Qualifying Highlights | 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

DRIVERS

1 – Lando NORRIS (McLaren)

2 – Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren)

3 – Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari)

TRACK INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by James Hinchcliffe)

Q: Your polesitter for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lando Norris! An incredible lap out there, and really a best-case scenario for the Constructors’ battle, McLaren 1-2. Just talk us through the run for you?

Lando NORRIS: I didn’t hear a thing you said, but thanks. Yeah, a perfect day for us. Probably a little bit tougher than we were hoping for. You know, we’ve been very quick all weekend, so we’re pleased with the 1-2, but it was just a bit trickier than we would have liked, but my lap, in the end, was strong, and, yeah, just how we wanted to end today.

Q: Now, you go into the race, obviously, with a pretty healthy lead in the Constructors’ battle, Ferrari not having as good a day as they would have hoped, but when you go into the race, is it about finishing 1-2, trying to go for that ultimate result, or is it more about covering off Ferrari just to make sure they don’t have some risky strategy that benefits from a Safety Car?

LN: I mean, we’ve got to beat Ferrari. That’s the name. But we want to do it in style and we want to win. I want to win, you know. So we know what we have to do. We’re keeping our heads down. We’re staying focused. But, you know, we’re here to win everywhere it’s possible. And tomorrow we’re going to have a good chance, at least with one of our cars. And we’ll be giving it everything we’ve got. knowing in the back of our minds what we really have to do to achieve our big goals. So I’m very happy. The team have done an incredible job, so a big thanks to them. And, yeah, always a nice qualifying to end the year.

Q: Allright, well, eighth pole on the season, ninth of your career. Congratulations. Best of luck tomorrow.

LN: Thank you so much.

Q: Oscar, P2 on the day. So close to that first pole position, but another front-row start and a dream start for the McLaren team. We saw conditions were different to yesterday, a bit cooler, a bit windier. How tricky was it out there?

Oscar PIASTRI: Yeah, it was a bit trickier today compared to last night. And, yeah, I think we took a while to find our feet in qualifying, but we got there in the end. And, yeah, great result for the team. So happy with that. Last lap, yeah, I wish I could have had it again, but that’s OK, P2 is still a good spot. And, yeah, obviously for the team, you know, first and second is the dream at the moment. So let’s keep it going for tomorrow.

Q: You had that little situation there with the track limits where the lap was taken away, then it was reinstated. What’s that conversation like between you and the engineer during that time where you’re not sure if you get to keep the lap or not?

Q: I mean, I didn’t say much at the time, but I thought if it was out, it wasn’t by much, and clearly it was in, by not much! So, yeah, I just kept my head down and knew I had to try and do a good final lap. You know, my last lap was quicker anyway, but just not quite quick enough. So, no, it was a bit of a tense moment, but it was a little bit reassuring knowing that I at least had that lap, but, you know, I knew I had to try and find a bit more anyway.

Q: Locking out of the front row, obviously great for the team, but how important is it in the last race of the season to end with a strong result to carry that momentum into the winter?

OP: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think we’ll do whatever we can to make sure we win the championship, and that’s by far the biggest goal tomorrow. You know, I’m sure we’d both love to win the race, but I’m sure everyone would love to win the championship even more. So we’ll make sure that happens and have some fun tomorrow.

Q: Alright, best of luck. Congratulations, P2 Oscar Piastri. And lining up P3 for tomorrow’s race, Carlos Sainz. You came into the weekend with McLaren looked like they had a decent amount of pace. You must be really proud to be just behind them in P3.

Carlos SAINZ: Yeah, I think we’ve made some good progress through the weekend. I think McLaren have showed all weekend that they’re a bit of a step ahead compared to everyone, really. And we were just there behind, two, three tenths off. When it came to Q1 and Q2, it looked like we were getting a bit closer. I put together some really good laps in Q1 and Q2, but then in Q3 when they put everything together, they still had this little advantage over us. Anyway, still a race to do tomorrow, and we will give it everything to see if we can win that race and give ourselves the best chance.

Q: Yeah, the Constructor’s battle might be a tough ask for sure, but for you, heading into your last race with Ferrari, starting on the second row there, how much would it mean to you to be able to sign off this chapter of your career with a win?

