FP2 at the Abu Dhabi GP was once again dominated by Lando Norris. The Englishman not only set the fastest lap during the qualifying simulation, but also proved faster over the short race pace simulation than his teammate, Oscar Piastri, and the most feared rival for the world title: Max Verstappen. Behind these three, Oliver Bearman and the two Saubers put in a strong performance. Mercedes, however, remains an unknown quantity, while Ferrari confirmed the problems it had last week in Qatar.
FP2 begins in Abu Dhabi: Hadjar immediately fastest
The Abu Dhabi weekend is about to get into full swing. FP2 finally sees all the regular drivers back in their cars. Among them is Piastri, one of the three contenders for the world title, who by regulation had to hand over his car to Pato O'Ward. FP1 course, however, Piastri was sitting on the McLaren pit wall the entire time, observing Lando Norris's telemetry alongside Andrea Stella, with the latter having set the fastest time in the last session. Currently, however, the fastest driver after ten minutes is Isack Hadjar, who will be a Red Bull driver next year. The Frenchman took to the track on red tyres, as did Bearman and Ocon, second and fifth respectively.
Remaining among the title contenders, the race officials noted a slight impingement by Max Verstappen on Lando Norris at Turn 1. There should be no sporting penalties for an incident that will be completely irrelevant. Speaking of McLaren, almost twenty minutes into FP2 in Abu Dhabi, Norris is in third place behind Bearman, who has displaced Hadjar, while Piastri is sixth. Both, however, are running on medium tyres, with Norris who also returned to the pits after a few laps. The Australian, however, appears to be slightly behind his teammate. In fact, he's spending this first part of the session gaining confidence with the track conditions.
The music doesn't change: Ferrari's difficulties continue.
It's been a very complicated end to the season for the Ferrari drivers. Lewis Hamilton is in ninth place with almost half an hour to go in FP2 in Abu Dhabi, while Charles Leclerc is slightly more competitive with a sixth-fastest time. Both are running on medium tyres, but both are complaining about a certain slipperiness in their cars. The track is partly to blame, improving over the sessions, but it still seems the sensations are somewhat similar to those experienced in Qatar. Ferrari's engineers will need to work harder on the set-up to avoid last week's poor performance.
With half an hour to go, the drivers are starting to set impressive times on the red tires. Verstappen sets the fastest time, but his lead is short-lived as Lando Norris, on his first flying lap on the soft compound, manages to dislodge him by more than three tenths. It's only free practice, but McLaren's technical supremacy, seen throughout most of the season, is confirmed. Currently, the #4 papaya seems a cut above the rest. Who knows, though, if Red Bull will be able to work their usual magic and improve the car between Friday and Saturday. Also noteworthy is the strong performance of the two Saubers so far: Hulkenberg and Bortoleto are fifth and sixth. It will also be important for them to prepare well for what will be the Swiss team's final Grand Prix.
Bearman is surprised at how good his Haas is
With twenty minutes to go, Lando Norris still leads the standings, having pitted to further lower the front end of his car. Second is Max Verstappen, who is trying to match the competitiveness of McLaren. Third is George Russell, who is starting to make his mark in his Mercedes. Tenth is his teammate Kimi Antonelli, who still needs a few more kilometers to get closer to the leaders. Fourth is Oliver Bearman, who spoke positively to his engineer on the radio about the car. The Englishman appeared surprised by the competitiveness of his Haas. Ferrari, meanwhile, has dropped to eighth place with Leclerc, while Hamilton is in fourteenth.
In the final fifteen minutes, the teams returned to the track on hard and medium tires. The goal was to practice a short race pace simulation. Russell and Verstappen seemed to suffer more from tire degradation than Lando Norris' McLaren, which on this Friday seemed perfect and, above all, unbeatable. Furthermore, the English driver, at the end of FP2 in Abu Dhabi, managed to maintain the top spot on the timesheets with a 1:23.083. Piastri, however, positioned himself between Verstappen and his teammate in terms of race pace, confirming what had been observed throughout the session: McLaren in front, with Norris and then Piastri, chased in vain, for now, by Max Verstappen.
