Qualification: Hamilton takes pole, ahead of the Red Bulls

Lewis Hamilton will start in pole position for the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Formula 1 history. He will also be the last poleman of the 2009 season. The Brit on the McLaren-Mercedes dominated this qualifying session under the setting sun, ahead of the two Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Sébastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso and Kamui Kobayashi in the Toyota delivered remarkable performances, unlike Ferrari but especially Renault, which ends the year at the bottom of the standings.

The qualifying session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the first of its kind and the last of the 2009 season, showcased all its charm on television and saw Lewis Hamilton recording the fastest time of the day. The Englishman will therefore start tomorrow, in the final race of the season, from pole position. He was over six-tenths of a second faster than the Red Bull cars of Vettel and Webber, which remained competitive despite the restriction on the number of engines that could be used. The two energy drink team drivers are indeed under pressure and could not afford to damage their engines, at the risk of losing 10 grid places tomorrow.

The Brawn GP team is already titled, but Barrichello and Button are still at the top. The Brazilian is in 4th place, on the second row, while his teammate, the reigning world champion, will start from 5th position.

Since the beginning of the weekend, the McLarens seemed capable of securing the front row. However, this afternoon after the start of Q2, the hopes of the silver arrows faded when Kovalainen abandoned his car at the edge of the track. The Finn could have challenged his teammate for pole but will eventually start 13th, with a gearbox problem and the risk of losing another five places tomorrow on the grid if it needs to be changed. Many mistakes were seen today, but no other incidents were reported. The track offers many run-off areas forgiving of errors.

In such conditions, the rookies stand out. Thus, Sébastien Buemi in the Toro Rosso enters Q3 and the top 10. He is 10th and well ahead of Alguersuari, his teammate (15th). Both BMWs are also in the top 10. The team is running their last Grand Prix and finishes the season impressively by completing the 4th row of the starting grid. Trulli (Toyota) and Rosberg (Williams) are the other two drivers in Q3. The second Toyota, driven by Timo Glock’s replacement and rookie Kobayashi, could also have claimed a spot in Q3. The Japanese driver misses out by just a few thousandths, eliminated by Räikkönen and then Rosberg. Kimi Räikkönen also did not participate in Q3, securing 11th place. However, he performs significantly better than his teammate, as Giancarlo Fisichella is in last place…

Renault finds itself in a situation worse than the Scuderia. Fernando Alonso fails to set up his R29 and doesn’t even make it to Q2. The same goes for Romain Grosjean who, as fate would have it, confesses to being hindered by his teammate during his two fast laps. The Frenchman may be racing his last weekend for Renault and qualifies 19th… Both Force India cars also failed to make it to Q2. Liuzzi is ahead of Sutil for the 17th and 18th positions.

Results of the Qualifications – Abu Dhabi GP – Saturday, October 31, 2009: