Hamilton takes dominant pole at Abu Dhabi

F1 Grand Prix, GP Abu Dhabi, Yas Marina Circuit

Lewis Hamilton has secured the first ever pole position at Abu Dhabi after dominating the first and second free practices. He was also fastest in Q1 and Q2, so this pole should not surprise anyone. Red Bull drivers Vettel and Webber are second and third.

The last qualifying session went underway is Alguersuari the first to take the track. There is quite some action early on in the session as the evening will cause the track temperatures to drop gradually and could potentially also cause less interesting track conditions for the drivers.

Button is taking the early lead and has been in good shape all through the weekend so far. Raikkonen and Kovalainen follow closely until Lewis Hamilton cuts off a full second off the leading time, albeit in two attempts.

Kimi Raikkonen then puts himself in second place, just before Hamilton goes even faster, setting 1:39.873. The Briton set the fastest time in every sector, clearly dominating the session so far.

In the last minutes, times are dropping but Hamilton can rest a bit in the box as his time is not challenged by anyone. Kubica moved up to second while his teammate is third. Barrichello and both Red Bulls are also safely through. Button then moved up to second place in the last few seconds, while Trulli then takes third.

In the danger zone, Alonso is out, along with Liuzzi, Sutil, Grosjean and Fisichella. The Renaults and Force India cars are obviously suffering.

Kovalainen was 7th in Q1 and kicks off the second session. A spin and a lot of wheel lockups show he is under pressure to secure a drie next year, but so far it's not turning out to his benefit. His time is not bad, but Buemi tops it on his second attempts while Lewis Hamilton again puts in the fastest time, possibly securing his spot in Q3 already.

Halfway through the session Kovalainen comes to a halt along the track with a a transmission problem. Meanwhile he sun is almost set and the lights have largely taken over the lighting of the circuit. The Red Bulls appear to like this situation as Weber and then Vettel put in the fastest laps, although slightly slower than Hamilton's Q1 time.

The closing minute sees Button mix in between the Red Bulls while Hamilton puts in another lap to top the timesheets again.

From 11th place, Raikkonen is out, together with Kobayashi, Kovalainen, Nakajima and Alguersuari.

With the lights on green for Q3, the Red Bulls are the first cars out but followed within a minute by everyone except Lewis Hamilton. He awaits until there are just 6 minutes and a half left on the clock.

Heidfeld is the first to set the pace, ahead of Vettel, Trulli and Buemi, this is however only halfway in the session. One minute later Trulli is suddenly on top of the timesheets while Hamilton goes wide, as well as Webber in turn 19.

Interestingly nobody is coming into the pitlane for a new set of tyres. Barrichello keeps on improving, jumping to first place before being topped by Hamilton.

With the clock on 0, Webber improves Hamilton, followed by Vettel who does even better. Hamilton, stil on track is however in an excellent lap and 30 seconds later topples everyone, just as expected since the first FP of the weekend. One wonders what might have been for McLaren if Kovalainen didn't suffer technical problems.