On Track

Sebastian stars in his final F1 qualifying

Sebastian will start from ninth for his final Formula One Grand Prix, while Lance qualified 14th on the grid at Yas Marina.

The team added more laps on the Soft tyre in an unrepresentative Free Practice Three, before Sebastian and Lance both fought for grid position in a very tight qualifying session.

Sebastian was able to work his way into the final part of qualifying despite traffic at the end of both Q1 and Q2, while Lance was able to consistently improve on his times throughout the day.

Sebastian

Sebastian started his Saturday by scrubbing in a set each of the Hard and Medium tyres before spending a little bit of time in the pits.

He then took to the track on the Soft tyres and put in his best lap early in the session of 1.26.481 before a red flag brought his stint to an end after eight laps.

He left the garage on a second set of Softs after the session resumed and improved to a 1.26.012 which was his best time of the session and good enough for ninth-fastest.

Practice report by Aramco

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As the first qualifying segment got underway, Sebastian left on a fresh set of Soft tyres.

He put in a couple of quick laps, with a 1.26.260 being his best before he switched to another set of new Softs for his final run.

Despite several cars being slow in the final sector, Sebastian was able to put in a magnificent lap to safety get into Q2 in sixth with a 1.25.523.

In Q2, Sebastian started on a used set of Soft tyres and put in a 1.25.661. .

He then swapped to a new set of the red-sidewalled tyre and improved considerably to put in a 1.24.974 – despite traffic in the final sector again – to get through into the final part of qualifying.

For Sebastian's last qualifying lap in F1, he was on a new set of Soft tyres and went out early and put in a 1.24.961 – marginally improving on his Q2 time – for ninth on the grid for his final Grand Prix.

"Overall, my final qualifying in Formula One was a good session. The car is doing what I want this weekend and this has contributed to this decent result.

"I have been very motivated and it felt as if there was a bit extra in me today.

"We did have some traffic in Q1 and Q2 with a Red Bull at the last corner, but the lap in Q3 was clean.

"I am looking forward to the race – my last one in Formula One – and I hope we will be able to deliver a good result for the team as I end my journey with everyone at Aston Martin F1.

"Anything can happen here and we will try to maximise our chances tomorrow."

Lance

As FP3 got underway, Lance wasted no time getting onto the circuit and scrubbing in a set of Hard and Medium tyres.

He then switched to Soft tyres, and improved his time throughout the stint to a 1.26.886 before a red flag halted the session.

After that, he took to the track on another set of Soft tyres and completed 10 laps on that set, improving to 1.26.298 in the process, to finish 16th overall.

For qualifying, Lance started the first segment on new Soft tyres and put in a couple of flying laps with a 1.26.242 being his best effort.

As the time ticked, Lance returned to the track on another new set of Softs and improved in all three sectors to get through to Q2 in 13th in a very tight session.

In Q2, Lance started on a used set of Soft tyres and put in a 1.25.996 early on before switching to another new set of that compound.

Despite improving on his best time in all three sectors, Lance was unable to make it beyond Q2 having put in a best time of 1.25.359.

With that, Lance will start Sunday's Grand Prix from 14th on the grid alongside Daniel Ricciardo, who picked up a penalty for an incident in the previous race.

"I was happy with my final lap in Q2: it was good and clean, but we just lacked a little bit of speed to Sebastian, who has had a really good day in his final qualifying.

"Crucially, we have qualified ahead of both Alfa Romeos and the car has been behaving really well this weekend.

"We will look to move forward into the points. It will be a long race and we have lots to fight for tomorrow."

Mike Krack, Team Principal

"It was hot today in Abu Dhabi - but, as usual, given the 6.00pm start time, the track cooled during the qualifying hour.

"Both drivers progressed smoothly through to Q2. Thereafter, Sebastian managed to get through to Q3, but Lance narrowly failed to do so.

"Tomorrow, starting from P9 and P14, our ambition remains to do our utmost to win sixth place in the Constructors' World Championship."