F1 Abu Dhabi GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Follow F1's final FP1 session of the year ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
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That's all from us - we'll see you a bit later for FP2, which should be a bit more representative! See you then!
Hirakawa was quickest of the rookie drivers in 11th, Aron 13th, O'Ward 14th, Lindblad 15th, A. Leclerc 16th, Iwasa 17th, Browning 18th, Crawford 19th, Shields 20th.
FP1 is done!
There's your last FP1 of the year in the history books. Norris is quickest from Verstappen by just 0.008s.
"We are so slow, no? The car feels like it's got zero grip," Charles Leclerc says - as he's told he's not much quicker than the rest of the midfield.
Piastri can't stifle a yawn, and realises he's been caught on camera.
Browning bowls a wide at Turn 1, so its rookies and experienced drivers alike who are finding the run-off.
Hadjar's got a "jumping" car, and at this point I really don't think these drivers will miss the current cars. Like, at all.
Big spin for Leclerc (Charles) at Turn 5, but he's managed to save it and keep going.
"I think Charles is doing some burnouts for the fans," his brother suggests as he follows him into the corner.
"I think there might be something broken on the car," Verstappen reports. "Where are the main issues?" GP replies, who gets the unhelpful response that "it's everywhere".
Everything's infected with brokenness now.
Crawford finally gets a non-hard tyre lap in, doing a lap on the mediums that gets him up to 18th. Browning goes 17th with a lap on softs, 1s off the pace. Leclerc (Jr) moves up to 18th ahead of the two Astons.
15 minutes remain, and our top 10 is Norris, Antonelli, Leclerc (Sr), Antonelli, Hulkenberg, Russell, Bortoleto, Bearman, Sainz, Colapinto.
Bearman is told that Haas will have to retire the car for the session - a sensor is apparently the issue.
Bearman gets up to eighth after his lay-off in the pits. Continued trouble was suspected by Haas, but the Briton keeps going on the mediums.
Norris nips past Verstappen's time, 0.008s up on the Red Bull thus far on those used softs.
There appears to be something on the ground along the start-finish straight. Debris? Water bottle? Crisp packet?
It looks like a can...a silver and blue can, to be precise. Now, if only there was a drinks brand who used such a colour scheme...
Bearman's back out again, but is being told to pit with potentially the same issue as before.
Lindblad is also back on track after Red Bull changed his floor.
Norris goes second quickest, 0.026s behind Verstappen. Verstappen's gone for another tour, 0.021s down on his best effort. Crawford and Shields almost had a moment at Turn 2, as Shields cut off the racing line late.
Meanwhile, more end-of-year radio hilarity: "You have Leclerc Junior at two seconds," Lambiase tells Verstappen. "I find it quite funny you call him junior," comes Verstappen's reply.
Antonelli moves up to third now. Norris aborted his lap on the softs, so he's used it as a prep lap and he's going again - he had a snap at Turn 3.
Russell goes second with a 1m24.733s, 0.24s down on Verstappen's opener on softs, while Hulkenberg moves up to third - also on softs.
Lindblad is in the pits and his (well, Tsunoda's) car is getting some attention from the mechanics.
Verstappen's on softs now, seeing what he can do on a quick lap. He sets a 1m24.493s to go top over Hadjar.
Arthur Leclerc saves his Ferrari from a snap at Turn 12, and brushes the run-off.
Moment of minor hilarity when Russell is told "Owasa" is near him on the circuit. "I think that's O'Ward, not O'Wasa", the Mercedes driver replies.
Hirakawa goes up to ninth on the hard tyre, covering for the lack of running at Haas as Bearman is in the bits. He states that he's got "annoying" bouncing, which is very much the situation with these cars...
Bortoleto goes fastest with a 1m25.398s, on the hard tyre - the circuit is cleaning up.
"The grip is really bad, feels like I'm driving on ice" - Lindblad giving a Verstappen-esque appraisal of an early-weekend Red Bull.
Bearman got back to the pits, ready for his team to inspect the issue at play.
"I've lost power," Bearman reports. There's a leak in the system, so he'll hope he can crawl back to the pitlane.
Hulkenberg goes top with a 1m25.439s, 0.015s up on Norris.
Browning's getting a new radio after the earlier issues, hence why he's not got a timed lap in so far.
Elsewhere in rookie-watch, O'Ward is seventh, Lindblad 13th, Aron 14th, then Hirakawa, Leclerc (A), Iwasa, Crawford, and Shields.
Norris does a fast final sector to set a 1m25.454s, returning to the top. Verstappen's got a good middle sector, and that's second for him.
Sainz goes top on the hard tyre, setting a 1m25.712s. Top four all closely matched at the minute, although this session means basically nothing given the circuit conditions.
Leclerc The Elder moves up to sixth, until Antonelli posts the fastest time of the session and does a 1m25.708s.
A few shuffles at the top; Lindblad was very briefly top of the charts, but Norris throws down a 1m25.764s on the mediums to go top. Hulkenberg just a fraction behind on the same tyre as it stands.
O'Ward then goes up to second on the softs, before Russell nudges ahead of the IndyCar star.
Verstappen sets a 1m27.130s on the hard tyre to go fastest, despite a smidgen of traffic. Shields blocked him a little bit there.
Meanwhile, both Alpine drivers have a wobble out of the final corner, while Browning has a bit of radio trouble and struggled to hear that Hadjar was coming.
Iwasa kicks us off with a 1m29.850s on the hard tyre, beaten by O'Ward's 1m27.398s on the softs. Sainz, Lindblad, and Antonelli also get their first laps in.
FP1 begins
The Racing Bulls duo head out first - Hadjar from Iwasa, followed by O'Ward - in Piastri's McLaren for this session.
Lindblad and one of the Leclercs is on the road - Arthur, not Charles!
10 minutes to go
Not long until FP1 now, and we'll get to see a(nother) glimpse of next year's new rookie driver in Arvid Lindblad.
The rest are seasoned FP1 drivers at this point, bar Cian Shields - but the Scotsman has been doing some TPC running with Aston Martin this year.
The rookie jar
Eight of the 10 teams still have FP1 rookie quotas to fulfil - they'll check that box in this session, one of the less representative sessions as it's held in the day. Here's the list of FP1 swaps.
McLaren - Pato O'Ward in for Oscar Piastri
Red Bull - Arvid Lindblad in for Yuki Tsunoda
Ferrari - Arthur Leclerc in for Lewis Hamilton
Williams - Luke Browning in for Alex Albon
Racing Bulls - Ayumu Iwasa in for Liam Lawson
Aston Martin - Jak Crawford in for Lance Stroll, Cian Shields in for Fernando Alonso
Haas - Ryo Hirakawa in for Esteban Ocon
Alpine - Paul Aron in for Pierre Gasly
Paul Aron, Alpine F1
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
Abu Dhabi FP1 - coming soon
Hello everyone - and welcome to our live coverage of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend.
So, we're here. 23 races done, one to go. 12 points separating the top two in the championship, 16 points separating the top three. And it all begins here in FP1!
The Driver World Champion's trophy...who will have their signature etched upon it next?
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
