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Nico Rosberg takes pole for Abu Dhabi GP ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second Nico Rosberg takes pole for Abu Dhabi GP ahead of Lewis Hamilton in second
(about 2 hours later)
Nico Rosberg took first blood from Lewis Hamilton when he secured pole position for Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. There was a pensive expression on Lewis Hamilton’s face after his team-mate, Nico Rosberg, once again beat him to pole position here. It was the third race in a row that pole had gone to the German, who now leads Hamilton 11-7 in this regard this season. Hamilton, who needs to win or come second on Sunday to be certain of securing his second world title, has won 10 races to Rosberg’s five this season and leads the championship by 17 points.
In another untidy qualifying session, Hamilton was well-beaten in both runs and at one stage even looked in danger of finishing behind the Williams pair of Valterri Bottas and Felipe Massa, who are both expected to be competitive in the race. It was Mercedes’ 12th front-row lock-out of the season and extended Rosberg’s pole advantage to 12-7 over his great opponent. But Rosberg looked the more confident driver after qualifying and there was a sense that the biggest disappointment in Hamilton’s volatile career and one of the biggest upsets in the recent history of the sport could be about to unfold beside the desert dusk.
The consolation for Hamilton is that overtaking should be relatively straightforward, at least in theory, on the long straights and slow corners of this rather undemanding circuit. Hamilton has been the better driver this season and fully deserves the title, but if Rosberg wins the race and the championship it would be difficult to describe it as an outrage unless Hamilton loses on the double points rule. Had the old points system been in place for this race Hamilton would merely have had to finish in the top six to take the title, but he looks the more squeezed of the two Mercedes men.
Rosberg took provisional pole with a very neat lap in the penultimate run, even though he said he lost a couple of gears. Hamilton looked in the mood to improve on that but, once again, he was a little greedy with what he demanded from his car and locked up at the end of the lap to come in nestling between his team-mate and Massa on the timings. Hamilton said, rather flatly: “I am not particularly disappointed with it. Of course you always want to be on pole. I had good pace throughout qualifying and especially over long runs. Q1 and Q2 were good, in Q3 I didn’t really put a comfortable lap together, it just wasn’t a great lap.
Rosberg said: “It was a great day again. I was really happy with the set-up but it’s only one small step. I need to get the job done. I’m sure it’s going to be a great battle between the two of us.” Hamilton added: “Tomorrow is the special day.” “Nico did a great job but we are still there for the first tomorrow. I will just drive the same as I always drive.”
Hamilton had taken the psychological edge going into the qualifying shoot-out by topping Q2 ahead of Massa, Bottas and Rosberg, who made a mistake and had to abort his lap after running off the track. A chirpier Rosberg said: “If Lewis feels the pressure and makes a mistake as a result, like today, and a bit like Brazil, that is the opportunity I am looking for.
As McLaren prepare to decide who will partner Fernando Alonso next season, there was more disappointment for Kevin Magnussen, who failed to make it to Q3. Jenson Button did make it, despite the fact that he had to pit to be refuelled. “I pushed flat out all the time to keep the level extremely high. That is what I do, and I’ll try to go for the win and keep the pressure on.
Button sounded incredulous when he heard the message to come in. “Can I ask why?” he said. His engineer came back: “Yes, we need to fuel the car.” Button replied: “Are you serious?” Once again, however, Button proved he was faster than his young team-mate. “Qualifying was my strength this year, but that is not only half of it,” he said. “Sunday is what counts and that is where I have looked to improve recently, like Interlagos, where I made the step, and that is what I need to do tomorrow.”
Hamilton fans are out in force to cheer on their man, who is traditionally strong on this track but, for the moment at least, the momentum appears to be with Rosberg.
Jenson Button was once again faster than his young McLaren team-mate, Kevin Magnussen, who failed to make it into Q3. This could be Button’s last race in Formula One, and McLaren have been unfair on him – and on Magnussen – by not keeping him informed.
Button has hinted that he might walk out on McLaren after the race. Asked whether he would wait for the team’s decision he said, enigmatically: “That’s something I can’t comment on right now.”
He added: “I haven’t slept a lot. There has been a lot of thinking going on. It’s been a busy few weeks mentally, spending time speaking to people who know me best, running through everything in terms of career and future.
“My friends and family know me very well, but the one person who knew me best was the old boy [his father, John, who died in January].
“Whether I agreed with what he said, I would still take it in and that’s what has been the toughest part these last two months. I can’t just bounce stuff off him. I’ve spoken to Richard [Goddard, his manager] and I find wanting to call dad and relay the information because I know he would love to hear all the different ideas that I have. But I can’t do that. It’s made it very tricky, very emotional.
“I’m not a religious person at all but I’m quite spiritual and he was as well and my missus is. I’ll leave it at that,” he said, looking emotional.
Button said he would not have held a party even if he knew that this would be his last race. “No way, not interested. I’m not here for looking back and people telling me I’ve done a good job or not done a good job in front of loads of other people watching.” He has invited his mother and three sisters to the race.
Sergio Perez has finally signed a new contract with Force India. He has long been in negotiations about extending his deal and the Mexican, who will race for the team in 2015 and 2016, said: “It’s good to announce my plans.”
Meanwhile, Bernie Ecclestone has apologised for using the word “beggars” to describe the struggling teams in Formula One. As Caterham and Marussia slipped into administration last month, and Lotus, Force India and Sauber suggested they were ready to boycott the race in Texas on 2 November, Ecclestone said: “We don’t want begging bowls. If people can’t afford to be in Formula One they have to find something else to do.”
But Ecclestone and Donald Mackenzie, the chairman of CVC Capital Partners, the sport’s majority shareholder, invited the three teams who had considered going on strike to a meeting before qualifying.
The Lotus owner, Gérard Lopez, said “We brought it up and there was a retraction.” He also said that “the penny had dropped” regarding the smaller teams’ plea for a more equitable method of distributing the money in the sport. Negotiations are continuing.