Abu Dhabi GP: Norris stamps his authority in FP2 as a lock up costs Piastri

Lando Norris made a perfect start to the Abu Dhabi title decider as he finished Friday’s practices comfortably quickest by three-tenths ahead of Max Verstappen.

On the other side of the McLaren garage, Oscar Piastri was off the pace a mistake at Turn 6 cost the Australian and left him down in 11th place.

Lando Norris clinches the Friday practice double in Abu Dhabi

As the sun set over the Yas Marina circuit, the track temperature dropped ahead of FP2 with conditions more in line with what the drivers will experience in qualifying and the grand prix.

The usual line-up, including Oscar Piastri, was back on track after nine drivers filled their respective teams’ mandatory four and final young driver outing in FP1. Piastri’s car, driven by Pato O’Ward earlier, underwent setup changes in the break, as did Verstappen’s RB21.

Liam Lawson was the first driver out, Charles Leclerc was getting blasted in the eye through his helmet vent, and Isack Hadjar was quickest of all on the soft tyres by half a second ahead of Oliver Bearman, who was also running the soft tyres.

There was a moment of tension between championship contenders Lando Norris and Verstappen in a moment of impeding that was noted by the stewards.

“You’ve got Norris not opening a lap behind you, or maybe he is. Coming through,” Gianpiero Lambiase told Verstappen.

Norris: “What’s this guy doing? We almost crashed.”

Race Control announced no further action.

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Verstappen and Carlos Sainz were the fastest of the medium tyre runners, with Piastri down in 11th place and Norris, P14. They were eight-tenths slower than Verstappen.

As the track continued to cool down and the wind picked up, George Russell was feeling more comfortable in his Mercedes with Norris also finding his pace as he improved to third, ahead of Verstappen by 0.016.

The first of the frontrunners to swap to the soft Pirellis, Verstappen went quickest with a 1:23.446 ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. Carlos Sainz complained about a “weird snap Turn 2”, and Bearman wasn’t happy about an “unsafe release from a Sauber”.

Norris hit the front midway through the session with a 1:23.083, three-tenths on Verstappen with Russell third. Piastri was down in 10th place. He had a huge lock-up into Turn 6 on his second flying lap.

Albon reported “something wrong with the engine” only to be told by Williams that they’d made changes “in the background”.

Swapping to long runs, Bearman was loving his final grand prix in the Haas VF-25, reporting: “The car is insane. I don’t know how it is so good.” He was up in fourth place, four-tenths off the pace.

The session ended with Norris P1 by 0.363s ahead of Verstappen with Russell third. Piastri dropped to 11th.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP2 times

1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:23.083
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.363
3 George Russell Mercedes +0.379
4 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.418
5 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +0.467
6 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +0.487
7 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.574
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.575
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +0.625
10 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.667
11 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.680
12 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.749
13 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.789
14 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari +0.856
15 Alexander Albon Williams +0.867
16 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +0.875
17 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +1.220
18 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +1.391
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1.688
20 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.880

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