Q1

As night fell at the Yas Marina Circuit, qualifying for the last race of 2024 began with plenty of action. Lance Stroll set the first time in Q1 with a 1:24.3, but he quickly dropped down the order as more drivers completed their laps.

Max Verstappen took provisional P1, but Carlos Sainz soon went even faster with a 1:23.4 halfway through the session. 

The McLarens, strong in practice, started slower in qualifying. Oscar Piastri ended up fourth, just ahead of teammate Lando Norris in fifth, both about 0.150 seconds behind Sainz.

Sergio Perez had a scare when his lap time was deleted for track limits, putting him in danger of elimination. However, with three minutes to go, his time was reinstated, moving him to P3.

The final minutes brought surprises. Valtteri Bottas jumped to P1, with Charles Leclerc close behind.

For Lewis Hamilton, it was a tough last qualifying with Mercedes. He hit a bollard knocked loose by Kevin Magnussen, which ruined his lap. On the radio, he admitted, “messed that up big time, guys.”

Q1 ended in disappointment for several drivers, including Alex Albon and Zhou Guanyu, who couldn’t match the pace needed to advance and finished fifteenth and sixteenth, respectively. 

Rookies Franco Colapinto and Jack Doohan, who will compete in his first ever Grand Prix this weekend, struggled to keep up and were also eliminated, with the Wiliams driver finishing nineteenth and the Alpine one last.

Q2

Max Verstappen started Q2 strong, getting a clear track to set the fastest lap of 1:22.998 on fresh tyres. He quickly set the pace, with Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Yuki Tsunoda close behind. The McLaren drivers were on used tyres at first, which meant they could go faster on their second runs with new tyres.

As the session went on, Verstappen stayed at the top, but Norris moved up to second, even though he was on medium tyres. Piastri and Tsunoda continued to stay competitive.

Charles Leclerc had a scary moment at Turn 14, almost losing control of his car, and radioed, “nearly crashed.” His teammate Carlos Sainz also got frustrated, complaining about being blocked by Sergio Perez on track.

As always five drivers, failed to make it to Q3. Yuki Tsunoda, despite pushing hard, ended up in 11th place and was eliminated. Right behind him was Liam Lawson, who finished 12th, also unable to make it through to the final qualifying session.

Lance Stroll, who had shown promise earlier in the weekend, found himself in 13th place, just missing out on a spot in Q3. 

Charles Leclerc, who had already faced issues with track limits earlier in qualifying, could not recover and ended up in 14th, which means that he will start all the way at the back of the grid as he has a 10-place grid penalty for a new energy store.

Additionally, Kevin Magnussen, despite putting in his best effort, finished 15th, marking the end of his qualifying run.
 

Q3

As the last part of qualifying started, Max Verstappen had a big moment exiting the final corner, losing the back end of his Red Bull and nearly hitting the wall. Despite the scare, he managed to recover and set the fastest lap of 1:22.9, just 0.004 seconds ahead of Lando Norris.

Oscar Piastri also faced a challenge when his lap time was initially deleted for exceeding track limits. However, like Sergio Perez earlier in qualifying, his time was reinstated, and he moved up to third place, securing a strong starting position for the race.

The final minutes of Q3 were filled with drama as drivers pushed to their limits in search of the best possible times, posting their last qualifying laps of 2024.

30 seconds before the end Nico Hulkenberg shockingly put his Haas on provisional pole position, but it didn't last long as Oscar Piastri beat him straight away.

The only one fastest than Piastri was Norris, who in the end claimed pole position and secured important front row for McLaren.

Carlos Sainz finished third, keeping Ferrari's hopes for the Constructors’ Championship still at least half alive. 

Nico Hulkenberg clinched amazing fourth place for Haas, followed by Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, whose main target will be to beat Hulkenberg and help Alpine secure sixth place in the championship.

George Russell has to settle down with seventh place, while Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas in eighth and ninth, respectively, were more than happy, with Sergio Perez completing the top ten.