QUALIFYING: Pulling sweeps all three pole positions in Abu Dhabi as Chambers joins her on the front row

Abbi Pulling continued her incredible run of form this season as she secured all three pole positions in a dominant display around the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

Joining Pulling on the front row for the final three races of the year is Chloe Chambers, with the Haas driver looking quick in both sessions so far this weekend. After topping Free Practice 1 earlier in the day, the American will be hunting down her second victory of the season for Campos Racing.

Hamda Al Qubaisi also gave the home crowd something to celebrate, with the Emirati racer set to line up in third for both Race 1 and Race 2. However, it will be Mercedes’ Doriane Pin that starts third in Sunday’s third and final F1 ACADEMY race of the year.

As Friday evening's Qualifying session got underway under the floodlights in Abu Dhabi, it was McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante who went for the first push lap. The 19-year-old posted an initial 1:58.069, despite suffering a significant lock-up during her lap, but successfully bounced back on her next effort with purple in all sectors, placing herself 0.959s ahead of the rest of the pack.

Alpine's Pulling also struggled with a lock-up in the middle sector of her first flying lap, but would bounce back to top the timesheets with a respectable 1:56.439 on her next effort. Emely De Heus also looked rapid out on the track, the Dutch driver slotting into second on the timings momentarily.

As the session entered the final 10 minutes, it was Pulling sat at the top of the timings with Chambers just behind. Bustamante continued to demonstrate her quick pace to go third – just 0.088s off Pulling’s quickest time – while Pin finally put down a solid lap that was good enough for second. However, the Mercedes driver's effort was deleted for track limits, leaving her with no fast lap times and just over five minutes remaining on the clock.

The French racer wasn't perturbed by the situation as she then managed to deliver a clean lap to go fourth, just as Hamda Al Qubaisi leapt to the top of the times. With two minutes left of Qualifying, the Red Bull Racing driver set a 1:56.229, but wasn’t able to improve her time beyond that. She came across traffic on one of her final laps, and would eventually settle for third in the final results.

That's because, with the session drawing to a close, it was Pulling who showcased her consistency once again to go quickest at the chequered flag – exceeding her best time with a 1:56.081. Chambers' 1:56.255 lap was good enough to keep her second on the time sheets and match her best-ever Qualifying result across the board.

After an eventful session both Pulling and Chambers will start first and second for the remaining three races of the season while Hamda Al Qubaisi is will take the P3 grid slot for Race 1 and Race 2, as well as fourth for Race 3.

Fourth-placed Bustamante and Pin guaranteed themselves top five starts for all races in Round 7, with Pin lining up in third place for Race 3. De Heus locked in her best result of the season to go sixth for Race 1, having never previously qualified higher than 11th this year.

Ferrari's Maya Weug will line up seventh for Race 1 ahead of Nerea Martí, Carrie Schreiner and Lia Block. For Race 2, Weug starts from sixth ahead of Martí, Block, De Heus and Schreiner.

Meanwhile, Weug lines up on the third row for Race 3 ahead of Martí, Block, Aston Martin's Tina Hausmann and De Heus.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Pulling has the chance to set the record for the most victories in a season, with an eighth win in her sights when she lines up on pole for Race 1 on Sunday at 12:15 local time.

Ferrari’s Maya Weug struggled in the session and will start from sixth for Race 2 and 3, with Nerea Martí and Lia Block also finding themselves in the top 10 for all starting grids across the race weekend.