F1 Abu Dhabi GP: Leclerc leads Norris in opening practice

Charles Leclerc was fastest in Formula 1’s final FP1 session of 2024 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, two tenths clear of McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Ferrari driver Leclerc was stranded in the garage for the opening 25 minutes of the session with a battery issue, but immediately picked up the pace when he got out on track.

After getting a few laps on the board, he took aim at Norris’ then-benchmark of a 1m24.542s, and set a 1m24.321s on the soft tyres to vault to the top of the leaderboard.

The opening session of the Yas Marina round featured multiple reserve and young drivers as the teams fulfilled the requirements for running inexperienced drivers before the season was out – including Leclerc’s brother Arthur, who took over Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari seat for the FP1 session.

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was third quickest, having been on top of the order at the conclusion of the medium-tyre runs during the opening half-hour of the session, ahead of team-mate George Russell.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly continued his impressive form and claimed the fifth-fastest time, 0.04s clear of Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas. The two Haas drivers, who leave the team at the end of the season, were split by Franco Colapinto in seventh as Kevin Magnussen ended up eighth.

Felipe Drugovich was the highest-placed rookie in the session, setting a time on softs just moments behind Fernando Alonso to go 0.033s faster than his illustrious Aston Martin stablemate. Sergio Perez was between them in 10th in the lead Red Bull.

Liam Lawson (RB) and Valtteri Bottas (Sauber) were ahead of McLaren’s Ryo Hirakawa, who spent most of the session conducting aero work before getting a chance on soft tyres later into the run-time. The Toyota World Endurance Championship driver will also drive for Haas in the post-weekend Yas Marina test. 

F2 title contender Isack Hadjar, driving Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, was 15th fastest. The Frenchman was a consistent presence on the radio having become frustrated by F3 champion Luke Browning being ahead of him on two occasions.

Hadjar was just half a tenth up on Zhou Guanyu, who struggled throughout the session with understeer in the slower corners.

Ayumu Iwasa (RB) and Arthur Leclerc (Ferrari) were two tenths down on Zhou, while Alpine’s new driver Jack Doohan and Williams’ Browning completed the order.

Abu Dhabi GP – FP1 results:

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Cla	Driver	#		Chassis	Engine	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	C. LeclercFerrari	16		Ferrari	Ferrari	19	1’24.321		225.466
2	L. NorrisMcLaren	4		McLaren	Mercedes	25	+0.221 1’24.542	0.221	224.877
3	L. HamiltonMercedes	44		Mercedes	Mercedes	27	+0.485 1’24.806	0.264	224.177
4	G. RussellMercedes	63		Mercedes	Mercedes	27	+0.844 1’25.165	0.359	223.232
5	P. GaslyAlpine	10		Alpine	Renault	24	+1.012 1’25.333	0.168	222.793
6	N. HulkenbergHaas F1 Team	27		Haas	Ferrari	23	+1.052 1’25.373	0.040	222.688
7	F. ColapintoWilliams	43		Williams	Mercedes	24	+1.061 1’25.382	0.009	222.665
8	K. MagnussenHaas F1 Team	20		Haas	Ferrari	25	+1.123 1’25.444	0.062	222.503
9	F. DrugovichAston Martin Racing	34		Aston Martin	Mercedes	22	+1.150 1’25.471	0.027	222.433
10	S. PerezRed Bull Racing	11		Red Bull	Red Bull	26	+1.162 1’25.483	0.012	222.402
11	F. AlonsoAston Martin Racing	14		Aston Martin	Mercedes	23	+1.183 1’25.504	0.021	222.347
12	L. LawsonRB	30		RB	Red Bull	27	+1.242 1’25.563	0.059	222.194
13	V. BottasSauber	77		Sauber	Ferrari	23	+1.290 1’25.611	0.048	222.069
14	R. HirakawaMcLaren	28		McLaren	Mercedes	19	+1.553 1’25.874	0.263	221.389
15	I. HadjarRed Bull Racing	37		Red Bull	Honda	22	+1.556 1’25.877	0.003	221.381
16	Z. GuanyuSauber	24		Sauber	Ferrari	23	+1.600 1’25.921	0.044	221.268
17	A. IwasaRB	40		RB	Honda	24	+1.800 1’26.121	0.200	220.754
18	A. LeclercFerrari	39		Ferrari	Ferrari	22	+1.858 1’26.179	0.058	220.605
19	J. DoohanAlpine	61		Alpine	Renault	24	+1.983 1’26.304	0.125	220.286
20	L. BrowningWilliams	46		Williams	Mercedes	22	+2.198 1’26.519	0.215	219.739
View full results

Photos from Abu Dhabi GP Practice