\u2018Nothing to lose\u2019: Wild Verstappen call; Piastri\u2019s title pathway revealed \u2014 F1 Talking Points<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765088290_713_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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\u201cFunny things can happen, that\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned,\u201d Piastri said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom where I\u2019m sat, I need things to happen in the race to win the championship. So, I\u2019ll wait and see if those things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Piastri, who is 16 points behind his teammate in the standings, is the outside in the three-way battle for the title and will be more than aware that there hasn\u2019t been a winner off the front row in the last 12 races in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy last lap in Q3 was pretty good and there wasn\u2019t a lot left in that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMax has looked very quick in the long runs so let\u2019s see how much pace is a factor tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – DECEMBER 06: Third placed qualifier Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren is interviewed in parc ferme during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit on December 06, 2025 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli\/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Norris will claim a maiden crown if he makes the podium irrespective of where the other two come.<\/p>\n
Verstappen, Red Bull\u2019s four-time world champion, clocked a best lap time of one minute and 22.207 seconds to beat series leader Norris by 0.201sec and Piastri by 0.230sec.<\/p>\n
A nervy Norris needs to finish on the podium to land his maiden title while the 28-year-old Dutchman has to win and hope for assistance from others if he is to claim a record-equalling fifth consecutive drivers\u2019 title.<\/p>\n
It was Verstappen\u2019s eighth pole this year and the 48th of his career. The two McLaren drivers were disappointed at the outcome, knowing that the last 10 Abu Dhabi races have been won by the driver in pole position.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, I am incredible happy to be in first and that\u2019s the only thing we can do,\u201d said Verstappen, who has won four times in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was great work from everyone and let\u2019s go out and have some fun tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n
Norris said he was disappointed to miss out on pole, but he would race to win on Sunday even if his 12-point lead over the 28-year-old Dutchman allows him to settle for second or third.<\/p>\n
\u201cMax did a good job so congrats to him,\u201d said Norris. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe did everything we could and my lap was pretty good. We weren\u2019t fast enough today. I still want to win and that\u2019s how I am going into the race.\u201d <\/p>\n
Piastri in pit lane, where is McLaren? | 00:12<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, George Russell qualified fourth for Mercedes ahead of Ferrari\u2019s Charles Leclerc, two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin, Gabriel Bortoleto of Sauber and Esteban Ocon of Haas.<\/p>\n
Racing Bulls\u2019 Red Bull-bound rookie Isack Hadjar was ninth ahead of the man he will replace Yuki Tsunoda Ferrari\u2019s seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton failed to proceed from Q1 for the third consecutive race.<\/p>\n
Hamilton was one of the first to clock a time at the start, his Ferrari repaired after a final practice crash earlier, but he finished two-tenths slower than Leclerc to become the first Ferrari driver to record three Q1 exits.<\/p>\n
He will start 16th on the grid but will perhaps take some solace from the memory of last season when he finished fourth in the race after again starting 16th.<\/p>\n
Alex Albon in the Williams, Sauber\u2019s Nico Hulkenberg and the Alpine\u2019s of Pierre Gasly and Gabriel Colapinto also went out in Q1.<\/p>\n
They were followed in Q2 by Mercedes\u2019 rookie Kimi Antonelli who exited in 14th along with Oliver Bearman of Haas, Williams\u2019 Carlos Sainz, Racing Bulls\u2019 Liam Lawson and Lance Stroll of Aston Martin.<\/p>\n
Verstappen was the only title contender with two sets of new softs saved for Q3 and, relishing his moment, he clocked 1:22.295 with help from a tow from Tsunoda, to set the pace, beating both McLaren men on his initial run by three-tenths and four-tenths.<\/p>\n
It was a slipstreaming tactic that was not available to the McLarens, unless they used team orders – an advantage that Russell requested by asking to rejoin for his final run behind the Dutchman.<\/p>\n
Verstappen, however, needed no assistance and delivered a stunning final lap to take pole, affirming his status as one of the greatest exponents of pure speed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri remains a chance to win the Formula One world championship after positioning himself third behind Max…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[944,1724,64,63,120814,4971,13275,184389,22304,845,36630,20675,185764,185766,3875,2105,10114,10115,1737,21772,823,122762,825,806,805,803,804,5242,25586,16280,185765,13777,182893,35454,22295,22305,85,31283,185762,23055,183306,29994,12000,2086],"class_list":["post-332201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bryn-lennon","tag-carlos-sainz","tag-charles-leclerc","tag-dodges-question","tag-esteban-ocon","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-final-practice","tag-four-time-world-champion","tag-funny-things","tag-gabriel-colapinto","tag-george-russell","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-isack-hadjar","tag-kimi-antonelli","tag-lando-norris","tag-lap-time","tag-lewis-hamilton","tag-maiden-title","tag-max-verstappen","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-oliver-bearman","tag-pit-lane","tag-pole-position","tag-qualifier-results","tag-qualifying-session","tag-receiving-praise","tag-season-finale","tag-series-leader","tag-seven-time-champion","tag-sports","tag-team-orders","tag-tense-qualifying-session","tag-title-contender","tag-united-arab","tag-united-arab-emirates","tag-western-asia","tag-world-championship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332201\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}