Practice report

F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Norris leads McLaren 1-2 in FP2

Lando Norris ended Friday on top at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Lando Norris led a McLaren 1-2 in second practice for Formula 1’s 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi, with Nico Hulkenberg third for Haas.

At Red Bull, Max Verstappen was again frustrated with his RB20’s handling as he ended up down in 17th, while McLaren’s constructors’ title rival Ferrari had a low-key session and Williams endured further setbacks on both its cars.

After Zhou Guanyu set the early first-place benchmark at 1m26.179s, which Liam Lawson bettered immediately with a 1m25.537s on the opening runs on the medium tyres at the start of the one-hour twilight session, Norris got ahead of both with his opening 1m25.020s.

Oscar Piastri slotted in just behind before Carlos Sainz went to the top of the times with his first lap of the day now Arthur Leclerc has completed his rookie duties in the Spaniard’s SF-24.

But as the opening 10 minutes ended, Norris returned to first place with a 1m24.332s on his second run on the mediums and he was only temporarily headed thereafter.

Norris might have been briefly shuffled first back when Franco Colapinto opened the soft-tyre qualifying simulation efforts after a lengthy lull in action just before the halfway stage, but the Argentine driver had to catch an oversteer snap through the fast, long Turn 9 hairpin and damaged his floor over the kerbs as he shot out wide.

Despite repairs being made, Colapinto did not reappear, while in the other FW46 Alex Albon had to crawl back to the pits at the start of his late-FP2 race simulation after losing drive, although the latter was able to get out again ahead of the final five minutes of running, finishing ninth.

Franco Colapinto, Williams FW46

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Albon had taken that spot during the flurry of soft tyre laps that followed his team-mate’s aborted opening effort on that tyre, with Piastri the first of the frontrunners to do so.

He finally did get ahead of Norris with a 1m23.751s – albeit it with a big oversteer snap at the opening corner – before his team-mate eased back to the front a few minutes later.

Norris put in a 1m23.517s that put him first by 0.234s, with Sainz initially taking third for Ferrari, 0.582s.

But, with Charles Leclerc losing his opening softs lap after hitting traffic at the Turn 6/7 chicane that splits up the two long acceleration blasts at the Yas Marina track, Hulkenberg was able to nip in ahead with his soft-shod 1m23.979s, 0.462s down on Norris.

After Leclerc had finally set a lap that put him one spot behind soon-to-be new team-mate Lewis Hamilton in fifth and sixth, Hulkenberg had looked set to go even quicker on a second softs flier but was undone by a slower final sector than his personal best.

Valtteri Bottas and Kevin Magnussen finished ahead of Albon in seventh and eighth, with Yuki Tsunoda 10th back aboard his RB car after making way for Ayumu Iwasa in FP1.

Sergio Perez was 14th as the lead Red Bull, with Verstappen three spots back and complaining several times about understeer on his car – the Dutchman’s best time coming in 1.081s down on Norris’s session-leading time.

The race simulations that closed out the session ran without incident, with Leclerc expressing an assessment that the McLarens are also looking very strong on high fuel too when informed about Piastri’s late pace.

F1 Abu Dhabi GP - FP2 results

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	L. Norris McLaren	4	McLaren	Mercedes	25	1'23.517		227.637
2	O. Piastri McLaren	81	McLaren	Mercedes	28	+0.234 1'23.751	0.234	227.001
3	N. Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team	27	Haas	Ferrari	28	+0.462 1'23.979	0.228	226.385
4	C. Sainz Ferrari	55	Ferrari	Ferrari	28	+0.582 1'24.099	0.120	226.062
5	L. Hamilton Mercedes	44	Mercedes	Mercedes	28	+0.602 1'24.119	0.020	226.008
6	C. Leclerc Ferrari	16	Ferrari	Ferrari	28	+0.684 1'24.201	0.082	225.788
7	V. Bottas Sauber	77	Sauber	Ferrari	24	+0.713 1'24.230	0.029	225.710
8	K. Magnussen Haas F1 Team	20	Haas	Ferrari	25	+0.718 1'24.235	0.005	225.697
9	A. Albon Williams	23	Williams	Mercedes	22	+0.752 1'24.269	0.034	225.606
10	Y. Tsunoda RB	22	RB	Red Bull	28	+0.980 1'24.497	0.228	224.997
11	L. Lawson RB	30	RB	Red Bull	25	+0.986 1'24.503	0.006	224.981
12	P. Gasly Alpine	10	Alpine	Renault	27	+1.000 1'24.517	0.014	224.944
13	G. Russell Mercedes	63	Mercedes	Mercedes	24	+1.017 1'24.534	0.017	224.898
14	S. Perez Red Bull Racing	11	Red Bull	Red Bull	27	+1.038 1'24.555	0.021	224.843
15	Z. Guanyu Sauber	24	Sauber	Ferrari	23	+1.040 1'24.557	0.002	224.837
16	F. Alonso Aston Martin Racing	14	Aston Martin	Mercedes	25	+1.057 1'24.574	0.017	224.792
17	M. Verstappen Red Bull Racing	1	Red Bull	Red Bull	26	+1.081 1'24.598	0.024	224.728
18	L. Stroll Aston Martin Racing	18	Aston Martin	Mercedes	29	+1.169 1'24.686	0.088	224.495
19	J. Doohan Alpine	61	Alpine	Renault	27	+1.444 1'24.961	0.275	223.768
20	F. Colapinto Williams	43	Williams	Mercedes	10	+1.748 1'25.265	0.304	222.970
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