Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix 2017 Qualifying: Valtteri Bottas Takes Pole Position

Valtteri Bottas will start the final race of the 2017 Formula One season on pole position after posting the quickest time in qualifying on Saturday in Abu Dhabi.

Bottas will line up on the front row alongside Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who is already confirmed as the world champion, after posting a blistering time of time of one minute, 36.231 seconds in the final session. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel will start in third at Yas Marina.

Hamilton had earlier topped the final practice time sheets, although that mark was beaten again in qualifying.

Read on for the latest updates from Abu Dhabi, as all involved seek to finish off the campaign with a flourish.

Qualifying Recap

Here are the results from qualifying courtesy of the F1 Twitter account:

After dominating the final practice runs, Mercedes were on top again in Q1, comfortably setting the fastest times. With the two Ferraris behind them and the two Red Bull drivers occupying fifth and sixth, an early order appeared to have been established.

The surprise early casualty from Q1 was Haas driver Romain Grosjean, who had struggled to find pace in the morning. Lance Stroll, meanwhile, produced a fine late lap to put himself in the second phase.

As we can see courtesy of the F1 Twitter account, the Canadian was holding nothing back as he pushed for a Q2 spot:

"

Stroll gets airborne halfway through Q1 #AbuDhabiGP  #Quali pic.twitter.com/qLkrK1ANbV

— Formula 1 (@F1) November 25, 2017"

In the second runs, the order at the top remained, leaving the rest of the field to fight it out for positions in the top 10.

Stroll was unable to extend his stay in qualifying, although team-mate Felipe Massa, in his final grand prix before retirement, did just enough. The veteran Brazilian produced a brilliant lap with time expired to nudge Fernando Alonso into the drop zone.

Per journalist Sean Kelly, Massa has always fared well at the Yas Marina circuit and had another chance to challenge for pole:

But the battle was always going to be between the big three teams. After the initial runs, it was Mercedes leading the way by a comfortable margin. However, Bottas set the benchmark, posting the fastest time of the week with his first effort.

In the second runs, Hamilton was quicker than his team-mate through two of the first three sectors. However, the world champion looked to have taken too much life out of the tyres early in the lap, and some errors late on meant he couldn't usurp the Finn.

FP3 Recap

Here are the standings from the final practice stint of the season courtesy of the FIA Twitter account:

When the lights went green in Abu Dhabi, there wasn't a major rush from the garages to get their cars out on track. And with 15 minutes gone, only three drivers had set a time, the most notable of which was Raikkonen.

As we can see courtesy of Sky Sports F1, one of the most bizarre moments of the campaign occurred, as an umbrella ended up on track and prompted the implementation of a virtual safety car:

Formula One journalist Luke Smith couldn't resist a joke during what had been an otherwise uneventful session:

Things did warm up not long after, though, as Hamilton emerged to better the Finn's mark. Bottas was also able to overhaul his compatriot, with Mercedes seemingly the stronger team on the ultrasoft compound.

Ferrari did offer some resistance as the session went on, with both Sebastian Vettel and Raikkonen coming back at the Silver Arrows. It was clear Mercedes had more in the tank, though, as Hamilton pumped in his lap-record mark and Bottas nipped ahead of the Ferrari duo. 

Given Hamilton's advantage to Raikkonen was more than half-a-second early in the day, it set a strong precedent for Mercedes ahead of qualifying.