Championship leader Lando Norris set a promising pace ahead of title rival Max Verstappen in FP2 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri languished outside the top ten.
Norris set the fastest time of the session with just one flying lap on soft tires at sunset, lowering the benchmark to 1:23.083. That was enough to beat Verstappen by 0.363 seconds, with McLaren looking happier in the cooler night conditions.
- Norris narrowly beats Verstappen in Abu Dhabi GP free practice
Most of the differences were in the street circuit-style final sector, dominated by slow 90-degree turns. McLaren was nearly 0.3 seconds faster here alone, while Norris also gained more than 0.15 seconds in the first sector, although Verstappen complained of “too much bounce” from the flat Turn 3.
Verstappen enjoyed a slight advantage on the mid-split turn from the Turn 5 hairpin and down the back two straights, including the merging chicane, where the Dutchman was almost 0.1 seconds back.
However, Piastri was unable to take advantage of McLaren’s pace around Yas Marina. He remained in 11th place, 0.68 seconds behind his session-leading teammate. The Australian made two attempts to record a signature fast lap, but both were tainted by mistakes. The first time was at Turn 1 and the second time was at the chicane between Turns 6 and 7.
Piastri was forced to skip FP1 to give McLaren IndyCar star Pato O’Ward a run as part of his team’s final obligation of the year to use inexperienced drivers, but it appears to have taken the cost into account, with the former title leader not happy with the MCL39’s balance during the session, despite tweaking it on the go to find a better balance.
The issue also affected his high fuel race simulation runs on medium tires, during which he was slower than Norris, putting his already distant championship hopes at risk.
George Russell finished third, the Mercedes driver 0.379 seconds slower than Norris, but ended the session by radio saying that despite an hour of track time, he had “completely lost the ride.”
Oliver Bearman took fourth place, his Haas just 0.418 seconds behind after a performance that left the British rookie very happy. “Hey, the car’s crazy!” he radioed after recording his fastest lap. “I don’t understand why cars are so good.”
Sauber team-mates Nico Hülkenberg and Gabriel Bortleto were closely tied, nearly half a second off the pace, in fifth and sixth, with Racing Bull driver Isaac Hajjar ahead of him by 0.574 seconds.
Charles Leclerc was Ferrari’s fastest driver, setting a lap time 0.575 seconds slower than Norris after an optimistic atmosphere in FP1, when he was less than 0.02 seconds behind.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished ninth, with Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli rounding out the top 10, 0.625 seconds behind. Piastri dropped to 15th place behind Lance Stroll, Carlos Sainz, Lewis Hamilton and Alex Albon.
Esteban Ocon was 16th, but the Frenchman was not as strong on the car as his teammate Bearman. Hiroki Tsunada followed in 17th place, ahead of Liam Lawson, while the Alpine team welcomed Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly at the bottom of the standings.
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