Abu Dhabi GP: Leclerc overcomes major Ferrari scare in FP1 as F1 title decider looms

Charles Leclerc speaking with Arthur and Carlos Sainz
Charles Leclerc bounced back from a battery issue that kept him in the Ferrari garage in the first half of FP1 for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to set the pace in a session in which he and his brother Arthur were both on the track.
Leclerc clocked a 1:24.321 to beat Lando Norris to P1 by two-tenths on a weekend in which Ferrari need to make up 21 points on McLaren to win the Constructors’ Championship.
Charles Leclerc sets the pace as brothers make history
A debut Grand Prix weekend for Jack Doohan, two Leclercs – Charles and Arthur, and five other FP1 junior outings set the stage for Friday’s opening practice for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Isack Hadjar briefly stopped on his out-lap as he reported that the “wheel clearance” on the Red Bull was “bad”, the driver then spinning with “zero efficiency”. There were problems also for Charles Leclerc who was stuck in the pits with a battery issue. Doohan, smoking his tyres in a lock-up,
George Russell set the early pace ahead of Sergio Perez, the Mercedes driver clocking a 1:25.9.
Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris were noted by race control for a potential impeding moment that will be looked at after the session. Hamilton went on to make it a Mercedes 1-2, 0.030s behind Russell.
And the while Leclerc was stuck in the Ferrari garage as his mechanics worked on his SF-24.
F1 2024: Team-mate head-to-head stats
👉F1 2024: Head-to-head qualifying record between team-mates
👉F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
Halfway through the session, Hamilton was up in P1 with a 1:25.5, Doohan was up in ninth place in the Alpine, and Charles Leclerc was being strapped into his Ferrari.
Bolting on a new set of soft tyres, Norris went quickest with a 1:24.5 with Nico Hulkenberg, contesting his final Grand Prix in Haas colours, up second ahead of Franco Colapinto.
Hamilton and Russell were onto the back of Norris on the timesheet when they swapped their mediums for softs, while Williams rookie Luke Browning earned the wrath of Hadjar for not one but two impeding moments.
Charles Leclerc bounced back from his earlier battery issues to set the pace with 10 minutes to go, the Ferrari driver down to a 1:24.321. That put him two-tenths up on Norris. Leclerc though, has a 10-place grid penalty for a new battery.
Felipe Drugovich was the fastest of the Friday FP1 juniors in ninth place while Arthur Leclerc was 18th and Doohan P19 as he gears up for his first Grand Prix.
Times
1 Charles LECLERC 1:24.321
2 Lando NORRIS +0.221
3 Lewis HAMILTON +0.485
4 George RUSSELL +0.844
5 Pierre GASLY +1.012
6 Nico HULKENBERG +1.052
7 Franco COLAPINTO +1.061
8 Kevin MAGNUSSEN +1.123
9 Felipe DRUGOVICH +1.150
10 Sergio PEREZ +1.162
11 Fernando ALONSO +1.183
12 Liam LAWSON +1.242
13 Valtteri BOTTAS +1.290
14 Ryo HIRAKAWA +1.553
15 Isack HADJAR +1.556
16 ZHOU Guanyu +1.600
17 Ayumu IWASA +1.800
18 Arthur LECLERC +1.858
19 Jack DOOHAN +1.983
20 Luke BROWNING +2.198
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