CS: Well, I’m going to give it everything. You know, already today, I was pushing in qualifying like never before, because I wanted the pole position, and I wanted to give myself a good chance for tomorrow, as it might be my last battle for a win or for a podium in a while. But at the same time, yeah, enjoying as much as possible this last weekend, pushing flat out, and tomorrow, nothing to lose, so we will go for it.

Q: And just finally, some of the emotions heading into that last race. Like you say, it’s so important to end it on a high note. Is it tough to control the emotion and just focus on the job at hand?

CS: If I’m very honest with you, I have not been very emotional this weekend just because the level of focus is so high and there’s so much at stake, with the opportunity to win and to fight for the Constructors’ that I don’t really get any time to really think about it and let it sink in. I’m pretty sure tomorrow before the race or after the race, it will start to hit. But at the same time, yeah, I’m just going to make the most out of it and keep enjoying these last few races like I’ve been doing up until now, driving well and, yeah, enjoying it.

PRESS CONFERENCE 

Q: Brilliant job, Lando. Very well done to you. Just how sweet was that final lap of Q3?

LN: It was very good, yeah. Quali was a bit of a struggle, honestly. We just expected, probably, to be a little bit better than what we were. The weekend so far has been quite straightforward from our side. It just seems like everyone caught up a lot come qualifying, and we had to start pushing a lot more. It was a good lap. It was not the cleanest, but sometimes when you’re close enough to the edge and it’s just a little bit untidy, sometimes it’s actually quite a nice place to be. So I had a couple snaps, and I had a big snap into 9, the high speed. I just made a mistake. That hurt me a touch, but otherwise it was a nice lap. I put the rest of it together pretty well. Just not an easy circuit to do. We had a bit to gain in quali, because Max was looking a little bit quicker than us through the most part of it. So I knew I had to pull something out.

Q: What about the conditions? Tell us about the wind, how that was affecting the car, even the track conditions themselves.

LN: Yeah, I mean, the track’s been quick all weekend. You know, comparing to last year, we’re quite a bit quicker. The cars are probably part of it, too. But the track’s been good. The wind’s been fairly consistent. Obviously, it rises through the day and dies away a bit through the night time. It has an effect but it’s been quite consistent the whole weekend. So once you understand it, you know where you can push and use the wind and where you have to be a bit more on the cautious side and try and avoid it.

Q: Let’s throw it forward to the Grand Prix itself. Excuse me. You’re carrying a little more downforce than some of your rivals. Do you think that’ll make you a little bit vulnerable along the straights?

LN: I wouldn’t be so sure about that. But if that’s your analysis, then… We’ll see. I think on a day like today with DRS and things, it’s probably not our biggest strength. I think come the race, things even out a little bit more. So potentially, we knew we’d be a little bit on the back foot today with straight-line speed. We’re hoping tomorrow it kind of comes back to us, because comparing to Ferrari, we’re a little bit down. And comparing to Red Bull, we’re quite a chunk down. It’s not necessarily just downforce. We’re at the lowest of what our wing can provide. The next step for us is too big. So maybe other people are just in more of a sweet spot and more in an optimal range this weekend than we are ourselves. The car’s been great all weekend. It’s performing well, and we’ll make sure it does the same tomorrow.

Q: As you say, the car’s been performing all weekend. It’s a McLaren front row, just with one eye on the Constructors’ Championship. Now, how much easier does this front row lockout make the job tomorrow?

LN: I mean, I feel like Zak’s probably more nervous that we’re first and second than if we were not, so… It gives us good knowledge that the car is great, of course. I think we’ve both been driving well this weekend, and we knew the pressure was on, from ourselves. So we’ve both performed well. We’ve both got everything out of the car. But this is a long race, and many things can happen. So we’re definitely not going to get ahead of ourselves. We know we have a little bit of a gap in terms of positions. We’re in a much more fortunate position than what Ferrari are. He’s going to be putting up a good fight for his final race with Ferrari. You know, he’s going to want to prove his point. And I’m excited to battle if that’s the case.

Q: Alright. Very well done today. Thank you for that, Lando. Oscar, let’s come to you now. Your sixth career front row start for McLaren. Let’s start by talking about that final lap in Q3. How pleased are you?

