Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg crash as Charles Leclerc fastest

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc edged out Lando Norris in practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which was red-flagged on two occasions.

A combined 30-minute delay wiped out half of the one-hour session after Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg both crashed out.

Leclerc saw off Norris by just 0.043sec, with Max Verstappen third, 0.173sec off the pace. George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finished sixth and eighth respectively for Mercedes.

A week after he smashed into a loose drain cover in Las Vegas, Sainz was in the wars again, but on this occasion it was through driver error.

Sainz – who appeared to be put off by another car arriving from the pits – lost control of his machine through turn three and ended up in the barrier.

Although the Spaniard was unharmed in the high-speed smash – with the running just eight-and-a-half minutes old – he sustained significant damage to his car; with the sidepods, floor, rear suspension and front wing of his Ferrari all destroyed.

Sainz’s impact also left the barrier in a mess and a 22-minute delay ensued as the tyre wall was repaired.

But only moments after the running re-started, the red flag was out again – this time after Nico Hulkenberg crashed on the exit of turn one.

On cold tyres, the German was too hasty on the throttle, sliding into the barrier before stopping in his wounded machine.

The stoppages arrived as a blow to half the grid who sat out the opening session as 10 rookie drivers were blooded at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Mercedes are looking to hang on to second in the constructors’ championship and are only four points ahead of Ferrari with one race to go.

And the troubled team will be alarmed by Leclerc’s speed as the Monegasque, on pole position in Las Vegas, topped the order.

Russell finished three tenths adrift of Leclerc while Hamilton, who made way for the team’s Danish junior driver Frederik Vesti in the opening running, was half-a-second back.

Mercedes’ sluggish pace also leaves the grid’s once-dominant team facing up to a winless season – their first since 2011.

In the day’s first running, British drivers Zak O’Sullivan, 18, and Jake Dennis, 28, made their Formula One weekend debuts for Williams and Red Bull respectively.

Ollie Bearman, 18, who in Mexico became the youngest British debutant at a Grand Prix, was handed his second practice appearance by Haas.

Dennis, in Verstappen’s Red Bull machine which Hamilton has described as the fastest ever seen in F1, finished 16th of the 20 runners, 1.1 sec off the pace.

O’Sullivan was 18th – seven tenths behind Williams’ Logan Sargeant, with Bearman 20th and last, albeit only a tenth slower than Kevin Magnussen in the other Haas.

PA Sport

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Friday practice: as it happened

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02:17 PM GMT

Well, much like FP1 I am not sure we learned much there

That is probably good because it means the team didn’t either. Not too much running under lights, so a fair amount of unknowns heading into qualifying and the race. Hopefully that makes for a more exciting and unpredictable weekend.

Qualifying takes place at 2pm tomorrow and we will be here for all the build-up and live updates from around 1pm.

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02:04 PM GMT

FP2 – Classification

1. LEC 1:24.809

2. NOR +0.043

3. VER +0.173

4. BOT +0.215

5. PER +0.303

6. RUS +0.313

7. ZHO +0.414

8. HAM +0.506

9. GAS +0.512

10. PIA +0.552

11. ALO +0.588

12. RIC +0.658

13. STR +0.683

14. OCO +0.757

15. TSU +0.860

16. ALB +1.272

17. MAG +1.604

18. SAR +1.850

19. SAI +1.898

20. HUL +2.338

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02:03 PM GMT

FP2 ends – Leclerc fastest

He is ahead of Leclerc, Norris and Verstappen.

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02:02 PM GMT

FP2 – Russell moves up to fifth

Still behind Bottas and 0.3sec off Leclerc, as the chequered flag falls on the session.

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01:59 PM GMT

FP2 – Perez on a good lap

He does not move up as he abandons his lap in the final sector, just after Verstappen went into third, 0.173sec off Leclerc’s fastest time.

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01:58 PM GMT

Watch: Verstappen overtakes Hamilton in the pit lane

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01:55 PM GMT

FP2 – Norris on a soft-tyre run

He is currently ninth and then crosses the line to improve to second, just 0.043sec off Leclerc’s time.

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01:54 PM GMT

FP2 – Alonso crosses the line to go P6

Here is the current order as we enter the last seven minutes:

1. LEC

2. BOT

3. GAS

4. ZHO

5. PIA

6. ALO

7. RIC

8. NOR

9. TSU

10. VER

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01:50 PM GMT

FP2 – Leclerc now moves fastest

0.215sec faster than Bottas. Gasly now third. Not everyone is on the soft tyre, but most are.

