Max Verstappen scored his eighth pole position of the 2025 season and was greeted by Kelly Piquet with a kiss and a heartwarming hug after an intense qualifying session. The Red Bull driver had a two-tenth advantage at the end of the session over his nearest rival, Lando Norris.
Verstappen arrived at the Abu Dhabi GP weekend with the hopes of claiming his fifth consecutive drivers’ world title. However, this task was understood to not be easy as he trails Norris by 12 points.
To have a realistic shot at the title, many had laid out the goal of starting out on pole position as a crucial one. Though it seemed difficult amid the strong pace of the McLaren duo, Verstappen was able to pull off two strong laps and would have scored the pole with either one of them.
Subsequently, when he got out of the car, Piquet was waiting there for him, as the pair then had an adorable moment together:
Meanwhile, this pole position also helped Max Verstappen take the record for most poles by a driver during the 2025 season.
Max Verstappen reflects on scoring pole position in Abu Dhabi
Max Verstappen returned to the front of the grid for the first time since Austin. Moreover, this result doesn’t come at a better time than what the Dutchman would have wanted.
Reflecting on his outing, he said on the F1TV broadcast:
“Well in Q2, I stayed on scrub tires. And I think those laps already felt quite decent, and then in Q3, around here track temp is coming down, you can push a bit more and that’s exactly what we did. We find a bit more lap time, and of course incredibly happy to be in first, that’s the only thing we can do, right? That’s the only thing that we can control trying to just maximize everything we have and what we can with the car, and we definitely did that in qualifying.”
Despite the initial tide of happiness, if the top-three finishes in the same order come the checkered flag, Lando Norris would be crowned the world champion. Verstappen’s race win wouldn’t affect the final standings as the Briton has a 12-point advantage over him.
So, for the reigning champion to remain at the helm of the F1 sphere, Norris would have to finish fourth or lower, which would help him complete his title resurgence. However, this means that Oscar Piastri would finish third in the standings. He had led the championship for the most amount of time this year, but would fade away from the title scenario if things didn’t go his way.
Edited by Geetansh Pasricha
