Practice report
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP
F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Lando Norris pips Max Verstappen to go quickest in FP1
Norris beat title rival Verstappen by 0.008s, while fellow championship contender Oscar Piastri skipped FP1 at Yas Marina
Edited: Dec 5, 2025, 10:59 AM
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Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
Lando Norris went quickest in opening practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on the weekend that he could claim his maiden Formula 1 world championship.
The McLaren driver set a 1m24.485s on used soft tyres, which meant he pipped second-placed Max Verstappen who is also his nearest challenger in the championship.
Norris will become champion should he claim a podium on Sunday, as he is 12 points above the Red Bull driver and 16 ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri who was one of nine drivers to sit out first practice.
That’s because F1 rules dictate that drivers must skip at least two FP1s during the season and give their seat to a driver with no more than two grand prix starts.
IndyCar star Pato O'Ward therefore took Piastri’s place and he was one of nine rookies to contest opening practice at Yas Marina Circuit, which was hot and sunny for the final weekend of the 2025 campaign.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images
With it being the season finale, all cars were quick to enter the track during the opening five minutes, and it was Verstappen who set the early pace with a 1m27.130s on the hard tyre.
This was 0.038s quicker than runner-up George Russell on the same rubber, though not everybody started on the hards with O’Ward using soft tyres and several others – including Norris – opting for the mediums.
Such variety took place during an opening 30 minutes that was dictated by track evolution, as various names greeted the top of the leaderboard from Norris to Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Racing Bulls rookie Isack Hadjar – who this week was announced as Verstappen’s Red Bull 2026 team-mate.
It was only until the halfway mark when drivers converged onto the softs that the usual frontrunners rose to the top. Verstappen was first to do so, breaking the 1m25s barrier with a 1m24.493s on his opening soft tyre run, 0.026s quicker than Norris and 0.074s above third-placed Charles Leclerc.
The championship top two would then trade positions as Norris pipped the four-time world champion by 0.008s with a lap time that would subsequently go unbeaten.
That’s because several cars went back onto the other compounds, including Verstappen with the hards, to complete their long-run programmes in a dramaless end to FP1.
Arthur Leclerc was one of nine rookies in action in FP1
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
So, the leaderboard largely remained as it was following the short soft-tyre window, as Leclerc completed the top three with a 1m24.501s, 0.016s behind Norris, but still complained of no grip and being “so slow”.
Mercedes teenager Andrea Kimi Antonelli was then 0.123s off the Monegasque in fourth with Nico Hulkenberg completing the top five. Russell was sixth in the sister Mercedes, 0.248s off the pace and one spot above Hulkenberg’s team-mate Bortoleto in a strong showing for Sauber, which will enjoy its final race before becoming Audi.
The top seven times were all set on the soft tyre, and it was Oliver Bearman in eighth who went quickest on the mediums, as he completed a 1m24.759s for Haas.
Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto then rounded up the top 10, meaning all nine rookies finished in the bottom half of the order.
Endurance world champion Ryo Hirakawa was quickest of the nine with a 1m24,934s, ahead of Paul Aron (13th), O’Ward (14th), Arvid Lindblad (15th), Arthur Leclerc (16th), Ayumu Iwasa (17th), Luke Browning (18th), Jak Crawford (19th) and Cian Shields (20th).
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F1 Abu Dhabi GP - FP1 results
FP1
All Stats
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval Tyres km/h 1 L. Norris McLaren 4
McLaren Mercedes 28
1'24.485
S 225.029 2 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1
Red Bull Red Bull 30
+0.008
1'24.493
0.008 S 225.007 3 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
Ferrari Ferrari 28
+0.016
1'24.501
0.008 S 224.986 4
A. Kimi Antonelli Mercedes
12 
Mercedes Mercedes 30
+0.123
1'24.608
0.107 S 224.702 5 N. Hulkenberg Sauber 27
Sauber Ferrari 28
+0.144
1'24.629
0.021 S 224.646 6 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 29
+0.248
1'24.733
0.104 S 224.370 7 G. Bortoleto Sauber 5
Sauber Ferrari 29
+0.257
1'24.742
0.009 S 224.346 8 O. Bearman Haas F1 Team 87
Haas Ferrari 14
+0.274
1'24.759
0.017 M 224.301 9 C. Sainz Williams 55
Williams Mercedes 27
+0.286
1'24.771
0.012 S 224.270 10 F. Colapinto Alpine 43
Alpine Renault 28
+0.370
1'24.855
0.084 S 224.048 11 R. Hirakawa Haas F1 Team 50
Haas Ferrari 28
+0.449
1'24.934
0.079 M 223.839 12 I. Hadjar Racing Bulls 6
RB Honda 31
+0.492
1'24.977
0.043 M 223.726 13
P. Aron Alpine
61 
Alpine Renault 27
+0.719
1'25.204
0.227 S 223.130 14 P. O'Ward McLaren 89
McLaren Mercedes 28
+0.761
1'25.246
0.042 M 223.020 15
A. Lindblad Red Bull Racing
36 
Red Bull Red Bull 26
+0.771
1'25.256
0.010 S 222.994 16 A. Leclerc Ferrari 39
Ferrari Ferrari 27
+0.875
1'25.360
0.104 S 222.722 17 A. Iwasa Racing Bulls 40
RB Honda 30
+0.990
1'25.475
0.115 S 222.422 18
L. Browning Williams
46 
Williams Mercedes 18
+1.005
1'25.490
0.015 S 222.383 19 J. Crawford Aston Martin Racing 35
Aston Martin Mercedes 24
+1.404
1'25.889
0.399 M 221.350 20
C. Shields Aston Martin Racing
34 
Aston Martin Mercedes 22
+1.947
1'26.432
0.543 S 219.960 View full results
Photos from Abu Dhabi GP - Practice
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Abu Dhabi GP - Friday, in photos
Formula 1
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