Nine regulars, including title contender Oscar Piastri, sat out FP1 as teams took their final chance of the season to meet the rookie-running requirement.
Under the regulations, every full-time driver must give up two practice sessions across the year for a rookie with fewer than two grand prix starts, leaving Abu Dhabi as the last available slot for several teams to fulfil the rule.
Norris made the most of the disrupted running, switching to soft tyres shortly after the halfway mark to produce a 1m24.485s lap to edge championship rival Max Verstappen by just eight thousandths of a second.
Under hazy, cloud-laden skies in the UAE capital, the McLaren driver looked composed throughout, logging consistent times on the harder compounds before unlocking more performance once the track gripped up.
Verstappen also appeared comfortable, topping the times when he first bolted on softs, only for Norris to eclipse him moments after. The Dutchman sits 12 points behind Norris heading into the title decider, adding an extra layer of intrigue to their FP1 duel.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished third, ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Nico Hulkenberg. The Sauber pair enjoyed a productive outing, with Hulkenberg backing up the early-session pace shown by teammate Gabriel Bortoleto—who himself ended up seventh—as the team begins its final weekend in Formula 1 under the Sauber name.
Leclerc did, however, have a late scare when he spun at Turn 5, a moment that didn’t go unnoticed by younger brother Arthur, who was filling in for Lewis Hamilton.
George Russell slotted into sixth, with Oliver Bearman, Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto rounding out the top 10.
Bearman’s session was far from straightforward. The young Briton reported a power loss early on and was instructed to return to the garage with a hydraulic issue. Haas rectified the problem quickly enough for him to rejoin and climb into the top 10, only for his run to end prematurely with what appeared to be a sensor failure.
With nine rookies on track, attention naturally turned to which of them would lead the charge.
That honour went to Ryo Hirakawa, who finished an impressive 11th for Haas. The Japanese driver spent much of the session reporting bouncing but still managed to outpace fellow rookies, including Paul Aron. Pat O’Ward, standing in for Piastri at McLaren, was the third-fastest rookie in 14th.
From 11th down to 20th, the timesheets were largely a block of rookie names, with only Isack Hadjar breaking up the group. Remarkably, just one second covered the top 17 drivers—from Norris down to Ayumu Iwasa, who sat in for Liam Lawson at Racing Bulls.
Aston Martin was the only team to field two rookies, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll stepping aside for Jak Crawford and Cian Shields, with the pair brining up the rear of the field in 19th and 20th place.
Arvid Lindblad—set to race for Racing Bulls in 2026—took 15th in a Red Bull, with Arthur Leclerc slotting in 16th and Luke Browning 18th for Williams.
Cars return to the track for FP2 at 5pm local time (12am AEDT).
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time / Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 1:24.485 | 27 |
| 2 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +0.008s | 29 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.016s | 27 |
| 4 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +0.123s | 29 |
| 5 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Kick Sauber | +0.144s | 28 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +0.248s | 28 |
| 7 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Kick Sauber | +0.257s | 28 |
| 8 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | +0.274s | 14 |
| 9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +0.286s | 26 |
| 10 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +0.370s | 27 |
| 11 | 50 | Ryo Hirakawa | Haas F1 Team | +0.449s | 27 |
| 12 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Racing Bulls | +0.492s | 30 |
| 13 | 61 | Paul Aron | Alpine | +0.719s | 26 |
| 14 | 89 | Patricio O’Ward | McLaren | +0.761s | 28 |
| 15 | 36 | Arvid Lindblad | Red Bull Racing | +0.771s | 26 |
| 16 | 39 | Arthur Leclerc | Ferrari | +0.875s | 26 |
| 17 | 40 | Ayumu Iwasa | Racing Bulls | +0.990s | 29 |
| 18 | 46 | Luke Browning | Williams | +1.005s | 18 |
| 19 | 35 | Jak Crawford | Aston Martin | +1.404s | 24 |
| 20 | 34 | Cian Shields | Aston Martin | +1.947s | 22 |
This article first appeared on Speedcafe.com, a sister site to MotorRacing.com.