, whilst Lando Norris and Esteban Ocon headed the midfield.
There are plenty of constructors’ championship battles on the line including Alpine v McLaren for fourth, Alfa Romeo v Aston Martin for sixth and AlphaTauri v Haas for eighth.
Abu Dhabi weather
The Abu Dhabi GP starts at 17:00 local time (13:00 in the UK) which is 30 minutes before sunset so the track conditions will change as the race progresses.
To start with the air temperature will be 29 degrees Celcius, with the track at 36 degrees as the Grand Prix gets underway.
This will slowly drop when the sun sets to 27 degrees in the air for the second half of the race and 33 degrees on the track, so it’s not a drastic change in temperature.
However, as qualifying showed, the track will evolve significantly so being on a set of soft tyres at the end of the race could see a driver set some blistering lap times.
There will be gusts from the north west at 15mph, but it’s unlikely to affect the drivers.
Chances of rain? Zero, which is no surprise.
One or two stops?
Pirelli have brought the three softest tyre compounds to the Yas Marina Circuit – the C5, C4 and C3.
It’s set to be a two-stop race due to the tyre wear that’s caused by the fast corners and the ability to overtake with the new track layout that was introduced in 2021.
Red Bull are likely to dominate and Verstappen can cover off his rivals should he be in the lead, but Ferrari and Mercedes could have a big strategic four-car battle.
