Championship-leading McLaren driver Lando Norris made it a clean sweep in Friday practice for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, beating Red Bull title rival Max Verstappen by almost four tenths of a second, as Oscar PIastri could only manage the 11th fastest time of the second practice session in the other McLaren.
The evening session, run in similar conditions to those drivers will experience in qualifying and the race got off to a busty start with a mix Medium and Soft tyres in use. And it was Soft tyre runner Ollie Bearman who set the pace initially, with the Haas driver posting a lap of 1:24.744s on the C5 tyres to take top spot. The Briton was then replaced by Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, who was also out on the C5. Behind then Norris was quickest of the Medium tyre runners, while Kick Sauber’s Nico Hüllkenberg was fast on Hard tyres.
Hadjar and Bearman held on as the top two almost until the halfway mark, but just ahead of 30 minutes Verstappen headed out on a set of Soft tyres and the Dutchman immediately vaulted to the top of the order with a lap of 1:23.446, a tenth clear of Hülkenberg who also moved to the C5 compound. Mercedes George Russell then dislodged the German driver to steal P2.
Norris was also now out on the red-banded tyres and he went well clear, posting a lap of 1:23.082 to moved more than three tenths ahead of Verstappen.
The Dutchman didn’t respond and instead moved to the Medium tyre to conduct longer runs and as the rest of the field also switched to assessment of race pace, the order froze.
Behind Verstappen, Russell held on to P3 ahead of Bearman who punched in a lap of 1:23.501 in a Haas car he described “insanely good”.
Hülkenberg completed the top five, just under half a second off Norris’ P1 time and the German was immediately followed by team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto who ended the session just under a tenth ahead of Hadjar. Charles Leclerc was eighth for Ferrari ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and the top 10 was rounded out by Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli.
That left title hopeful Piastri in P11. The Australian missed FP1 as Pato O’Ward was given a regulation-fulfilling run out and once back in the car Piastri struggled to find a comfortable balance and ended up 0.68s seconds off the pace of his team-mate.
2025 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.083 28 228.826
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:23.446 0.363 31 227.831
3 George Russell Mercedes 1:23.462 0.379 29 227.787
4 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:23.501 0.418 28 227.681
5 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:23.550 0.467 28 227.547
6 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:23.570 0.487 28 227.493
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:23.657 0.574 29 227.256
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:23.658 0.575 31 227.253
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:23.708 0.625 27 227.118
10 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:23.750 0.667 29 227.004
11 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.763 0.680 29 226.968
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:23.832 0.749 29 226.782
13 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:23.872 0.789 31 226.673
14 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:23.939 0.856 29 226.493
15 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:23.950 0.867 32 226.463
16 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:23.958 0.875 27 226.441
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:24.303 1.220 29 225.515
18 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:24.474 1.391 32 225.058
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:24.771 1.688 28 224.270
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:24.963 1.880 30 223.763
2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 1
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:24.485 28 225.029
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:24.493 0.008 30 225.007
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.501 0.016 28 224.986
4 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:24.608 0.123 30 224.702
5 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:24.629 0.144 28 224.646
6 George Russell Mercedes 1:24.733 0.248 29 224.370
7 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:24.742 0.257 29 224.346
8 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:24.759 0.274 14 224.301
9 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:24.771 0.286 27 224.270
10 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:24.855 0.370 28 224.048
11 Ryō Hirakawa Haas/Ferrari 1:24.934 0.449 28 223.839
12 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:24.977 0.492 31 223.726
13 Paul Aron Alpine/Renault 1:25.204 0.719 27 223.130
14 Patricio O'Ward McLaren/Mercedes 1:25.246 0.761 28 223.020
15 Arvid Lindblad Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:25.256 0.771 26 222.994
16 Arthur Leclerc Ferrari 1:25.360 0.875 27 222.722
17 Ayumu Iwasa Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:25.475 0.990 30 222.422
18 Luke Browning Williams/Mercedes 1:25.490 1.005 18 222.383
19 Jak Crawford Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:25.889 1.404 24 221.350
20 Cian Shields Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:26.432 1.947 22 219.960
