Both McLarens Qualify In Top 10 In Abu Dhabi

In something of a rare occurrence for the papaya-squad in the 2022 F1 season, McLaren qualified both cars in the top ten in Abu Dhabi, though Daniel Ricciardo has a three-place grid penalty in his final race for the team.

Lando Norris

“A good quali. I think I got everything out of the car today, so I’m happy. I struggled a bit, not having enough confidence to push the car, but at the same time, we secured the best position we could. We’ve got a good starting place, let’s convert it into some good points tomorrow.”

Daniel Ricciardo

“I’m pleased with Q3 because it hasn’t been a sure thing this year. So, from that point of view, I’m happy to just be in it the whole session and be able to be in the hunt. It was a P10, but we were competitive enough to give us a little bit of hope. I think the middle sector, I just didn’t quite nail so there was maybe a tenth or so on the table there which maybe could have put me in the fight with Vettel and perhaps Ocon. Nonetheless, looking forward to tomorrow. I will try to attack from the start, make up a few positions and put myself back in the fight with the top ten.”

James Key, Executive Director, Technical

“It was a case of looking for marginal gains in FP3, after some good work on set-up and balance during Friday, together with further steps overnight, we took an approach of fine tuning and working out best approach to qualifying. It was good to get both cars through to Q3, the margins were tight in all three sessions but both drivers had the pace to make the top 10. The long run pace looked reasonable yesterday, so we look forward to making good use of that tomorrow in the final race of the season. Daniel has a three-place grid penalty but he’ll be pushing hard to fight back into the points. It will be an interesting race with the predicted strategy options available so it’s all to play for.”