Norris takes pole for season-ending Abu Dhabi GP and Hamilton 18th in Mercedes farewell

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — McLaren's 26-year wait for a Formula 1 constructors' title could soon be over. Lewis Hamilton's time with Mercedes is set to end on a low.

Lando Norris took pole position for the last Formula 1 race of the season Saturday alongside teammate Oscar Piastri to put McLaren on the verge of winning the lucrative prize for teams for the first time since 1998.

While Norris couldn't stop Max Verstappen retaining the drivers' title, he said winning the constructors' championship with McLaren means a lot.

“It was hard just to break that barrier of getting close to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, because for such a long period of time they’ve been the guys who have dominated Formula 1,” he said.

Norris has been with McLaren since his F1 debut in 2019 and didn't win a race until this year. He said Saturday that he'd had offers over that time from teams that could have given him a shot at winning races earlier, but he wanted to stay and turn around McLaren, one of F1's most storied teams.

“I had those opportunities, but I believed and I wanted to simply do it with McLaren. I wanted to do it with the guys who gave me my opportunity in Formula 1,” he said.

Norris' last lap made him .209 of a second faster than Piastri, with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. .020 further back. Nico Hulkenberg was a surprise fourth for Haas — but later got a three-place grid penalty for overtaking in the pit exit tunnel — and champion Max Verstappen fifth.

Sainz's teammate Charles Leclerc was 14th in the second part of qualifying and already has a 10-place grid penalty, likely ending Ferrari's hopes of overhauling McLaren's 21-point lead in the constructors' standings.

It was always a “mission impossible” for Ferrari to win the title even before Leclerc hit problems, Sainz said, “but until the checkered flag comes down tomorrow, anything can happen and I’m going to keep fighting for whatever comes.”

The constructors' title comes with a big financial reward for teams. The prize money varies but is typically worth around $140 million.

Seven-time F1 champion Hamilton is set to start his last race with Mercedes from 18th on the grid after a bizarre incident wrecked his final qualifying lap.

A plastic pole marking the inside of a corner was knocked loose by Kevin Magnussen's Haas and Hamilton drove over it, leaving the object jammed under his Mercedes.

Hamilton was already among the slowest in the first part of qualifying and he was eliminated shortly after.

“I messed that up big time, guys," Hamilton told the team over the radio.

Hamilton is moving to Ferrari for 2025 after 12 years with Mercedes, where he won six drivers' titles.

His 246th and last race with Mercedes comes in a season in which Hamilton has won twice — including an emotional victory at his home British Grand Prix — but also been frustrated by a run of poor results. Hamilton has been largely outclassed by his teammate George Russell in recent races and struggled with penalties and a puncture last week in Qatar.

The newest driver on the grid in Abu Dhabi, Alpine's Jack Doohan, qualified last on debut after replacing Esteban Ocon ahead of a full season with Alpine next year.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain, front, and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain leave the pit lane during the qualifying for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain creates sparks as his car touches the track during the qualifying for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain creates sparks as his car touches the track during the qualifying for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain in action during the qualifying for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the qualifying for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain in action during the qualifying for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain, left, talks to Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz of Spain after winning the pole position during the qualifying for the Formula One Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Hamad I Mohammed, Pool)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)