Norris leads picture perfect FP1 in Abu Dhabi
- Maham Mir
- 4 hours ago
- 3 min read
Written by Maham Mir
Formula One returned at the Yas Marina Circuit to kick off the final race weekend of 2025. Out of the current championship leader Lando Norris, reigning world champion Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri, one will write themselves into the history books at the end of the weekend.
However, before a champion can be crowned, there are five all important sessions that must be completed around the 5.5km circuit. The first hour of practice in Abu Dhabi was topped by Norris followed by Verstappen and the top three was completed by Charles Leclerc.
Of all three of the practice sessions of the weekend, this is perhaps one of the most unrepresentative of the main sessions of Saturday’s qualifying and Sunday’s grand prix. Therefore, it is no surprise that many of the teams used this, one of the final practice sessions of the 2025 season, to fulfill their requirements of running a rookie driver in at least four FP1 sessions during the season.
Nine rookies took to the grid in Friday’s first hour of qualifying including Pato O’Ward (McLaren), Arvid Lindblad (Red Bull), Arthur Leclerc (Ferrari), Jack Crawford and Cian Shields (Aston Martin), Ayumu Iwasa (Racing Bulls), Paul Aron (Alpine), Luke Browning (Williams) and Ryo Hirakawa (Haas). Some of the drivers taking part in the rookie FP1 sessions will also be a part of the post-season tyre testing which will take place after the grand prix in Abu Dhabi.
There were early traffic issues between Isack Hadjar and Browning which were due to radio issues for Browning which preceded an unrelated and brief yellow flag. Shortly after, Browning came into the garage in order to have his radio replaced for his session and ahead of Alex Albon returning for FP2.
Carlos Sainz reported braking issues in Sector 2; this has been an on and off again problem for the Williams outfit throughout the season but has not stopped them from securing P5 in the World Constructors’ Championship standings.
Ollie Bearman reported losing power on his radio, coming into the garage after his engineer reported a potential hydraulics leak. Meanwhile, Nico Hulkenberg, celebrating his 250th Grand Prix, briefly went quickest on the medium tyre before being pipped by his teammate, Gabriel Bortoleto on the hard tyre. The WCC battle continues between the two teams, and Aston Martin, in this final race weekend.
At the halfway mark for the session, Verstappen sat at the top of the timesheets with a 1:24.493 ahead of the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli. However, Norris put himself into P2 shortly after with his first timed lap on the soft tyres.
Bearman, although released back onto the track after coming in for some adjustments, was called back into the garage. Despite going back out to set a respectable time on the medium tyres, he was eventually called in to retire the car for the session. Haas later confirmed the issue was sensor related.
With 20 minutes left in the session, Norris moved into P1 with a 1:24.485 and a gap of 0.008s. The senior Leclerc completed the top three, 0.016s off Norris’ time and the time set for all three drivers was done on soft tyres.
In the final stages of the session, Verstappen reported issues on his Red Bull while Antonelli reported bouncing in his Mercedes. Antonelli finished FP1 in P4 and ahead of his teammate Rusell who finished in P6.
Hirakawa for Haas was the highest finishing rookie in P11 and Shields finished as the slowest rookie for Aston Martin in P20. Lindblad, who will be the only rookie on the F1 grid in 2026, finished FP1 in P15.
Looking Ahead
Norris will be hoping to continue the pace he demonstrtated in this opening practice session in the more representative FP2 session coming up next. With Piastri returning to his car and Verstappen hoping that his Red Bull mechanics will be able to sort out the issues he was facing, it is still all to play for under the lights at the Yas Marina Circuit.
