#F1 #AbuDhabiGP #FP1: @LandoNorris pips championship rival @Max33Verstappen by 0.008s.

Norris Abu Dhabi FP1 – Championship leader Lando Norris was quickest in opening practice at the season-closing Abu Dhabi GP pipping title rival Max Verstappen as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded out the top three. Other Championship contender Oscar Piastri sat out of the session with Pato O’Ward piloting the Australian’s MCL39 racer for the session.

Norris posted the session-topping time of a 1:24.485 with the C5 red-marked softer compounds to be a very narrow 0.008 seconds clear of Verstappen whilst Leclerc was a further 0.016 seconds adrift of the McLaren driver.

This opening practice session saw nine rookies running:

• Jak Crawford for Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team in place of Lance Stroll.
• Cian Shields for Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team in place of Fernando Alonso.
• Paul Aron for BWT Alpine F1 Team in place of Pierre Gasly.
• Ayumu Iwasa for Visa Cash App Racing Bulls Formula 1 Team in place of Liam Lawson.
• Ryo Hirakawa for MoneyGram Haas F1 Team in place of Esteban Ocon.
• Luke Browning for Atlassian Williams Racing in place of Alexander Albon.
• Arvid Lindblad for Oracle Red Bull Racing in place of Yuki Tsunoda.
• Arthur Leclerc for Scuderia Ferrari in place of Sir Lewis Hamilton.
• Pato O’Ward for McLaren Formula 1 Team in place of Oscar Piastri.

RB’s Isack Hadjar lead the pack out onto the Yas Marina Circuit with the C3 white-branded harder compound.

The Frenchman was the first to register the benchmark of a 1:46.118, which was beaten by RB reserve team-mate for the session Iwasa with his 1:29.850 as O’Ward on the C5 softer rubber went fastest posting a 1:29.398.

Alpine’s Franco Colapinto on the C4’s slotted into second with a 1:27.661 whilst Verstappen put his Red Bull at the head of the times setting a 1:27.130.

Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari briefly second to be 0.045 seconds off Verstappen as Russell split the duo with his 1:27.168 effort to be 0.038 seconds adrift.

Alpine’s Aron then moved up into fourth to be 0.253 seconds off championship contender Verstappen as Lindblad then took P1 with his 1:26.703 momentarily as Sainz then Andrea Kimi Antonelli went quickest on a 1:26.347.

Championship leader Norris then went fastest on his mediums with a 1:25.764 as Hulkenberg pushed to be 0.077 seconds off the Briton.

Verstappen then jumped to third briefly as Russell on his harder compounds jumped to second to be 0.039 seconds off Norris.

O’Ward on his soft stint then moved up to third to be 0.056 seconds adrift of team-mate Norris.

Williams’ Carlos Sainz then jumped to the top of the pile posting a 1:25.712 at the 12^th minute of proceedings to be 0.052 seconds clear of former team-mate Norris.

C Leclerc with three personal bests went to sixth overall to be 0.199 seconds off as Antonelli with a purple sector one and two personal bests hit the top setting a 1:25.708 to go 0.004 seconds clear but only briefly as Norris returned to P1 with a 1:25.454.

Verstappen was next with a purple middle sector jumped to second posting a 1:25.468 to end up 0.014 seconds adrift of Norris’s benchmark at the 15^th minute mark whilst Russell moved to fifth and 0.349 seconds off his fellow-British compatriot.

Hulkenberg at the 19^th minute mark of proceedings with two personal bests and a purple sector three went quickest on a 1:25.439 to be a slim 0.015 seconds ahead of Norris whilst Haas’s Oliver Bearman report he lost power.

Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto then jumped to P1 to pip his team-mate by 0.041 seconds with his 1:25.398 effort, but only momentarily as Hadjar snatched top spot posting a 1:25.245 as Sainz slotted into second to wound up 0.112 seconds off the Frenchman.

Hirakawa in the other VF-25 entry went to ninth in the order to be 0.318 seconds adrift of Hadjar’s benchmark.

The majority of the field were back in the pits bar Verstappen, Hirakawa, Aron, Browning and Crawford to adjust their setups and refuel before emerging for another stint.

Verstappen came out on the C5 red-marked softer tyres for his second stint as the Dutchman with three purples shot to the top of the time-sheets with a 1:24.493 to be 0.752 seconds clear of his new Red Bull team-mate for 2026 Hadjar.

O’Ward on the mediums went to third to be 0.753 seconds adrift of the Dutchman but was demoted to fourth as Russell took second setting a 1:24.733 to be 0.240 seconds off Verstappen.

Hadjar on his next run on the mediums remained in third to be 0.484 off Verstappen as Hulkenberg relegated the RB driver to fourth posting a 1:24.890.

Antonelli then jumped to third to be 0.350 seconds adrift of Verstappen as replays showed championship leader Norris suffer a snap through turns two and three.

Norris was next with two personal bests and a purple final sector improved to second with his 1:24.519 effort.

Lindblad went to eighth in the order to be 0.753 seconds off Verstappen whilst C Leclerc moved to third to be 0.074 seconds off Verstappen.

Colapinto with three personal bests pushed to sixth to end up 0.362 seconds adrift of Verstappen.

Hulkenberg was next with a personal best sector two and purple sector three to end up fifth in the order to be 0.136 seconds off of Verstappen as Sainz improved to eighth to be 0.006 off seventh-placed Colapinto with 23 minutes left on the clock.

Antonelli with two personal bests improved to fourth overall to split C Leclerc and Hulkenberg.

Norris on his next flying lap with three personal bests pipped Verstappen at the top by 0.008 seconds setting a 1:24.485 with 21 minutes remaining.

Bortoleto with three personal bests split Russell and Colapinto in seventh to be 0.257 seconds off Norris’s benchmark time.

Bearman reported to say the problem in his VF-25 entry was getting worse, but with three personal bests slotted into eighth ended up 0.257 seconds adrift of Norris’s best time with less than 19 minutes left whilst the majority of the field returned back into the pits for setup tweaks and a heavier fuel load for longer race runs.

The Haas team then reported to Bearman to retire his VF-25 racer prematurely from the session, which was a suspected sensor issue.

Arthur Leclerc was out for his first run on the softs. He moved to 18^th on his initial effort on the C5 rubber as Verstappen reported: “I think there might be something broken on the car.”

Verstappen’s Race Engineer Giampiero Lambiase asked where the main areas of issue are.

“Everywhere now,” The Dutchman replied as C Leclerc suffered a spin at the turn five left hander.

A Leclerc then pushed to 16^th on his next flyer to be 0.875 seconds off Verstappen’s best effort with less than six minutes remaining.

The session finished with the pack running their long race data gathering stints.

Norris ended on top of the time-sheets by 0.008 seconds over championship rival Verstappen as Leclerc completed the top three.

Antonelli and Russell were fourth and sixth respectively for Mercedes as Hulkenberg split the pairing in fifth.

Bortoleto followed in seventh ahead of Bearman who took eighth whilst Sainz and Colapinto completed the top ten.

You can see the full Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2025 Free Practice 1 Results Classification at the link: FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX 2025 – PRACTICE 1

2025 F1 World Championship Standings