3 talking points | Abu Dhabi GP: Unstoppable Red Bull and waving Vettel goodbye

Max Verstappen continued his 2022 dominance by taking pole position for Sunday's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver secured the position ahead of his teammate Sergio Perez by posting a 1:23.824.

The two Red Bulls were quickest ahead of the Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG drivers.

Here are three talking points from the session.

Red Bull's unstoppable

Verstappen and Perez traded blows throughout qualifying, exchanging fastest times at the top of the timesheets in the one-hour session. Moreover, they never looked under threat from anyone to challenge them.

Coming off the drama that unfolded at the end of the Brazilian GP, the two teammates seem to have worked through their issues to land the team its first front-row lock-out since Mexico 2018.

Verstappen's pole time was the quickest of the entire weekend and only underlines how dominant he and Red Bull have been in 2022. The pole is Verstappen's seventh of the year.

Max's 20th career pole ??#AbuDhabiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ILYYRVX2w7

Ferrari's Abu Dhabi duck continues

Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz looked competitive in qualifying, but their Ferraris lacked the pace compared to the Red Bulls. And Leclerc, who has nine poles in 2022, will start in the top three for the 18th time this year. It's little solace for the Italian team, who continues to flounder.

Interestingly, since Abu Dhabi joined the F1 circus in 2009, Ferrari had never started the race in the top two. The team had also never won the race!

Sadly for Ferrari, having ended car development sooner than other teams in 2022 and shifting its focus to 2023, they have become susceptible to attacks from Mercedes-AMG. While they still have a margin of competitiveness left, they were not much of a match for Red Bull, and it's likely