OP: Yeah, it wasn’t the best final lap. There’s a couple of corners that I definitely would like to have again. But, you know, I’ll take the front row. You know, it’s been a bit of a tricky few weekends in qualifying. So, you know, the result at least is nice. But yeah, I knew that there was a couple of places immediately where I left a bit on the table. So, nope, that’s how it is at the top end of the sport. You can’t leave anything there because you’ll get eaten alive. And unfortunately did that today. And, you know, that’s why I’m not on pole. So, yeah, probably wish I had that one again.

Q: And were your preparations for that second lap affected by the uncertainty to do with the track limits on your first run of Q3?

OP: It didn’t help, but I knew starting the lap or even leaving the pits that that lap was at least on the board again, but I knew that I would need more to keep at least that position, or obviously I want to go for pole. So I knew I needed more anyway. And I found a bit more, just not quite enough. So yeah, it was a slightly stressful few minutes. I didn’t really dwell on it too much but I did think I was in. Clearly it was so close that they’ve probably given me the benefit of the doubt, but yeah it wasn’t exactly ideal.

Q: now there’s been a lot of speculation coming into this final week weekend as to who’s going to have the faster car, McLaren or Ferrari. are you surprised with the pace of your car? were you expecting a front-row lockout?

OP: Not necessarily. I think it is extremely tight and not just with the teams we expected it to be tight with. You know, you’ve got a pretty jumbled up grid the whole way through. You know, Haas have looked very quick at points. Obviously, Hülkenberg’s on the second row. Yeah, I think our pace through practice was, we almost felt it was a bit too good to be true and I think when we got to qualifying, that was potentially the case a bit. I think there’s no questioning that we’ve clearly had a strong car and the strongest this weekend. It was all coming a little bit too easily to believe in practice. So, you know, we still had our work cut out for us. Q1 and Q2 weren’t as straightforward as we would have liked as a team, I think. But, yeah, Q3 was a little bit more comfortable again. And, yeah, a 1-2 was nice. But I definitely didn’t think this was guaranteed going into the week.

Q: Oscar, thank you for that. Very well done today. Carlos, if we could come to you now. Your best qualifying result here in Abu Dhabi. It looked like a great session for you. Tell us about the car. Tell us about that last lap.

CS: Yeah, I felt like I did some very good, very clean laps in Q1 and Q2, probably finding the limit of the car very early on in qualifying and then giving myself and giving maybe the team a bit of hope that we could fight for pole position. But I think as soon as these two guys started putting, I think, a good lap together in Q3… I think my lap was pretty good. Obviously, there’s always little things here and there that you would like to change. But when Lando talks about that he didn’t quite nail Turn 9 or he did a small mistake, then you realise that it’s the same for everyone. And, you know, we’ve been a weekend three to four tenths behind. I’ll take being two tenths off in quali and hopefully we can match their race pace and get in the fight tomorrow.

Q: Have you been surprised by McLaren’s pace so far this weekend?

CS: I think realistically, once you look in detail the layout of the track, I think I kind of understand that they are a bit quicker. If all the track was long straights and Turn 6 and 7s, then I think we would be flying around here. But unfortunately, we have Turn 1, we have Turn 9, where the McLaren is a clear step ahead of us, like we saw in Qatar. And yeah, they’re simply a better package for this circuit. It’s unfortunate, you know, that the last two races of the season, it’s come to tracks where maybe the McLaren is just that last tenth, two tenths quicker. But at the same time, that’s how the season goes. And if that’s the case, we should have done our homework earlier.

Q: Charles’ grid penalty. You’re starting P3 behind a McLaren front row lockout. Just how difficult is the job now with regards to the Constructors’ Championship?

CS: Yeah, I think it was already extremely difficult. It was, like I said, a bit of a mission impossible already before the weekend started. Then we arrived to FP1 and Charles’ battery died before running and the grid penalty obviously was a huge shock, a huge blow. On top of that, you get the Q2 situation for Charles. It just makes things obviously a lot more difficult. But at the same time, It is very likely that even in a perfect weekend where we both nail laps in Q3 and we even fight for the win, these two guys are still up there. So it was always going to be difficult. It’s just made our life even more difficult. But until the chequered flag comes down tomorrow, you know, anything can happen. And I’m going to keep fighting for whatever comes. And I’m sure Charles from the back will push flat out to get every single point available and see what happens with the McLarens.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR 

Q: (Alex Kalinauckas – Autosport) A question to Oscar, please. Just about that final run in Q3, did you have to take a bit more margin at Turn 1, given what happened on the first run? And just how hard was the challenge, bearing in mind, like Carlos said, that’s where your car is good? 

