McLaren’s championship leader Lando Norris got the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend off to a perfect start, posting the fastest times in both Friday practice sessions, with Red Bull rival Max Verstappen finishing second on each occasion.

Norris, leading the championship by 12 points after 23 of 24 rounds, was 0.008 seconds faster than Verstappen in the afternoon session and 0.363 seconds quicker under the Yas Marina floodlights in the evening.

Verstappen was briefly flagged for impeding Norris early in the day due to a miscommunication from his race engineer, but stewards chose not to investigate further. “What’s this guy doing? I almost crashed,” Norris exclaimed on the radio.

Norris cautious despite strong pace
“From the times, things look good, but I still want a bit more from the car,” Norris said. “Qualifying will be much closer, so nothing to smile about just yet.”

Teammate Oscar Piastri, the third title contender and four points behind Verstappen, was 11th fastest after sitting out the first session, which was instead given to Mexican IndyCar driver and F1 reserve Pato O’Ward. The Australian showed promising pace in longer runs.

“Oscar is not totally dialled in yet, but he will get there,” said McLaren team principal Zak Brown. “I’ve been impressed with both our drivers; they seem more relaxed than usual.”

Other practice highlights
Mercedes’ George Russell, who could influence the title fight on Sunday, was third fastest in the second session. Haas’ Oliver Bearman impressed in fourth, exclaiming over team radio, “The car is insane. I don’t know how the car is so good.” Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top five ahead of his 250th start.

Norris, last year’s Abu Dhabi winner, was among just 11 regular drivers in the opening session, which otherwise featured young prospects and development drivers. Verstappen expressed concern over his car’s handling on the hot, slippery track in the afternoon, but was happier with the setup later.

“There’s a decent gap we need to close,” Verstappen said. “We still need to work on race pace, so let’s see how much we can find overnight.”

Friday practice rules and rookies
Under F1 regulations, regular drivers must give way in two Friday first practice sessions each season to rookies or drivers with fewer than two Grand Prix starts. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third and eighth fastest in the two sessions, while his younger brother Arthur took part in the afternoon in Lewis Hamilton’s car, finishing 16th.

Leclerc was critical of the car, saying, “It just feels like it has zero grip. It is unbelievable.” Hamilton returned for practice two, finishing 14th, 0.856 seconds off the pace. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli and Russell were fourth and sixth respectively in session one.

“In the hot conditions, the car doesn’t feel at its nicest, but it improves once the sun goes down,” Russell said, praising adjustments made between sessions.

Among the non-regular drivers, Toyota-backed Ryo Hirakawa led the way in 11th for Haas, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar in 12th. Arvid Lindblad, set to replace Hadjar at Red Bull next season, was 15th in Yuki Tsunoda’s car during his third practice session of the year.