It’s business as usual for FP2 at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP. After a rookie-heavy FP1 session, the focus now shifts to race-representative conditions. Every lap matters, especially for those who missed the opening session.
Lando Norris enters the session as the benchmark after topping Free Practice 1 by just 0.008s over title rival Max Verstappen. Oscar Piastri returns to action after sitting out the first session, with Pato O’Ward fulfilling McLaren’s rookie running requirement earlier in the day.
Rookies top early times as session builds
Piastri and Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar are the last to head out of the pit lane. Early on, it’s Ollie Bearman who sets the pace, leading Verstappen on the timesheets. A mix of soft, medium, and hard compounds are in use across the grid. Within ten minutes, stewards note a potential impeding incident between Verstappen and Norris at Turn 1. Verstappen is caught out after miscommunication over team radio with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who seems unsure whether Norris is on a push lap.
Rookies Hadjar and Bearman hold the top spots on softs, while Verstappen slots into P3 on mediums. The McLarens are slower to find their rhythm, both on mediums. Norris now jumps to third. Piastri also improves, going fifth.
Alex Albon radios in with complaints of “so many misfires” in his Williams. He will be looking to end the season on a high after a frustrating second half of the year—Carlos Sainz has stolen the spotlight since joining the team, taking podiums in Baku and Qatar.
The Ferrari continues to look twitchy. Charles Leclerc manages seventh place, half a second adrift of Bearman’s time.
Sainz reports a “weird snap”. Meanwhile, Bearman has a moment in the pitlane, noting an unsafe release from one of the Saubers.
30 minutes to go
With half an hour left on the clock, Norris jumps to the top of the timesheets after switching to the soft tyre. Verstappen is now second, also on the soft, as George Russell climbs to third, giving Mercedes an appearance near the sharp end of the leaderboard. The soft is now the preferred tyre across the field as the second half of the session gets underway.
Further back, frustration continues to mount for Albon, as he says there’s “something’s wrong with the engine.” His race engineer replies that some changes were made “in the background,” a fact Albon seemed unaware of.
Out of the three title contenders, Piastri looks to be on the back foot in this session, apparently still looking for a balance setting he will be happy with.
The sun is beginning to properly set over the Yas Marina circuit now, reflecting race conditions.
“Insane!” — Bearman is pleasantly surprised by how well his Haas is performing; he’s currently fourth fastest on the softs, keeping pace with the front-runners.
Piastri suffers a lock-up in Turn 6 on his second flying run, perhaps explaining his P10 position. Hamilton’s struggles continue, as he can only manage the 13th best time on the soft tyre.
Final 10 minutes
Both Saubers are also in the mix on the softs, with Nico Hulkenberg currently sitting in P5 and his rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto one spot down in P6.
The stewards have noted another impeding incident, this time between Esteban Ocon and Kimi Antonelli. No further investigation for this one, either.
By now, night has fully fallen on the circuit. Verstappen’s “bouncing” ride nightmare returns to haunt him again—looks like the Red Bull mechanics will have some work to do to get the RB21 in a sweet spot for the championship contender. No major changes on the leaderboard as Hamilton goes wide. It’s been a lackluster evening for him, as he stays down in 14th, with teammate Leclerc in 8th.
Russell keeps his P3 spot, but reports that the “ride is completely gone” as the session draws to a close.
Full FP1 classification and results from the F1 Abu Dhabi GP
1 Lando Norris 1:23.083
2 Max Verstappen +0.363
3 George Russell +0.379
4 Oliver Bearman +0.418
5 Nico Hulkenberg +0.467
6 Gabriel Bortoleto +0.487
7 Isack Hadjar +0.574
8 Charles Leclerc +0.575
9 Fernando Alonso +0.625
10 Kimi Antonelli +0.667
11 Oscar Piastri +0.680
12 Lance Stroll +0.749
13 Carlos Sainz +0.789
14 Lewis Hamilton +0.856
15 Alexander Albon +0.867
16 Esteban Ocon +0.875
17 Yuki Tsunoda +1.220
18 Liam Lawson +1.391
19 Franco Colapinto +1.688
20 Pierre Gasly +1.880
