Abu Dhabi GP: Russell upsets the title party as Hamilton suffers big crash in FP3

George Russell upset the championship party in FP3 in Abu Dhabi as his 1:23.335 saw him finish ahead of Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri.

The session was red-flagged for several minutes when Lewis Hamilton lost control of his Ferrari SF-25, spun at Turn 9 and went nose-first in the barrier.

Practice hat-trick denied for Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi

As the clock counted down to the season’s final practice hour, championship leader Lando Norris sat at the back of the McLaren garage with a smile on his face. The Briton has the championship title in his hands; all he has to do is finish inside the top three on Sunday to be crowned F1’s newest World Champion.

His teammate Oscar Piastri, P3 and 16 points off the pace, was having a chat with McLaren CEO Zak Brown, both laughing, while Max Verstappen, second in the standings and 12 points off the pace, was in conversation with Helmut Marko. All three looked very relaxed.

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were the first drivers out of the pits, out and in, as neither driver set a lap time. Pierre Gasly made his mark 11 minutes in, posting a 1:25.984.

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And then out came Norris…

The Briton clocked a 1:24.728 as one by one the rest of the field took to the track. Lewis Hamilton went second, before he was bumped down by Yuki Tsunoda and Oscar Piastri.

Massive oversteer cost Norris on his next flying lap, but he still improved to a 1:24.533 ahead of Oliver Bearman and Charles Leclerc.

Norris and Tsunoda had a hairy moment with the Japanese driver dawdling on the racing line as Norris came flying up behind him.

Max Verstappen and the Mercedes teammates were the last three runners to clock lap times, Verstappen quickest on a 1:24.245, George Russell up to 143th and Kimi Antonelli P18.

Verstappen was P1 midway through the hour, 0.059s up on Stroll with Oliver Bearman in the Haas third fastest. Gabriel Bortoleto in seventh place was the fastest driver on the medium tyres.

The first red flag of the weekend were out shortly after as Hamilton went spinning off into Turn 9, losing the back end of his Ferrari before ending up nose-first in the barrier at speed. “Something buckled at the front and snapped the rear,” he reported as he climbed out of his SF-25.

The session resumed with just under 20 minutes to go, the drivers out on fresh soft tyres.

Verstappen was a flier, up in the first sector, before upping his pace to a 1:14.136. His teammate Yuki Tsunoda pitted after a purple middle sector. And then came McLaren…

Piastri went purple in the middle sector, and was up in the second and third to cross the line with a 1:23.593. Norris was down on his teammate in the opening sector, took too much kerb in the second, and found impressive pace in the third to go quickest. A 1:23.338 for the championship leader.

There was drama in the pit lane as Antonelli collided with Tsunoda in the pit lane. Tsunoda’s Red Bull suffered a fair amount of damage. The stewards will investigate that one as well as an unsafe release from Alex Albon.

With four minutes to go, Russell upset the McLaren 1-2 as he edged ahead of Norris by 0.004s. Verstappen moved up to finished third ahead of Piastri.

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP3 result

1 George Russell Mercedes 1:23.334
2 Lando Norris McLaren +0.004
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing +0.124
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Marti +0.251
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren +0.259
6 Esteban Ocon Haas F1 Team +0.271
7 Oliver Bearman Haas F1 Team +0.275
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +0.341
9 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes +0.373
10 Alexander Albon Williams +0.388
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Kick Sauber +0.457
12 Carlos Sainz Williams +0.477
13 Nico Hulkenberg Kick Sauber +0.536
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +0.561
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls +0.613
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls +0.645
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine +0.738
18 Lewis Hamilton Ferrar +1.136
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine +1.167
20 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull Racing +1.359

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