Practice report
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP
F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Piastri leads McLaren FP3 1-2 as Ferrari is "nowhere"
Piastri and Norris topped the leaderboard as Ferrari was left "nowhere" in final practice
Alex Kalinauckas
Edited: Dec 7, 2024, 1:22 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Lubomir Asenov / Motorsport Images
Oscar Piastri headed another McLaren 1-2 in third practice for Formula 1’s season finale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton third and Max Verstappen fourth.
There was little action at the start of the one-hour session, with the two Aston Martin cars heading out in the early minutes only for lengthy installation tours.
Pierre Gasly and Jack Doohan emerged at the end of the opening 10 minutes and duly established the benchmark at 1m26.040s and 1m25.633s respectively – with the former notably dragging his Alpine’s plank heavily along the kerb exiting the long Turn 5 hairpin at the end of the second sector.
The Aston’s then re-emerged and Lance Stroll took the top spot with a 1m25.528s, with Fernando Alonso behind initially with an opening flying lap on the softs most of the teams were running early on that feature him having to jink to avoid a low-flying seagull.
As the opening third ended, Zhou Guanyu nipped ahead for Sauber, before Kevin Magnussen put Haas into first place with a 1m24.470s and Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton appeared on the mediums.
The frontrunners had joined the fray by this stage, but only Lando Norris troubled the leading times – his initial effort on the softs coming in over 0.3s down on Magnussen – with Mercedes biggest issue involving Hamilton wanting a motivational sticker removed from behind his steering wheel.
Magnussen’s time lasted until the start of the session’s final third, with Alex Albon gaining over 0.6s on the Dane to leap up to first from 12th with a 1m24.378s.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
After this, George Russell, who had been complaining about his pace much earlier in the session, moved ahead with a 1m24.075s, before Piastri edged clear by 0.642s for McLaren.
Norris could not better that 1m23.433s with his next flier, with the Briton sitting nearly 0.2s back om his team-mate, with Verstappen slotting into third a short while later with all the cars on the softs.
Piastri and Norris tried again on used softs as the final five minutes kicked off, but other than the Australian setting a personal best in the middle sector they did not improve, with his team-mate running off track at Turns 1 and 13 struggling with oversteer.
The leaders headed back to the pits after this, with Hamilton’s late effort enough to get ahead of Verstappen and trail Piastri by 0.390s – despite the Mercedes also being fitted with used softs.
Sainz ended up fifth ahead of Russell and the Haas pair – Nico Hulkenberg getting ahead of Magnussen with a new-soft performance run much later in FP3.
Charles Leclerc declared Ferrari “nowhere” in its battle with McLaren for the constructors’ championship, with the Monegasque driver – who will take a 10-place grid drop from wherever he qualifies later on Saturday at Yas Marina – ninth and 0.665s off the pace.
Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 for Red Bull.
Main Information Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info
1
-
4
Main Information Additional Data
1
-
2
Cla Driver # Chassis Engine Laps Time Interval km/h 1 O. Piastri McLaren 81
McLaren Mercedes 16
1'23.433
227.866 2 L. Norris McLaren 4
McLaren Mercedes 15
+0.193
1'23.626
0.193 227.340 3 L. Hamilton Mercedes 44
Mercedes Mercedes 18
+0.390
1'23.823
0.197 226.806 4 M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing 1
Red Bull Red Bull 17
+0.411
1'23.844
0.021 226.749 5 C. Sainz Ferrari 55
Ferrari Ferrari 21
+0.438
1'23.871
0.027 226.676 6 G. Russell Mercedes 63
Mercedes Mercedes 18
+0.642
1'24.075
0.204 226.126 7 N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team 27
Haas Ferrari 14
+0.660
1'24.093
0.018 226.078 8 K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team 20
Haas Ferrari 14
+0.661
1'24.094
0.001 226.075 9 C. Leclerc Ferrari 16
Ferrari Ferrari 20
+0.665
1'24.098
0.004 226.064 10 S. Perez Red Bull Racing 11
Red Bull Red Bull 17
+0.850
1'24.283
0.185 225.568 11 Y. Tsunoda Racing Bulls 22
RB Red Bull 18
+0.910
1'24.343
0.060 225.408 12 A. Albon Williams 23
Williams Mercedes 15
+0.945
1'24.378
0.035 225.314 13 P. Gasly Alpine 10
Alpine Renault 17
+0.975
1'24.408
0.030 225.234 14 J. Doohan Alpine 61
Alpine Renault 17
+1.001
1'24.434
0.026 225.165 15 F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing 14
Aston Martin Mercedes 19
+1.020
1'24.453
0.019 225.114 16 V. Bottas Sauber 77
Sauber Ferrari 16
+1.046
1'24.479
0.026 225.045 17 L. Lawson Racing Bulls 30
RB Red Bull 19
+1.086
1'24.519
0.040 224.938 18 L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing 18
Aston Martin Mercedes 20
+1.098
1'24.531
0.012 224.906 19 Z. Guanyu Sauber 24
Sauber Ferrari 16
+1.235
1'24.668
0.137 224.542 20 F. Colapinto Williams 43
Williams Mercedes 15
+1.333
1'24.766
0.098 224.283 View full results
Photos from Abu Dhabi GP Practice
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Saturday
Formula 1
42
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article F1 live: Third Abu Dhabi GP practice as it happens
Next article Jos Verstappen: No regrets over Red Bull being “torn apart” warning
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Alex Kalinauckas
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Who is Kimi Antonelli, F1 sprint polesitter at just 18?
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
Why Bottas has the edge over Perez in 2026 F1 return race
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
What if Red Bull solved its second-car problem with a paint job?
Latest news
"Just undriveable" – Isack Hadjar looking for answers after "massive" struggles in Austin practice
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
43 min
"Just undriveable" – Isack Hadjar looking for answers after "massive" struggles in Austin practice
Maverick Vinales: “If I stay at home, I don’t get paid”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Maverick Vinales: “If I stay at home, I don’t get paid”
The unexpected problem Honda encountered despite its second F1 power unit upgrade
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
1 h
The unexpected problem Honda encountered despite its second F1 power unit upgrade
MotoGP Australian GP: Full starting grid as four riders forced out of Phillip Island race
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
MotoGP Australian GP: Full starting grid as four riders forced out of Phillip Island race
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe