F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Lando Norris tops FP2 as Oscar Piastri fini...

Lando Norris ended the final Friday practice session of 2025 on top of the FP2 standings at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, more than three tenths clear of Max Verstappen – as Oscar Piastri was only 11th.

Both Oliver Bearman and Isack Hadjar had broken with convention in the early stages of the session and immediately set about putting laps on the soft tyre. This ensured that, after the majority of the field had completed their exploratory runs on the medium tyre, the Haas and Racing Bulls drivers were sitting atop the timing order – as Norris headlined those laps on the medium.

Amid the soft-tyre runs, Verstappen got out of the blocks early and set a 1m23.446s, a benchmark for future team-mate Hadjar to challenge – the Frenchman was about 0.2s down when he crossed the line.

Nico Hulkenberg and George Russell then put together their first efforts on the softs, each having their own brief spells occupying second in the time sheets, but Verstappen's time could not be moved by either.

Norris then ventured onto the circuit for his first go on the C5 tyre, and threw down the gauntlet with a 1m23.082s – more than three tenths clear of Verstappen.

There were few challengers afterwards as the field gravitated towards its longer runs, leaving Norris' lap untouched for the rest of the session – with a significant gulf to team-mate Piastri, who was 0.68s down.

George Russell, Mercedes

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Piastri, who had missed FP1 as Pato O'Ward took his seat for the session, was struggling to find the right balance across the early part of the session. This prompted McLaren to tinker with his set-up to ensure the Australian could find the handling qualities he desired. The work will likely continue overnight, as Piastri hopes to reprise his form from Qatar.

Russell's time remained good enough for third, as Bearman continued to find pace on a subsequent soft-tyre run and worked his way up to fourth. The Haas driver remarked that the VF-25 was "insane" and he didn't know where the pace had come from – with apparent strong performance in the lower-speed corners.

Both Saubers were in the top six, with Hulkenberg fifth from Gabriel Bortoleto; the Swiss team is in its final race bearing the Sauber name before it transitions to Audi next season.

Hadjar was seventh ahead of Charles Leclerc, while Fernando Alonso – who gave up his seat to Cian Shields in FP1 – was ninth ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

The top 16 were all situated within a second as Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson – who missed FP1 and gave up their seats to future Racing Bulls driver Arvid Lindblad and Super Formula champion Ayumu Iwasa – fell just outside of that bracket.

The two Alpines brought up the rear – Franco Colapinto two tenths ahead of Pierre Gasly.