F1 Abu Dhabi 2025 GP live: Start time for crucial qualifying session today as Norris holds title advantage – UK Times

• Free practice 3: 10:30am
• Qualifying: 2pm

“If they’re in the position that Max is on course to win, and Oscar can allow Lando… I wouldn’t want to win a championship because my teammate has pulled over, especially if he’s been my rival that year.

“When it’s clearly someone who’s been a number two all season, I think that’s fine. I don’t think it’s right at this stage to do any team orders; you’ve just got to accept fate.”

Asked what he’d do if put in Piastri’s potentially difficult position, Russell joked: “It’s easier to unplug the radio!”

The papaya-clad team, who wrapped up the constructors’ title in October, have opted against prioritising either Norris or Piastri throughout the season. However, in a change of approach, Brown has now acknowledged that McLaren will intervene in Sunday’s race in order to seal the drivers’ title.

For all the smugness radiating off the face of Max Verstappen and, by the same token, the fumes of red mist emitting from furious McLaren duo Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, perhaps the first words should go to the true winner of the Qatar Grand Prix: Red Bull’s cool-headed strategy chief, Hannah Schmitz.

For it was Schmitz, the 40-year-old Cambridge-educated engineer, who made the critical call amid yellow flags and muddled thinking on Sunday night. On lap seven, a crash and a safety car created a door of opportunity. Red Bull, and every other team on the grid for that matter, walked straight through. McLaren, however, turned a blind eye.

“The trophy looks the same. I have four of those at home, so it’s nice to add a fifth. I know my signature.

“Of course you always try to win it. But at the same time, I’ve already achieved all that I wanted to achieve in F1, and everything else is just a bonus.

“I just keep doing it because I love it and I enjoy it. I’m very relaxed, I have nothing to lose, and I’m just enjoying being here.”

This weekend’s three-way fight in the desert is the first F1 championship-decider involving more than two drivers for 15 years. Back then, a four-way hammer-and-tong concluded with a surprise champion at the chequered flag: Sebastian Vettel’s first of four triumphs, and other shock winners before him on the final day, are telling case studies for Sunday’s final curtain call.

Mercedes are 33 points ahead of Red Bull in the battle for second in the championship.

1. McLaren – 800 points (champions)

6. Racing Bulls – 92 points

7. Aston Martin – 80 points

“Class of 2025. We’re the only people in the world to do what we do and for that we’re incredibly lucky. I’m grateful for this group of drivers I have the privilege of racing against and even though we’re competitors, there’s nothing but respect and I’m proud to call them friends.

“Hope to give you all a great last race of the season.”

Can Norris join this special list?

1. Mike Hawthorn (1958)
2. Graham Hill (1962, 1968)
3. Jim Clark (1963, 1965)
4. John Surtees (1964)2)
5. Sir Jackie Stewart (1969, 1971, 1973)
6. James Hunt (1976)
7. Nigel Mansell (1992)
8. Damon Hill (1996)
9. Lewis Hamilton (2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
10. Jenson Button (2009)