The choice of star qualifier is never an easy one, but in Abu Dhabi it was easier than usual for itv.com/f1 columnist James Allen.
Quite simply, Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren are in perfect unison around the Yas Marina circuit, Hamilton delivered a near-perfect lap, and he blitzed the field by a fuel-corrected 0.5s. QED.
This was a spectacular session, which ended with real drama as a succession of cars took provisional pole, only for pre-event favourite Lewis Hamilton to smash them with surely the most dominant pole position of the season.
Hamilton has been the man to beat all weekend in the McLaren.
While most teams stopped developing their cars after Singapore, McLaren have “a few small updates, mainly aerodynamic”, according to a team spokesman.
The margin was seven-tenths of a second, most of which was gained in the middle sector.
This is the sector which features the two long straights and the KERS system has certainly helped there.
But it is worth a net 0.4s and Hamilton’s margin was 0.7s. Allowing for the fact that he has less fuel than Sebastian Vettel in second place, Hamilton is still half a second quicker.
Vettel did a great job, coming good in the closing stages when the cars were filled with race fuel.
He outshone team-mate Mark Webber again, qualifying ahead of him with more fuel.
The Brawns were beaten today by Red Bull. Both Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button are lighter than the Red Bull pair and yet qualified behind them.
Jenson will be particularly annoyed about the tyre vibration which affected his performance, as he had looked capable of giving everyone except Hamilton a run for their money.
Jarno Trulli again put in a strong showing in the Toyota. He was 0.4s faster than Kamui Kobayashi, which reflects well on the Japanese.
But in Q3 he was on the pace of the Brawns with more fuel on board. Fuel-corrected his is the fourth fastest car.
Sebastien Buemi also did well all weekend for Toro Rosso. The young Swiss driver seems really hooked up around this track.
He was seventh in Q2, but was perhaps surprised that the two BMWs and the Williams of Nico Rosberg got ahead of him on the grid.
BMW did it by taking fuel out, while Rosberg came good after a torrid time in the first two parts of qualifying. He did a great lap.
The race looks like a foregone conclusion for Hamilton, such has been his pace advantage. And with KERS he will be impossible to pass on the long straights.
Vettel has the better race strategy with two laps more fuel on board. If he can stay within a couple of seconds of Hamilton he can challenge, but somehow I don’t think he will manage it.