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The climax to the Formula 1 world championship could hardly be better set up after the triple championship challengers secured positions at the sharp end of the grid for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen delivered a stunning display of the season – in his stellar career – to secure a blistering pole position.

McLaren's Lando Norris, who enters the race as title leader with a 12-point lead over Verstappen, is next to the Dutch driver on the first row.

The British driver's colleague Oscar Piastri, 16 points off the summit, will begin from third, with Mercedes' George Russell on the second row.

The Simple Maths for The Leader

For Norris, the maths are simple – and the task looks the same.

The 26-year-old will be champion for the first time if he secures a top-three finish, regardless of what his rivals achieve.

Verstappen, 28, could secure a fifth straight title if he takes victory with Norris in fourth, or if he is runner-up and Norris is lower than seventh.

Australian Piastri, 24, requires some kind of misfortune to happen to his competitors if he is to win his first title. He also approaches the race aware that there is a chance he could be asked to yield position and help Norris win if his own hopes are over.

What Cards Will The Challenger Play?

Norris kept his answers after qualifying fairly concise. He appears striving to keep himself settled and calm as he experiences the most intense weekend of his career.

This is logical. Even though his path to the title is seemingly simple, the fact Verstappen's is not threatens to make the championship leader's race an uncomfortable one.

With the title on the line, and taking race victory not good enough on its own for Verstappen, the race is unlikely to be simple. The tactics Verstappen may employ to disrupt Norris's race remains unknown.

"No idea," Norris said, when questioned if he expected Verstappen to try to slow him into the pack. "Anything is possible. So we'll find out."

Verstappen was asked the identical query. His response was to point out that such tactics are more difficult to execute now, as changes to the circuit have made it more flowing.

"The track was configured differently," Verstappen stated. "I feel like now you get towed around a lot more. So it's not as easy to do that."

He continued: "My goal is victory on Sunday, but I also know that that's not enough. So I just hope for some Yas Marina drama that happens behind me. So let's see what we get."

That remark about "drama at Yas Marina" evokes memories of a historic race where title destiny was completely reversed by pitwall miscalculations.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella, who was involved in that painful race in 2010, has stressed to his team the strength of their year has been and that "bumps on the road are unavoidable".

As Verstappen put it: "Many things can work in your favour, can work against you, and we find out tomorrow."

There is also the potential of a collision at the first corner – a situation Piastri and Verstappen experienced there last year.

Norris, in his favourable position, has the advantage of being able to be cautious at the start.

Piastri, when asked about action at Turn One, remarked: "Turn One I'm not sure," he said, "{but I'll have some popcorn ready."

He was also asked what he had discovered about title showdowns. His answer was succinct: "Unexpected events can happen. That's what I've learnt."

Norris 'Carries the Burden on His Shoulders'

For each contender, and their teams, the pressure will mount in the hours before the race.

Even Verstappen, who has looked relaxation personified so far, admitted to some nerves before qualifying, but said that he fed off them to enhance his performance.

Commentator and former champion Damon Hill, offering from experience, emphasised the importance of calmness.

"The way through this is to just focus on what you do for a living," Hill said. "You work with the engineers and try to make the car go faster... Once you have things rattling around your head, you can't concentrate."

"It's like when you lie down in bed at night, there's that gap before you go to sleep? You try sleeping when you can be world champion or not. You need sleep."

"It's intense. It's what you've always wanted. Lando has a weight on his shoulders... on Sunday he'll know whether he has made it and joined that exclusive club of world champions."

The scene is prepared. The contenders are lined up. The F1 world championship will be decided under the lights of Abu Dhabi.