Charles Leclerc beat Lando Norris to prime spot in first apply on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix however will serve a 10-place grid penalty for having a brand new battery frantically put in into his Ferrari initially of the session.
A battery issued was detected within the Monegasque’s automotive because it was fired up forward of the session, and subsequent work to put in a 3rd battery — yet another than allowed for the season — restricted him to his storage for the primary half-hour of the apply hour.
Round half the session remained when the Monegasque was lastly in a position to strap on his helmet and take to the circuit, shaking down the automotive on the medium tire earlier than embarking on a efficiency run on softs. His first flying lap took him to prime sport with a finest time of 1m24.321s, topping Norris by 0.221s, though the Briton had set his time some 18 minutes earlier on a greener circuit in hotter situations.
Leclerc’s program was busy thereafter, finishing a future on the delicate tire to clock up a commendable 19 laps, limiting the harm finished to Ferrari’s data-gathering program on the constructors’ title-deciding weekend.
Whereas FP1 for the twilight Abu Dhabi happened in unrepresentative daytime situations, it was necessary for Leclerc to build up mileage given Carlos Sainz additionally sat out the session, with rookie Arthur Leclerc fulfilling the staff’s closing obligatory rookie outing of the season.
Mercedes was next-best within the order. Lewis Hamilton led the way in which in third however was 0.485s off the tempo, whereas George Russell fared worse, at 0.844s off the tempo. Hamilton will see the stewards after the session for impeding Norris on the closing nook.
Pierre Gasly was fifth and 1.012s off the tempo for Alpine, which is hoping to cling to sixth within the constructors standings forward of Haas, for whom Nico Hulkenberg put his automotive sixth and simply 0.04s adrift.
Franco Colapinto was seventh with a brand new gearbox put in behind his Williams, incurring him a five-place grid penalty for Sunday.
Kevin Magnussen began his closing weekend with Haas in eighth forward of Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich, the quickest of the six rookie drivers collaborating in FP1 in Abu Dhabi. Drugovich, the 2022 Components 2 champion, was 1.15s off the tempo and 0.033s faster than teammate Fernando Alonso in eleventh.
Splitting the inexperienced automobiles was Sergio Perez, finishing the highest 10 at 1.162 off the tempo.
Liam Lawson was twelfth within the lead RB automotive forward of Valtteri Bottas on his final weekend with Sauber.
McLaren growth driver Ryo Hirakawa piloted Oscar Piastri’s McLaren to 14th and 1.553s off the tempo. He was simply 0.003s faster than Pink Bull Racing reserve driver Isack Hadjar.
Frenchman Hadjar — who can also be competing for the F2 championship this weekend — had a scrappy session, spinning off the street early within the hour at Flip 7 as he complained of being squeezed into Max Verstappen’s cockpit, wherein his legs had been touching the steering wheel and stopping him reaching full lock. The 2025 RB hopeful was subsequently incensed to be twice impeded by Williams stand-in Luke Browning on his method to an underwhelming fifteenth.
Zhou Guanyu was sixteenth in a Sauber he stated had “loopy” understeer, beating RB substitute Ayumu Iwasa, who had commandeered Yuki Tsunoda’s automotive for the session.
Arthur Leclerc’s participation for Ferrari made historical past as the primary time two siblings entered an official session as teammates, the brothers waving at one another on the cool-down lap. The youthful Leclerc was 18th and 1.858s slower than the sister automotive.
Alpine rookie Jack Doohan, making his F1 debut this weekend within the place of the ousted Esteban Ocon, was nineteenth and 1.983s off the tempo, whereas Browning accomplished the order for Williams at 2.198s adrift and after having been proven a black and white flag for twice impeding Iwasa.