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01:49 PM GMT

FP2 – Norris moves fastest

But for barely a moment as Bottas and Piastri beat his time and then Guanyu Zhou in the second Alfa Romeo does.

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01:46 PM GMT

FP2 – Verstappen is Verstappening

He overtakes Hamilton and then Gasly in the pit lane. Not sure this is on, to be honest. Think he may be spoken to at the very least here.

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01:44 PM GMT

Session to resume imminently

Good. We will have about 16 minutes of (very frantic) running.

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01:43 PM GMT

News: F1 consider introducing controversial reverse grid for sprint races

Calls have been coming to revamp the sprint race format with suggestions that the current offering is ‘underwhelming’. Read more on this from Tom Cary in Abu Dhabi here. 

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01:43 PM GMT

FP2 – 18 minutes remain on the clock

This will be a quicker restart than Sainz as it was the metal barriers that Hulkenberg hit.

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01:40 PM GMT

FP2 – Aaaand we have another RED FLAG

Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas has spun and hit his rear end into the barriers, stopping by the side of the track…

This one was at turn two, whereas Sainz spun at turn three. No spinners or crashes in the rookie-heavy session earlier on today but two drivers with 384 starts between them have made what appear to be rookie errors.

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01:37 PM GMT

FP2 – Here’s the top 10 as we resume

1. RUS 1:25.906

2. RIC +0.468

3. STR +0.504

4. MAG +0.507

5. VER +0.547

6. PIA +0.560

7. LEC +0.665

8. TSU +0.694

9. BOT +0.716

10. SAR +0.753

Do not read too much into that. Most drivers have done a single or two flying laps. Anyway, the session has begun again…

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01:33 PM GMT

FP2 – Session to resume in two minutes

Hooray.

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01:30 PM GMT

FP2 – This delay is not really good news for the drivers who didn’t take part in FP1

Or anyone, really. It’s the only session that is run at the same time as qualifying and the race. There’s FP3 tomorrow, though that takes place in the heat of the day.

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01:25 PM GMT

FP2 – Still no action

I don’t think we are too far away, though. 35 minutes left on the clock.

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01:17 PM GMT

FP2 – 43 minutes remain on the clock

Sainz’s Ferrari is being loaded up onto a flatbed truck and hopefully the TecPro barriers will not need much repairing as that will add further delay.

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01:16 PM GMT

Watch: Sainz bins his Ferrari

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01:10 PM GMT

FP2 – RED FLAG

Sainz is in the barriers! Not sure what’s happened there. But the left-side is pretty badly damaged.

I think it’s at turn three. yes. He went over a bump at turn three and then lost the rear end. There was also a car in front which may have distracted him or, as Sainz says, created dirty air…

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01:09 PM GMT

FP2 – Ricciard into second, Stroll into third

Both some distance behind Russell.

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01:07 PM GMT

FP2 – Russell slots back into top spot

He spent most of the session this morning on top and ended it there, too.

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01:06 PM GMT

FP2 – Kevin Magnussen leads the way currently

A 1:26.413 for the Haas driver, with Verstappen 0.040sec behind him.

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01:04 PM GMT

FP2 – 57 mins remain

Should be a lot of action in this 60-minute session with all those returning drivers. Verstappen is already out there. Odds-on favourite to win this race as he has been every race all season…

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01:00 PM GMT

GREEN LIGHT: FP2 BEGINS

It starts in daylight (just about) and ends in darkness. One hour to go.

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12:53 PM GMT

A reminder that the regular drivers take their place in FP2

That’s Norris, Verstappen, Perez, Leclerc, Albon, Ocon, Hulkenberg, Hamilton, Alonso and Guanyu Zhou.

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12:52 PM GMT

More from Horner on those Hamilton ‘rumours’

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12:39 PM GMT

A reminder of those FP1 times

1. George Russell (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 26.072secs

2. Felipe Drugovich (Bra) Aston Martin 1:26.360

3. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:26.433

4. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Alfa Romeo F1 Team Kick 1:26.453

5. Lance Stroll (Can) Aston Martin 1:26.631

6. Oscar Piastri (Aus) McLaren 1:26.665

7. Carlos Sainz Jr. (Spa) Ferrari 1:26.676

8. Robert Shwartzman (Isr) Ferrari 1:26.703

9. Pierre Gasly (Fra) Alpine 1:26.720

10. Yuki Tsunoda (Jpn) Scuderia AlphaTauri 1:26.725

11. Logan Sargeant (USA) Williams 1:26.742

12. Frederik Vesti (Den) Mercedes GP 1:26.815

13. Jack Doohan (Aus) Alpine 1:26.865

14. Theo Pourchaire (Fra) Alfa Romeo F1 Team Kick 1:27.093

15. Patricio O’Ward (Mex) McLaren 1:27.114

16. Jake Dennis (Gbr) Red Bull 1:27.208

17. Isack Hadjar (Fra) Red Bull 1:27.244

18. Zak O’Sullivan (Gbr) Williams 1:27.460

19. Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 Team 1:27.462

20. Oliver Bearman (Gbr) Haas F1 Team 1:27.569

Rookies in bold.

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12:32 PM GMT

First practice report: Russell tops rookie-filled session

George Russell finished fastest in opening practice for the concluding round of the Formula One season in Abu Dhabi.

Triple world champion Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton sat out the first running with 10 rookie drivers blooded at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Three Britons were among them with Zak O’Sullivan, 18, and Jake Dennis, 28, making their Formula One weekend debuts for Williams and Red Bull respectively.

Ollie Bearman, 18, who in Mexico made history by becoming the youngest British debutant at a Grand Prix, was handed his second practice appearance by Haas.

Dennis, in a Red Bull machine which Hamilton has described as the fastest ever seen in Formula One, finished 16th of the 20 runners, 1.1 seconds off the pace.

O’Sullivan was 18th – seven tenths behind Williams’ Logan Sargeant – with Bearman 20th and last, albeit only a tenth slower than Kevin Magnussen in the other Haas.

Mercedes are facing up to ending the season without a single victory, the first time that has happened in 12 years.

But the troubled Silver Arrows will take some confidence from ending the opening running at the top of the order.

Russell finished 0.288 sec clear of Aston Martin stand-in Felipe Drugovichm, who finished highest of the substitute drivers. Daniel Ricciardo was third for AlphaTauri.

The day’s concluding session, which will see the return of Verstappen, Hamilton and McLaren’s Lando Norris, gets under way at 1pm GMT.

PA Sport

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11:09 AM GMT

That is first practice done

I will be back from around 12.30pm ahead of the second practice session in the Abu Dhabi dusk.

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10:49 AM GMT

Toto Wolff speaks to Sky Sports about the team’s fight with Ferrari for second

Can they win here?

“The stats are against us when you look at the season. We are aiming to beat [Ferrari], we are here to race and it’s for P2. You can say you are finishing P3 you have more aero time, that is the only silver lining.”

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10:45 AM GMT

A bit more news if you missed it yesterday or earlier

Lewis Hamilton denies Red Bull approach and accuses ‘lonely’ Christian Horner of ‘stirring’. Briton says rival team principal contacted him and then used his name to get attention with claims he enquired about a switch. Read the full article here. 

Here’s the latest that Horner has to say on it:

“We’ve always had a great relationship with Anthony [Lewis’s dad], he’s a very nice guy. But there’s no seat available but it’s really a non-story.”

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10:41 AM GMT

1.5sec between first and last

Not too bad, given the amount of rookies out there. Nobody disgraced themselves at all.

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10:36 AM GMT

Abu Dhabi GP, FP1 – Classification

1. RUS 1:26.072

2. DRU +0.288

3. RIC +0.361

4. BOT +0.381

5. STR +0.559

6. PIA +0.593

7. SAI +0.604

8. SHW +0.631

9. GAS +0.648

10. TSU +0.653

11. SAR +0.670

12. VES +0.743

13. DOO +0.793

14. POU +1.021

15. OWA +1.042

16. DEN +1.136

17. HAD +1.172

18. OSU +1.388

19. MAG +1.390

20. BEA +1.497

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10:33 AM GMT

FP1 – Session ends

Russell quickest ahead of Drugovich and Ricciardo. Yellow flags in sector one, not sure why. Isack Hadjar almost plows into the back of the Aston Martin of Stroll who was dawdling on the apex of the first hairpin. Stroll’s fault, that.

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10:30 AM GMT

FP1 – Drugovich has improved

But he stays in second behind Russell. Not sure we are going to have learned anything at all from this practice session, but that is often how it is. In any case the season is nearly over. Let’s hope it’s a better one next year. Ricciardo has improved to move third, 0.361sec off Russell, who completes a heavy-fuel lap as the session ends.

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10:27 AM GMT

FP1 – A fair bit of action on track now

Only Bottas is now out there. Thankfully none of the rookies have had embarrassing moments so far. And most of them have got a good haul of laps in. Haas propping up the bottom of the timesheets currently. Magnussen in 19th and Briton Ollie Bearman in 20th.

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10:23 AM GMT

FP1 – Eight minutes remain

And it doesn’t look like anyone is going to dislodge Russell. Or at least nobody has come close so far. The nearest is currently Felipe Drugovich in the Aston Martin who is 0.334sec off the Mercedes driver, with Bottas and then Ricciardo behind, both within half a second.

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10:22 AM GMT

FP1 – And Hadjar moves into P12

With a time that is within half a tenth of team-mate Dennis.

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10:18 AM GMT

FP1 – Jake Dennis moves up to P10

A quicker lap, a 1:27.208 in the second Red Bull on the soft tyres. Isack Hadjar is in the other Red Bull.

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10:15 AM GMT

FP1 – Piastri now up into second

Still a big gap of 0.6sec nearly to Russell.

Here’s how it stands with 15 minutes left:

1. RUS

2. PIA

3. GAS

4. TSU

5. SAR

6. VES

7. BOT

8. OWA

9. STR

10. RIC

11. DRU

12. OSU

13. MAG

14. SAI

15. BEA

16. POU

17. SHW

18. DEN

19. DOO

20. HAD

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10:11 AM GMT

FP1 – Dane Frederik Vesti is in for Hamilton here

He is up in third, 0.743sec off Russell’s leading time. Stroll becomes the latest driver to have a bit of a moment in the final corner.

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10:08 AM GMT

FP1 – Gasly up into second now

0.639sec off Russell’s 1:26.081. A few more drivers now out there on the soft compound tyres and everyone has reached double figures on their lap count.

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10:07 AM GMT

FP1 – Watch: Doohan and Sargeant narrowly avoid a huge crash

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10:05 AM GMT

FP1 – Fastest sector times so far

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10:04 AM GMT

FP1 – Stewards looking at a on-track incident…

Between Logan Sargeant and Jack Doohan. Doohan was coming around the final corner at high-speed approaching Logan Sargeant going slowly. Sargeant moves off line towards the pit lane (though not to go in the pits) and Doohan has to duck inside and across the pit lane entry. It could have been a big crash. Probably just a bit of poor communication from the pit wall.

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09:59 AM GMT

FP1 – Just under half-way gone

Russell still leads the way. Everyone has done at least seven laps. Shwartzman has moved himself up from last to 13th in this, his fourth F1 practice session.

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09:54 AM GMT

FP1 – Everyone has now set a lap time

It ranges from Russell in first with a 1:26.313 to Shwartzman in 20th with a 1:41.865. I don’t think the latter time is representative, mind you. 2.6sec separates the top 16.

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09:53 AM GMT

FP1 – The big battle this weekend is between Ferrari and Mercedes

That is for second in the constructors’ championship. Last season it was Ferrari so if Mercedes finish second that represents some progress? Well, not really. I wouldn’t say they were any closer to the front than in 2022. Maybe at the start of 2022, yes. But Ferrari have fallen back since last year. Mercedes currently winless in 2023.

Other undecided slots in the teams’ standings: McLaren (4th) vs Aston Martin (5th), with 11 points between them. Williams, in seventh, are seven points ahead of AlphaTauri and 12 ahead of Alfa Romeo. You would think they are safe there, but AlphaTauri have been in fine form of late. Seventh would be a very fine year for Williams.

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09:48 AM GMT

FP1 – Sainz moves back into third

He is half a second off Russell. This will be an experimental session for a lot of the teams. A handful of drivers have yet to set a lap time: Drugovich, Piastri, Bottas and Pouchaire.

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09:44 AM GMT

FP1 – Top 10 and gaps

1. RUS 1:26.963

2. TSU +0.925

3. SAR +0.996

4. GAS +1.102

5. SAI +1.142

6. RIC +1.317

7. OSU +1.529

8. VES +1.659

9. MAG +1.771

10. BEA +1.907

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09:43 AM GMT

FP1 – In the Red Bull, in place of Max Verstappen is Jake Dennis

The 28-year-old Briton is the reigning Formula E champion and is getting his first taste of running in an F1 weekend.

He had a bit of an issue earlier in the session but he is out there again now, in 12th with a 1:31.117.

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09:38 AM GMT

FP1 – A few aero rakes out there

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09:36 AM GMT

FP1 – Out come the bigger boys

George Russell, on the softs, is now the quickest man with a 1:27.673, which is 0.768sec faster than Sainz in the Ferrari on the soft tyres.

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09:35 AM GMT

FP1 – Lance Stroll sets the first lap time

It’s a 1:31.035 from the Aston Martin man.

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09:30 AM GMT

GREEN LIGHT: FP1 begins!

A fair number of the rookies come out early on, understandably.

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09:23 AM GMT

A fair run out of rookies in this session

Here is the list:

Robert Shwartzman, Ferrari
Felipe Drugovich, Aston Martin
Oliver Bearman, Haas
Jack Doohan, Alpine
Frederik Vesti, Mercedes
Jake Dennis, Red Bull
Isack Hadjar, Red Bull
Theo Pourchaire, Alfa Romeo
Zak O’Sullivan, Williams
Patricio O’Ward, McLaren

Yes, that is half the grid.

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09:17 AM GMT

Max Verstappen exclusive interview: Show races have brought F1 to a tipping point

Before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix the Dutchman also explained why he and Lewis Hamilton will never drive for the same team. Tom Cary spoke to the reigning and current World Champion ahead of the weekend’s final race. 

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09:15 AM GMT

Current championship standings – Top 10

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09:05 AM GMT

NEWS: McLaren extend use of Mercedes power until 2030

The current deal ran until the new engine/power unit regulations come in in 2026 and this way McLaren become Mercedes first customer for those new regulations. Having previously been paired up in McLaren’s most recent heyday of the 1990s and until 2012, the team have run Mercedes engines since 2021.

Here is the team’s statement:

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09:00 AM GMT

A reminder of the timings for the sessions this weekend

Friday, November 24

First practice: 9.30am
Second practice: 1pm

Saturday, November 25

Third practice: 10.30am
Qualifying: 2pm

Sunday, November 26

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: 1pm

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08:53 AM GMT

Good morning F1 fans

Welcome to our coverage for Friday practice for the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It’s the final race of the season and some of you would be correct to say “thank God for that”. Has the season been remotely good? Well, outside of the man leading the championship, I would say yes. But, quite honestly, who – in the grand scheme of things – cares all that much about who finishes second, third, fourth, fifth or whatever?

The harsh and boring reality was that Max Verstappen winning the world championship was a foregone conclusion from very early on. Yes, Sergio Perez trailed him by just six points after four rounds and a sprint but the chances of the Mexican challenging his team-mate over the following 18 rounds (and five more sprints) was minuscule. And so it has turned out, with Perez not winning another race since his victory in Baku and only just securing second place against Lewis Hamilton in an up-and-down Mercedes last weekend.

So far Verstappen has won 18 of the 21 rounds of the season, including 16 of the last 17. That is to go with his nine of the last 11 at the end of last season. So that takes him to 27 of the last 32 or, in percentage terms, nearly 85 per cent. As good as he is, it would be good to have someone else – anyone – win a little more.

So what hopes do we have here in Abu Dhabi? Well, Verstappen has gone pretty well here in recent years and in 2023 he will be aiming to make this his fourth win in a row at this track. Last week in Las Vegas (yes, this is the end of a double header that spans 12 time zones) he needed a bit of luck to take victory, with Ferrari arguably the faster car over the Nevada track. The Yas Marina circuit will probably suit the Red Bull a bit more and the conditions will be a bit more conventional. So perhaps let’s not expect a repeat of what happened last week.

Races at this track used to be routinely awful, but the tweaks to the circuits in 2021 have made it a much better racing prospect. Hopefully we get some action at the front.

Anyway, first practice kicks off at 9.30am GMT and lasts an hour with FP2 at 1pm and also lasting an hour. Expect to see a few unfamiliar faces in FP2.

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