In the closing practice session at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, amidst a stoppage caused by a red flag, George Russell marginally outpaced Lando Norris, while Max Verstappen, a contender for the championship, secured third position.
The Mercedes team driver posted a time of 1m23.334s, positioning him a mere 0.004s ahead of the championship leader, who had previously dominated both practice runs on Friday, appearing to be the frontrunner at Yas Marina.
This occurs during the ultimate weekend of the 2025 season, where Norris has the opportunity to clinch his inaugural title, holding a 12-point advantage over Verstappen in second place, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri trailing by 16 points.
Nonetheless, the FP3 session commenced at a measured tempo, with teams demonstrating reluctance to expend tire sets under conditions that did not accurately reflect the anticipated race conditions, given that the session started two and a half hours prior to the scheduled start of the grand prix on Sunday.
As a result, the initial quarter-hour saw only the Alpine team drivers registering legitimate lap times. Subsequently, the track’s performance improved marginally, and Norris promptly established the benchmark with a lap time of 1m24.728s on soft compound tires.
The soft tires emerged as the preferred choice for the majority of drivers, and initially, they encountered difficulty in surpassing Norris’s lap time, even as the McLaren driver further improved by 0.195s as the session approached its midpoint.
Lando Norris, McLaren
Photo by: Andy Hone/ LAT Images via Getty Images
However, the rate of track evolution became increasingly evident, coinciding with the full complement of cars finally taking to the circuit, leading to a heightened level of activity and concerns regarding traffic congestion.
For instance, Norris executed an evasive maneuver to avoid the slow-moving Yuki Tsunoda at Turn 12, while Liam Lawson also experienced difficulties with Esteban Ocon ahead. Despite these challenges, several drivers successfully completed clean laps.
Verstappen was among those who managed a clean lap, ascending to the top of the timing sheets with a time of 1m24.245s, outpacing Lance Stroll by 0.059s and Oliver Bearman by 0.086s.
The composition of the top three was somewhat unpredictable due to the evolving track conditions, as Norris had descended to sixth position and Piastri to 15th. However, this period of intense activity was abruptly halted.
This was triggered by Lewis Hamilton’s spin into the barrier at Turn 9, with the Ferrari driver reporting that “something buckled at the front and snapped the rear” upon impact with the apex.
Consequently, the first red flag interruption of the weekend was deployed, before FP3 was restarted with 18 minutes remaining.
Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari
Photo by: Alessandro Martellotta / Alessio Morgese / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Upon resumption, numerous drivers utilized the concluding phase to execute additional qualifying simulation runs, resulting in a continued reduction in lap times. Verstappen initiated this trend with a lap of 1m24.116s.
Shortly thereafter, Piastri surged to the forefront with a time that eclipsed Verstappen’s by 0.523s, before Norris surpassed his teammate by 0.255s, owing to an exceptional final sector performance.
Further drama unfolded within the pit lane as Mercedes released Andrea Kimi Antonelli directly into the path of Tsunoda, culminating in the premature termination of the latter’s session as a consequence of the collision.
With teams evidently under pressure to secure lap times before the conclusion of the session, lap times persisted in diminishing, culminating in Russell’s ascent to the fastest time with a 1m23.334s in the closing minutes.
This benchmark remained unchallenged, thereby securing Russell’s position at the summit of the session, outpacing Norris by a mere 0.004s, with Verstappen rounding out the top three, trailing the Mercedes driver by 0.180s.
Fernando Alonso then achieved a noteworthy fourth position, 0.251s adrift of Russell, with Piastri following closely behind, a further 0.008s back in fifth. Haas demonstrated a competitive showing, securing sixth (Ocon) and seventh (Bearman).
Conversely, FP3 proved less fruitful for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc achieving the team’s best result in eighth place, 0.341s off the pace. Antonelli and Alex Albon finalized the top ten positions.
F1 Abu Dhabi GP – FP3 results
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– The Autosport.com Team
