George will start the final race of the 2022 season from P6 in Abu Dhabi.

With only one practice session left, George opted to focus on Soft tyre Qualifying runs throughout FP3.

Setting a purple middle sector on his first run, George delivered a 1.26.530 to take him to the top of the timings but was quickly knocked down to P2 by teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Debris from Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri brought out a brief red flag, sending all the drivers back into the pits.

When the track was deemed clear, George returned on a set of fresh Soft tyres to put in his best lap time of 1.25.395 and take him back to the top of the timings before being pushed down into P4 where he ended the final practice session.

For the final Qualifying hour of the year, George joined Q1 with 12 minutes on the clock, delivering a 1.25.545 to move into P4 before returning to the pits.

Re-joining with only two minutes on the clock, George was unable to improve, ending Q1 in P7 and securing his place into Q2.

As the light went green, George immediately took to the track to avoid any traffic disruptions, taking himself to the top of the timings on his first run before heading back to the pits.

Returning to put in a 1.24.940, his best time of the session, George secured a spot in Q3 in P7.

For Q3, George immediately took to the track again to avoid any disruption from traffic and move into P6 on his first run before pitting.

With only two minutes remaining, George returned to the track but was unable to improve on his previous place, ending Qualifying in P6.

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George Russell – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One™ Team Driver

We hoped for better lap times during qualifying but should be in a stronger position during the race tomorrow as our long run pace looked competitive from what we've seen so far. The grid position seems fair when you look at our current car performance at a circuit like Abu Dhabi but following the results in Brazil, we were probably hoping for a little bit more. So, we would have liked to be a little bit closer to the front but should be in a better place for the race. Tomorrow will be interesting, as there are lots of different strategy options. I expect Red Bull to be out of reach, but I hope we can chase Ferrari. Let's see what tomorrow brings - we will fight as hard as we can all the way to the finish line.