CS: I didn’t have to take more margin, but I did by accident. Yeah, I lost a decent amount of time through Turn 1, which was a shame. But I obviously had in mind that even though the lap got given back, I obviously knew it was incredibly close. But yeah, I probably gave a little bit more margin than I wanted to. So that was a bit of a shame. You know, I think if it hadn’t have been taken away, then given back, maybe I would have been a little bit more aggressive through there. But, you know, that’s how it is. It’s the same rules for everybody. So, yep, I’ll just take P2.

Q: (Luke Smith – The Athletic) Carlos, a question for you. Obviously, it’s an emotional weekend, I guess, for you as a Ferrari driver. I know there’s that focus on the Constructors’, but how do you think it’s going to feel tomorrow waking up as a Ferrari driver for the last time and putting on the famous red suit for that final time?

CS: Yeah, I don’t know how it’s going to feel. I can only tell you how it feels up until now and I can tell you the level of focus of the whole team and my level of focus has been so high to try and execute a perfect weekend and try to win the race tomorrow and try to be on pole today, that honestly I haven’t had much time to be emotional, apart from obviously little details that the team is doing so far to make me feel at home and feel proud of this last race with the team. But at the same time, I’m pretty sure tomorrow before the race or after the race, it will start to sink in. It will start to hit me a bit and it will get emotional. But the truth is that up until now, I’ve had no time for that. We’re all so focused and we all want that constructors or that last win together. You know that you have no time to get too emotional, but tomorrow I will for sure.

Q: (Matt Coch – Speed Café) To both McLaren drivers, do you dare to dream about the title? I guess specifically for Lando having been at the team for a little bit longer and been, I guess, at the lows there. Will it feel a little bit extra special having ridden that rollercoaster the whole way through?

OP: Yeah, I think it will be very special if we can pull it off. You know, you obviously don’t want to speak about it too much before the race. But even in my two seasons with the team, we’ve gone on quite the roller coaster from the team principal change before my first race. The car was a bit slower than what I thought I’d signed up for. And then from one weekend to the next, it seemed, it went from being struggling to get into the points to almost being able to fight for a podium. So I think even for myself, it would really mean a lot. And I think McLaren’s come close a few times, but never had this kind of opportunity in the last 25 years. So it would be very, very special to be one of the two drivers to bring McLaren back to the top and be part of that next chapter of history.

LN: The difference for me probably is just being at the team for a longer period. Yeah, Oscar’s probably fortunate not to go through those first few years that we’ve had. I mean, there’s some very fun years. Yeah, that’s true. We didn’t start off great last year, but I had some great times. Started off with this guy [Sainz] and we made progress, stepped back, made progress, stepped back. Nothing ever clicked, really, and never continued to grow. And it was hard just to break that barrier of getting close to Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull, you know, because for such a long period of time, they’ve been the guys who have dominated Formula 1. Now, not only have we broken that barrier over the last year and a half, we’ve risen to the top of it and to become the best team and leading and hopefully to go on to win. I don’t think, simply from the outside, people would give McLaren and my team enough credit for what they’ve done, what they’ve turned around, because it’s not an easy sport. It may look simple at times from the outside and things like that. And even I think sometimes things are more simple than what they look. But to go from where we were to outdo… You know, Ferrari have turned things around a lot over the last couple of years and to catch Red Bull, which I’ve said a couple of times, and Max, who, yeah, one year ago dominated every race. for that to flip around so much, we can only just give a hats off to the whole team, because a lot of things have changed. People have come and gone, and Andrea has done an incredible job. So to be part of this whole story, to be part of it not long after Zak joined McLaren and started changing things and making McLaren into a slightly more happy place than it was prior, I’ve been along the journey with Zak, and we’ve gone through a lot of things together, highs and lows and emotional times. So it definitely has been a longer rise to get to where we are, which has been fun and I’ve really loved it and I’ve enjoyed it. And I think the thing I’ll be proudest and most happy about is the fact I’m still here. The fact I’m still in papaya because I believed in the team for many years. I had opportunities to not be in papaya and to maybe go on and win races at an earlier stage in my career and those kind of things. I had those opportunities, but I believed and I wanted to simply do it with McLaren. I wanted to do it with the guys who gave me my opportunity in Formula 1. And as much as we didn’t think it was going to be possible this year, we’re hoping for next year. And next year was our kind of in-line target, on-paper target. The fact we’re doing it this year is an even bigger achievement. Job not done, and Andrea will be happy that I say it, but I’m proud to be on this journey, to have been on it with McLaren for so many years, and I’ll be very happy when hopefully it’s all finished off.

