Lando Norris was fastest in second practice for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Englishman set a 23.517 going over two tenths faster than his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri. The team looked strong with their biggest rivals Ferrari six-tenths off with Carlos Sainz in fourth over a tenth behind Nico Hulkenberg.
McLaren will win the constructors for the first time in a quarter of a century, if they outscore twenty-four points, whereas Ferrari are seeking their first since 2008, with both teams looking to end their longest waits for championships. Hulkenberg’s pace was one of the biggest surprises of the session as he went over a tenth faster than Sainz.
McLaren was handed an early boost in FP1 when it was announced Charles Leclerc would take a ten place grid penalty for exceeding his battery allocation. Both Norris and Piastri appeared comfortable as the sunset which will be the conditions for qualifying and the race. Norris finished more than two-tenths of a second clear of Piastri, while the pair also exhibited strong pace on their longer race simulation runs.
Norris insisted the timesheet made McLaren’s display look “better than it is”, suggesting their long-run pace still needed improving.
Hamilton putting his Mercedes in between the two Ferrari’s, was two hundredths behind Sainz who he will replace next season and eight hundredths faster than his new teammate Leclerc. The seven-time champion leaving Mercedes after twenty-five years of their backing first through McLaren and the hugely successful 2010s which resulted in six championships in seven years.
Friday was an emotional and history-making day for Leclerc, his brother Arthur and their mother Pascale, the first pair of brothers to drive for the same team during a race weekend. Arthur gave up his career briefly when their father Herve ran out of money while battling cancer and died days before Baku in 2017.
The race simulation runs on a full fuel load later in the session told a different story. On those, Hamilton looked the fastest, with McLaren next, followed by Red Bull and Ferrari.
Valtteri Bottas was seventh, the Sauber driver was three hundredths behind Leclerc and ahead of Kevin Magnussen by half a hundredth as both drivers head into their final weekend looking for a strong finish to what could be the end of their careers. Alex Albon put his Williams ninth going a quarter of a second faster than Yuki Tsunoda.
But Albon and teammate Franco Colapinto had their running limited through the hour-long session, Albon having what looked to be a rear axle or hub failure while the Argentine damaged the floor, as he tried to catch a bit of oversteer at Turn Nine. Adding to the woes was the confirmation for both drivers of a five-place grid penalty for taken extra components on their power units.
Tsunoda’s teammate Liam Lawson was just six thousandths behind his teammate as he missed out on the top going nearly two hundredths faster than Pierre Gasly. George Russell only managed thirteenth after making a mistake on his soft run during qualifying simulations, going two hundredths ahead of Sergio Perez.
Russel’s feud with Max Verstappen which started a week ago in Lusail continues to dominate the headlines after the Englishman called the four-time champion a “bully,” adding it was time someone called him out.
Also on Friday morning, news the Dutchman and his partner Kelly Piquet, daughter of three-time champion Nelson Sr, are expecting their first child, Piquet having a daughter from her relationship with Daniil Kvyat.
Guanyu Zhou was fifteenth in what could be his final race, going two thousandths behind Sergio Perez and ahead of Fernando Alonso. Verstappen split the Aston Martin’s going nearly a tenth faster than Lance Stroll, while Jack Doohan struggled at times locking up his tyres ending the session nineteenth three tenths ahead of Franco Colapinto.
