P1racenews AI automatic summary:
"Weird" for Verstappen to claim F1 Abu Dhabi GP pole after struggles
Max Verstappen, the three-time champion, secured his 12th pole position of the season by beating Charles Leclerc by 0.139 seconds, despite struggling with the car throughout practice. Verstappen found it “very weird” to be at the top of the timing screens considering the difficulties he faced in controlling the car. His race engineer even joked about Verstappen owing an apology to the car. However, Verstappen felt that they made improvements for qualifying and the car felt more connected and easier to push. He mentioned that they had limited track time in FP2 due to red flags, causing the balance of the car to be off, but believes they can still perform well in the race. Verstappen described this season as “very special” and he has enjoyed it a lot, despite the challenges they faced.