Q: (Rodrigo França – Car Magazine Brazil) Question to the three of you. Following up on that question, do you think that fans are now understanding more that this Formula 1 is a team sport, because the Constructors’ Championship is getting a lot of attention here and normally they only give attention to the F1 Drivers’ Championship. As I think you said, Lando, and maybe the comment of Oscar and Carlos, how important is for you as a driver to win a Constructors’ Championship?

Q: I think Lando’s just answered that, haven’t you? You’ve just answered that, really. Do you want to add anything you want to add? Oscar and Carlos, please.

OP: Yes, it means a lot. I think when you join F1… As a fan, I think it can be very difficult to understand why the Constructors’ Championship means so much. And it’s not just the financial benefits that the team gets. Of course that is a big bonus but I think the pride of so many people and I think that’s what people struggle to understand and what I struggled to understand before I joined F1 is just how many people you know, preparing two race cars for Lando and I, and giving everything, you know, all their skills, all their time, sacrificing things in their life, pushing through things in their life just to see us succeed. And I think until you’re actually involved in that, it’s very, very difficult to understand it. So, yeah, I think probably there’s a bit more attention now because it’s been such a tight fight. I don’t want to say it’s McLaren, because I’m part of the team, but it’s something we haven’t achieved as a team for 25 years. And I feel like we’ve always had a good fan base through even the tough years. So I think we have a lot of people wanting us to do well. And we’re just someone new compared to the last 15 years. So I think that’s probably why there’s a bit more attention on it. But it does mean a lot, even to us as drivers.

CS: Yeah, I fully agree. I think every fan or every journalist or maybe every person that is not fully or doesn’t fully buy the Constructors’ Championship, the moment you visit a Formula 1 factory, you understand why it exists and why it’s so important. Because when you visit a Formula 1 factory and you see more than a thousand people working for just us drivers to take the car and make it perform. We are just the last bit of the chain that there is behind all these teams and every single guy from the team counts in that difference and it’s the drivers’ job and team principal’s job and the main engineers’ job to make these people feel like it counts. So every single one can make a hundredth of a difference in the team and those hundredths add up to the last tenth that maybe made McLaren quicker today and That is where all that last difference is and why it’s so important. On top of that, I think Formula 1 is in a good space right now, with a level playing field between driver being important, but also the team. I think teams are given more equal opportunity to fight. And it’s not only all about budget. It’s the people, it’s the infrastructure that you can have, that you can achieve. And you can see it with McLaren, you can see it with the top four teams right now, we are all within a couple of tenths of one another, and it makes the Drivers’ Championship more fair because the driver can make more of a difference, but also the Constructors’ Championship more fair. And it’s a shame in a way that this is resetting in ‘26 because I feel like Formula 1 is for once in a very, very long time achieving a level playing field among all teams and all drivers to show who is the best team but who is also the best driver. And yeah, I think that’s it’s a bit of a pity.

Q: (Adrian Huber – Agencia EFE) Carlos, obviously you would like to finish these four years with Ferrari with a win but would you sign up to repeat today’s position tomorrow? 

CS: No, I wouldn’t sign up for a P3 because I know we’re capable of more and as Lando said, I also have a bit less to lose tomorrow. We know we need to do more than what we did today and we’re going to go for it tomorrow, because, one, we need it for the Constructors’. If we want to have a shot at winning, we need to win tomorrow and one of the McLarens to have an issue and Charles to get back in the points. And two, I also want to win. This might be my last chance at winning in a few years and my last chance of being on a podium for a few years. And I want to make sure I leave the weekend with no regrets and with never feeling that I could have, yeah, not given myself that chance. So, yeah, I feel like I’ve put myself in a good position for tomorrow. But yeah, tomorrow we go again.