2023 F1 Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying: Winners and Losers

The 2023 F1 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying ended with Max Verstappen on pole position with Charles Leclerc alongside him. The last qualifying session of the season had a few surprises in store as one might have guessed. The track tends to make things interesting at night and it certainly did on this occasion. Finally, when the checkered flag fell, there was the inevitable sight of Max Verstappen securing his 12th pole position of the season.

He was joined by Charles Leclerc in the front row on the back of a pole position lap he pulled out of nowhere. The duo will be followed by Oscar Piastri and George Russell in the second row with Lando Norris behind them completing the top 5. With the final qualifying session now in the background, who would be a bit disappointed, and who would be looking forward to the race on Sunday? Let's take a look.

2023 F1 Abu Dhabi GP Qualifying

Winner

Max Verstappen

That's pole position number 12 for Max Verstappen as he once again got it done. After the struggles of FP3, Red Bull found something in the car for qualifying and there was no stopping Max after that.

Not his best of sessions but you could see him making sure that he got the job done which was precisely what he accomplished.

Loser

Carlos Sainz

On a race weekend where a battle for P2 is on with Mercedes, Carlos Sainz couldn't afford such a mistake. He will be starting the F1 Abu Dhabi GP outside of the top 15. For a car whose actual strength is qualifying, this is a bad result.

Winner

Charles Leclerc

How does Charles Leclerc pull off laps that could only be termed miracles by anyone looking at them? The Ferrari driver did the unthinkable in Q3 because, throughout the session, the car looked at sea. It did not have the pace to keep up with the McLarens and even the Mercedes at times. Leclerc's first lap was also way off the mark and Ferrari appeared to be in trouble.

Then came the second lap and while Leclerc did everything right and held it together in the first half of the lap, he truly went in and dragged the lap time out of that car in a manner that not many would have been able to. A front-row start for the F1 Abu Dhabi GP at least gives Ferrari an opportunity to fight against Mercedes irrespective of how the battle turns out.

Loser

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton complained that something was wrong with the car after he was eliminated in Q2. In all fairness, there was hardly any difference between his performance in qualifying and in FP3 as compared to how he fared against his teammate.

He's 11-11 in qualifying against George as the season ends and while he can dismiss the car all he wants, the head-to-head is something he will look at once the season is done after the F1 Abu Dhabi GP.

Winner

Nico Hulkenberg

Haas has often been touted as this great car over a lap that fades in races. If we look at Nico Hulkenberg in isolation, then that might seem true. Having said that, if we take his teammate's qualifying into consideration, then this is just not the case.

Even at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP qualifying, while Nico once again made it to Q3, his teammate was out in Q1. Being limited by the car has surely hurt Nico's 2023 season and its overall perception.

Loser

Daniel Ricciardo

Everything seemed great for Daniel Ricciardo after Mexico. The Australian got a good result and was looking like the contender who could find a place at Red Bull and replace Sergio Perez.

The F1 Abu Dhabi GP is not the first race since then where Daniel Ricciardo has looked off the pace against Yuki Tsunoda. If this is the level at which he's going to perform, he's not getting a seat at Red Bull anytime soon.