Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/906955
maltatoday SUNDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2017 Sports 60 THE Mercedes drivers staged a fantastic scrap for the final qualif ying honours of the sea- son in Abu Dhabi yesterday evening, with Valtteri Bottas upstaging world champion team mate Lewis Hamilton to take his fourth career pole by 0.172s, as Ferrari and Red Bull were left in the silver cars' wake. The former's Sebastian Vettel and the latter's Daniel Ricciardo will fill the second row of the grid for tomorrow's season fina- le at Yas Marina, with respective team mates Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen starting fifth and sixth. Renault's Nico Hulkenberg got the better of Force India duo Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon for seventh, while Williams' Fe- lipe Massa completed the top ten in his final F1 qualif ying ap- pearance. Q1 saw Bottas and Hamil- ton immediately tussling over fastest time, with the Finn just shading his team mate with 1m 37.356s, the fastest time thus far this weekend, to 1m 37.391s. Once again, Raikkonen out- paced Vettel, 1m 37.453s to 1m 37.817s. The Red Bulls were a bit breathless in this company, with Ricciardo on 1m 38.016s and Verstappen on 1m 38.021s. Eve- ryone used the ultrasoft Pirelli tyres. Further back, Lance Stroll just made Q2 for Williams, leaving an angry Romain Grosjean 16th on 1m 39.516s in the second Haas, ahead of Pierre Gasly's Toro Rosso on 1m 39.724s, Pas- cal Wehrlein's Sauber on 1m 39.930s, team mate Marcus Er- icsson on 1m 39.994s, and Bren- don Hartley in the Toro Rosso on 1m 40.471s. Hamilton took the advantage back in Q2 with a new week- end fastest time of 1m 36.742s, with Bottas riding shotgun on 1m 36.822s and Vettel getting closer on 1m 37.034s ahead of Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Ver- stappen. To his great satisfaction, Mas- sa edged out old Ferrari partner Fernando Alonso to get into Q3, leaving the Spaniard the first faller after he failed to improve on 1m 38.636s. Team mate Stof- fel Vandoorne didn't go any quicker either, so ended up 13th on 1m 38.808s, but the McLar- ens were split by Carlos Sainz's Renault on 1m 38.725s. Kevin Magnussen hauled his Haas round in 1m 39.298s for 14th, as Stroll took 15th on 1m 39.646s. Bottas went back in front after the first runs in Q3 with 1m 36.231s to 1m 36.403s, with Vettel on 1m 36.859s from Raikkonen on 1m 36.985s. Red Bull were well off that pace, with Verstappen on 1m 37.696s and Ricciardo on 1m 37.716s. Hulk- enberg headed the Force India boys, with Ocon ahead of Perez, and Massa. Neither Mercedes driver im- proved on their second tries, so Bottas had pole from Hamilton. Vettel improved slightly without changing position, while an he- roic lap from Ricciardo took him to fourth with 1m 36.959s ahead of Raikkonen, who also didn't go faster. Verstappen stayed sixth de- spite improving to 1m 37.328s, while Hulkenberg kept his Renault ahead of the Force Indias without improving. Perez jumped Ocon, with 1m 38.374s to 1m 38.397s, as Massa took an honourable 10th in 1m 38.550s for his final Grand Prix today. Thus, with Brendon Hartley's 10 place grid penalty (for a new MGU-H on his Toro Rosso) ap- plied, the provisional grid will line up: Bottas, Hamilton; Vet- tel, Ricciardo; Raikkonen, Ver- stappen; Hulkenberg, Perez; Ocon, Massa; Alonso, Sainz; Vandoorne, Magnussen; Stroll, Grosjean; Gasly, Wehrlein; Eric- sson, Hartley. FORMULA 1 Bottas wins Mercedes battle for pole Qualifying results - 2017 Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Grand Prix Pos. Driver Team Q1 Q2 Q3 Laps 1. V. Bottas Mercedes 01:37.356 01:36.822 01:36.231 18 2. L. Hamilton Mercedes 01:37.391 01:36.742 01:36.403 18 3. S. Vettel Ferrari 01:37.817 01:37.023 01:36.777 17 4. D. Ricciardo Red Bull 01:38.016 01:37.583 01:36.959 16 5. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 01:37.453 01:37.302 01:36.985 17 6. M. Verstappen Red Bull 01:38.021 01:37.777 01:37.328 19 7. N. Hulkenberg Renault 01:38.781 01:38.138 01:38.282 14 8. S. Pérez Force India 01:38.601 01:38.359 01:38.374 17 9. E. Ocon Force India 01:38.896 01:38.392 01:38.397 17 10. F. Massa Williams 01:38.629 01:38.565 01:38.550 18 11. F. Alonso McLaren 01:38.820 01:38.636 12 12. C. Sainz Jr. Renault 01:38.810 01:38.725 9 13. S. Vandoorne McLaren 01:38.777 01:38.808 9 14. K. Magnussen Haas 01:39.395 01:39.298 16 15. L. Stroll Williams 01:39.503 01:39.646 14 16. R. Grosjean Haas 01:39.516 10 17. P. Gasly Toro Rosso 01:39.724 9 18. P. Wehrlein Sauber 01:39.930 9 19. M. Ericsson Sauber 01:39.994 9 20. B. Hartley Toro Rosso 01:40.471 8 Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton