ABU DHABI GP – George Russell fastest in third practice a tenth ahead of Lando Norris
George Russell was fastest in third practice for the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Mercedes driver set a 24.418 on the soft tyre going just under a tenth faster than Lando Norris. Norris’s McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was two tenths further behind in third.
Mercedes topped FP1 in these conditions on Friday, however a disruptive FP2 which is more reprehensive of the conditions in qualifying and the race left teams with lots of work to do. Russell’s time was set in the first half of the session before hanging on despite challenges from several drivers.
Russell went fastest early in the session but the assumption was that when all the cars switched to soft tyres in the closing stages, the likes of Verstappen and Leclerc would rise to the top. But they didn’t improve on their final runs leaving them fifth and sixth respectively.
Alex Albon put his Williams fourth just under a tenth and a quarter behind Piastri’s McLaren. The British-Thai driver hung on despite late attempts by Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, the Ferrari driver a tenth and a half behind and ahead of the three-time champion by half a tenth.
Ferrari had prioritised medium-tyre running throughout the majority of the session and only switched to the softs towards the end. Leclerc attempted to reclaim his position from Friday, but lost two-tenths in each sector to Russell’s benchmark and thus had to be content with the fifth fastest time.
Verstappen also looked to struggle, complaining about a loose rear-end, and felt that he was “sliding a lot” and bouncing as he was unable to move past Russell and Perez on his opening flying lap and fell half a second short of the Mercedes driver’s pace.
Leclerc, who has taken three poles in the last four races, also appeared surprised to be so far off the Mercedes driver, despite the potential for variance in the different conditions.
With both qualifying and the race being held in night-time conditions, the overall conditions were unrepresentative of those set to be experienced over the rest of the weekend. Nonetheless, it was at least an opportunity for the drivers who had running hampered on Friday to gain a feel for the circuit.
Esteban Ocon was seventh going a hundredth faster than Logan Sargeant, the American making sure that both Williams were in the top eight. Late improvements allowed Yuki Tsunoda to go ninth three and a half hundredths faster than Guanyu Zhou, as they completed the top ten.
Sergio Perez couldn’t string a lap together losing time in the last sector, which left him three hundredths ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Pierre Gasly was ahead of both Aston Martins with Fernando Alonso six hundredths faster than teammate Lance Stroll.
Carlos Sainz was also out of position in final practice with the 20th fastest time but completed thirty laps in total to make up for his lost track time on Friday. His Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, who was fastest in second practice, was fifth in FP3.