Max Verstappen delivered a fierce punch under the lights of Yas Marina on Saturday evening, storming to pole position for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and planting himself directly ahead of McLaren’s two title contenders on the grid.
But even with the ideal launchpad for Sunday’s showdown, the reigning champion insists the math – and the momentum – remain stacked in McLaren’s favour.
Despite a qualifying lap that left Lando Norris two-tenths adrift and Oscar Piastri half a step further back, Verstappen’s assessment of his own title hopes was pointedly grounded.
“Of course, I’m excited and looking forward to it. I’m going to try to win that race,” he said.
“But of course, with that, I still need a little bit of help or luck to win the championship. But we’ll see how that goes tomorrow.”
A Car That Finally Came Alive
Verstappen admitted qualifying was the first time all weekend that his RB21 felt cohesive, with overnight tweaks proving transformative.
“I think in general, qualifying felt a little bit more together compared to the other sessions where I always felt like we were still lacking a little bit,” he explained.
“But then I think with the final changes that we made going into the night, that seemed to help us a bit. And then throughout qualifying, just improving nicely in Q2, of course I was on scrubbed tyres.
“And to be honest, I was a little bit surprised in the first round how much the new tyres actually gave me.”
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He also credited the teammate support that helped lock in pole.
“But yeah, it was a good lap already with a little bit of help also of course from Yuki with the tow,” Verstappen said. “So that was very nice of him to give up one of his rides.”
Even on his final run – without the tow – the Dutchman found more time in the twisty middle sector.
“In the second lap, I was not sure if I was going to improve just because of the tow that I got. But then again, I just found a little bit more lap time in the corners and that gave me a little bit more lap time.”
His biggest lingering doubt? Race pace.
“We hope so,” he said of matching McLaren on long runs. “I mean I actually did a lot of laps in the long run. So we tried to prepare in the best way possible. It’s probably the best I’ve felt. But of course, let’s see if that’s good enough.”
As for the mental gymnastics of title calculations, Verstappen refused to get bogged down.
“No, we’ll figure it out tomorrow. Not tonight,” he said. “It’s like talking about strategy. You can talk about it for one hour, two hours. And then after one lap, you throw it in the bin.”
In the end, Verstappen knows his best chance is simple: control what he can, win, and hope fate handles the rest.
“A lot that can go well for you, can go against you. We’ll find out tomorrow.”
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