F1 qualifying LIVE: Max Verstappen takes pole position ahead of Sergio Perez at Abu Dhabi GP

Max Verstappen races to a “different set of limits” when faced with Lewis Hamilton on track, claims F1 pundit Martin Brundle.

Verstappen and Hamilton, arch rivals for the World Championship in 2021, clashed in the Brazilian Grand Prix on Sunday straight after a safety car period, with two-time world champion Verstappen receiving a five-second penalty.

The duo clashed numerous times last year, most notably at Imola, Silverstone and Monza, as they fought thrillingly for the world title won by Verstappen in dramatic and controversial fashion on the last lap of the season-finale at Abu Dhabi.

Yet Sky F1 pundit and ex-Formula 1 driver Brundle says the evidence suggests the Dutchman competes differently with seven-time world champion Hamilton compared to anyone else on the grid.

Mick Schumacher is facing a fight to save his Formula One career after being dropped by Haas.

The son of the seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will be replaced by Nico Hulkenberg next year.

Hulkenberg, 35, has been without a full-time seat on the grid since 2019, but following a number of substitute appearances in recent seasons, will team up with Kevin Magnussen in 2023.

Schumacher, 23, followed in his father’s footsteps by landing an F1 drive in 2021. However, Haas has decided to part company with the German, 16th in the standings and 13 points adrift of team-mate Magnussen, after this weekend’s concluding round in Abu Dhabi.

Schumacher’s words ahead of his final race:

Formula One has announced a female-only racing category will be launched next season.

F1 executives hope the new series – revealed ahead of this weekend’s concluding round in Abu Dhabi – will identify the first female grand prix driver since Italian Lella Lombardi competed in 1976.

The sport’s bosses also insist the category, called the F1 Academy and aimed at young drivers already competing in junior categories, will not replace the W Series.

The single-seater championship launched solely for women in 2019 had to abandon its most recent season amid financial troubles and its future is in major doubt.

Starting a petition for one grid place higher for each of the McLaren boys. Or maybe just one of them, whoever wins a vote - penguin dive or (apparently) seal impression?!

The stage was set.

Billed as the “Decider in the Desert”, the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was the final chapter in a Formula 1 season for the ages. Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were battered and bruised – but still in the fight. Level quite astoundingly on 369.5 points after 21 races, it all came down to this.

Now, as F1 returns to Abu Dhabi for the first time since that thrilling and controversial finale last year, The Independent revisits the story of Sunday 12 December 2021 from the eyes of those at the Yas Marina Circuit and around the world as history played out in a conclusion nobody could have foreseen.

Mayhem, mischief and Masi: Abu Dhabi, one year on: F1 correspondent Kieran Jackson looks back at this race, one year ago and the drama which unfolded.

Lewis Hamilton is being investigated after failing to slow for a red flag during final practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Hamilton finished third in the concluding running ahead of qualifying for Sunday’s season-ending race at the Yas Marina Circuit.

But the seven-time world champion passed two cars at Turn 5 as the session was temporarily suspended when Pierre Gasly suffered a puncture.

McLaren driver Lando Norris reported over the radio: “Hamilton overtook the Haas as well under the red flag.”

The incident was noted by the stewards before the FIA confirmed just minutes later that an investigation will be launched at the conclusion of the one-hour session. Hamilton and Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows have been summoned to the stewards at 4pm local time (12pm UK).

Formula One ruler Mohammed Ben Sulayem has revealed he still speaks to Michael Masi – the man accused of costing Lewis Hamilton a record eighth world championship – as the sport returns to the scene of its most contentious race.

A year on from last season’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton has moved to banish the memory of his darkest day, insisting his thirst for the sport remains unquenched.

He finished fourth in practice on Friday, six tenths back from pace-setter Max Verstappen.

Masi was sacked as F1 race director after he fudged the safety car rules – allowing only the cars between Hamilton and rival Verstappen to unlap themselves – at last year’s winner-takes-all finale.

His controversial move allowed Verstappen to beat Hamilton and take the title.

But speaking on the eve of this year’s concluding round at the Yas Marina Circuit, Ben Sulayem, who succeeded Jean Todt as FIA president in the days after the hotly-disputed event, said he remains in contact with the Australian, despite replacing him with two race directors in the opening months of his tenure.

A good weekend’s preparation for most teams you feel, ahead of qualification for the final grand prix of the season.

One or two have issues to fix, though, most notably Ferrari after that third practice.

One point to note is the stewards’ decision on Lewis Hamilton.

That came after the red flag for Gasly’s incident, with the Mercedes man passing a couple of cars after the red flag had gone up. He was on a fast lap while the others, including Lando Norris, were on a slow lap.

The stewards noted they would investigate after the FP3 session finished.

Philip Duncan reports that Mercedes are set to meet the stewards in about 20 minutes.

That’s practice over and done with for the season and it’ll be qualifying next up at the Yas Marina Circuit - it starts at 2:30pm GMT, which is just under three hours from now.

Here’s the full run-down on the classification from FP3:

1. Perez
2. Verstappen
3. Hamilton
4. Russell
5. Norris
6. Leclerc
7. Sainz
8. Ricciardo
9. Vettel
10. Albon
11. Ocon
12. Alonso
13. Tsunoda
14. Bottas
15. Gasly
16. Stroll
17. Magnussen
18. Schumacher
19. Zhou
20. Latifi