Championship hopeful Lando Norris dominated the second hour of practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with his closest rival Max Verstappen having ended up second quickest. F1Technical’s senior writer Balazs Szabo reports on FP2 at the Yas Marina Cirucit.
Having set the pace in the opening practice session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, F1 title favourite Lando Norris continued to dominate proceedings in the second hour of running at the Yas Marina Circuit.
The Briton who could secure his maiden F1 title on Sunday, again headed title rival Max Verstappen at the top of the times in second practice, having gone 0.363 seconds quicker than the reigning world champion.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri sat out the opening practice, having handed over his car to Patricio O’Ward. The Australian ended up only 11th, having been over six tenths of a second slower than Norris, who goes into the three-way showdown 12 points ahead of Verstappen and 16 points ahead of Piastri.
Mercedes driver George Russell was third-quickest for Mercedes, ahead of impressive rookie Ollie Bearman, who was surprised by the competitiveness of his Haas as he ended up fourth and just four-tenths off the pace.
Both Saubers once again featured in the top-10 as Nico Hulkenberg took fifth ahead of rookie teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in sixth.
Isack Hadjar, who has just been announced as Max Verstappen’s team-mate at Red Bull from next season, ended up seventh fastest, from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in P8.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso missed the opening hour of practice, but looked competitive in FP2, while Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli completed the top ten on Friday evening at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Lance Stroll followed team mate Alonso in 12th, while the Williams pair of Carlos Sainz and Alexander Albon took 13th and 15th, respectively.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, another driver who missed FP1, was only 14th in his Ferrari. While Bearman displayed an impressive performance in FP2, his Haas team-mate Esteban Ocon took only 16th, ahead of the outgoing Red Bull racer Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls and the Alpine duo of Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly.
