After the usual Friday in which the first two took place free tests, the Abu Dhabi weekend gets into full swing with FP3: the fastest was George Russell. Norris and Verstappen completed the top 3, with Piastri in fifth place. Leclerc finished eighth, while Hamilton was the victim of a accident mid-session which damaged his SF-25.
The green light goes to Abu Dhabi at 11:30 a.m.: FP3 begins.
Session of Formula 1 The race got off to a slow start, with many drivers still out of their cars and only the Aston Martins on track in the opening minutes. It's worth remembering that both drivers from Lawrence Stroll's team had skipped the first free practice sessions to make room for the rookies. Once back on track, they made way for the Alpines of Gasly and Colapinto, who set the fastest times on red tyres.
After 15 minutes, we finally start to see some action on the track with Norris, Hamilton, Leclerc and gradually everyone else taking to the track. The championship leader picks up where he left off and is already creating a gap behind him. It should be noted, however, that Verstappen and the two Mercedes have not yet completed a lap. times are getting shorter as time passes, we are still far from last night's times given the different temperatures.
As we approach the halfway point of these FP3s, the third title contender also takes to the track in Abu Dhabi and in the first attempt with red tyres the Dutchman immediately puts himself in front of everyoneThe challenge is launched. Meanwhile, Stroll moves up to second position, followed by Hamilton, Norris, Bearman, Bortoleto and Tsunoda. The Japanese is the protagonist of a very dangerous impediment against Lando Norris in the third sector. The British driver narrowly avoided the second Red Bull driver despite the high speeds.
Hamilton crashes midway through FP3
With 30 minutes to go in the session, Hamilton sets off for another attempt at a fast lap, but after improving in both the first two sectors he is involved in a accidentThe seven-time world champion loses the rear of his SF-25 at Turn 9 and crashes into the barriers. The front right suspension is the one that suffers the worst damage, and certainly the confidence of number 44, which was proving to be much faster than in recent events.
The repair of the barriers on the Abu Dhabi circuit and the recovery of the single-seater "steal" about 15 minutes from these FP3. When the light turns green, all the drivers take to the track to try to get the best sensations for qualifying. This creates chaos in the pit lane, with investigations into unsafe release against Alex Albon.
Last fastest laps in Abu Dhabi
McLaren is the only top team that takes to the track with new soft tires and in fact Piastri beats Verstappen's time by a good 5 tenths. Norris follows him closely, beating the Australian's time by 255 thousandths. The Abu Dhabi track is proving to be increasingly faster with even Hulkenberg who signed the best time of these FP3 in the second sector and moved up to third position after some errors in the last sector.
Everyone is out on track now improving with the new tyres but the action is also in the pit lane. Antonelli hits Tsunoda while exiting the pits who was driving along the pit lane: damage to both cars and a possibility of penalty for Italian. Final laps for everyone and Russell moves into first place by just 4s over Norris. Haas did well, moving up to fifth and sixth, while Leclerc was only eighth.
In Abu Dhabi, FP3 ends with Russell putting the title contenders in agreement by obtaining the best time with 1.23.334Very close, as mentioned, are Norris and then Verstappen, each a tenth behind. Completing the top 10 (within 388 thousandths of a second) are Alonso, Piastri, Ocon, Bearman, Leclerc, Antonelli, and Albon.
