The opening day of practice at the F1 Abu Dhabi GP delivered a mix of rookie involvement, and shifting performance trends, with FP1 offering limited representative pace and FP2 revealing the first real glimpse of the competitive order. From Norris edging out Verstappen. Friday set the tone for an unpredictable weekend ahead.
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FP1
Plenty of rookies were sitting in the cars, e.g. Oscar Piastri missed out, because Pat O’ Ward drove his car. In Ferrari the Leclerc brothers setted up the pace as Arthur Leclerc changed with Lewis Hamilton.
In this way the session was not too strong with flying laps. However for the final period of the FP1 Norris, Verstappen and Charles Leclerc topped the chart. The real performance stayed for the FP2.
FP2
For the afternoon session everybody backed into the cockpit, which meant the sharp preparation for the weekend.
The first stint was referring to the race simulations. It seemed nobody completed flying laps in the early stages of the FP2. Around halftime Verstappen was leading with 1:23.446 – completed on softs. As the time went all drivers put on the softs and started to complete the qualifying stints. During That time Piastri struggled, staying as 10th.
Only Norris could beat Verstappen with his 0.3s better time. Surprisingly Bearman finished 4th with a strong pace.
Coming up the FP3 and Qualification on Saturday.
The results of the Free Practices, according to FIA.com:
