Mercedes’ George Russell was fastest in Free Practice 1, by 0.28s from Aston Martin’s reserve driver Felipe Drugovich.
Leclerc paced a massively disrupted FP2 with a fastest time of 1m24.809s, following two red flags for big crashes for Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas).
Abu Dhabi GP FP1 results: Russell fastest from Drugovich
| Cla | Nº | Driver | Car / Engine | Time | Delay | Laps |
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1’26.072 | 26 | |
| 2 | 34 | Felipe Drugovich | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’26.360 | 0.288 | 26 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1’26.433 | 0.361 | 26 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1’26.453 | 0.381 | 21 |
| 5 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1’26.631 | 0.559 | 21 |
| 6 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’26.665 | 0.593 | 25 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1’26.676 | 0.604 | 24 |
| 8 | 39 | R.Shwartzman | Ferrari | 1’26.703 | 0.631 | 25 |
| 9 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine/Renault | 1’26.720 | 0.648 | 26 |
| 10 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1’26.725 | 0.653 | 27 |
| 11 | 2 | Logan Sargeant | Williams/Mercedes | 1’26.742 | 0.670 | 27 |
| 12 | 42 | Frederik Vesti | Mercedes | 1’26.815 | 0.743 | 27 |
| 13 | 61 | Jack Doohan | Alpine/Renault | 1’26.865 | 0.793 | 23 |
| 14 | 98 | Théo Pourchaire | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1’27.093 | 1.021 | 20 |
| 15 | 29 | Patricio O’Ward | McLaren/Mercedes | 1’27.114 | 1.042 | 23 |
| 16 | 36 | Jake Dennis | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1’27.208 | 1.136 | 24 |
| 17 | 37 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1’27.244 | 1.172 | 20 |
| 18 | 45 | Zak O’Sullivan | Williams/Mercedes | 1’27.460 | 1.388 | 28 |
| 19 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1’27.462 | 1.390 | 26 |
| 20 | 50 | Ollie Bearman | Haas/Ferrari | 1’27.569 | 1.497 | 24 |
What happened in Abu Dhabi GP Free Practice 1?
This full-daylight session featured 10 rookies, who have contested two or fewer grands prix.
Russell set the early pace on medium tyres at 1m26.313s and improved to 1m26.072s on softs.
Drugovich, who was second quickest, was the only rookie in the top seven, lapping in 1m26.360s, ahead of regulars Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Lance Stroll (Aston), Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari).
Robert Shwartzman was eighth in Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, ahead of Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri). Logan Sargeant was 11th for Williams but almost caused a shunt for Jack Doohan in the second Alpine, who was 13th fastest.
Frederik Vesti drove Lewis Hamilton’s Williams to 12th and IndyCar ace Pato O’Ward was 15th in Lando Norris’s McLaren.
Both regular Red Bull…
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