FP2: Norris heads dominant McLaren one-two in second practice in Abu Dhabi
Lando Norris set the benchmark in the second free practice session, beating his team-mate Oscar Piastri by two tenths of a second to head a dominant McLaren one-two at Abu Dhabi. F1Technical's lead journalist Balazs Szabo reports on the second one-hour session at the Yas Marina Circuit.
McLaren looked quick in the first practice session, with Lando Norris ending up second fastest behind Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. The British driver then managed to go quickest of all in the second one-hour session, beating his team-mate Oscar Piastri on a weekend when the Woking-based outfit might clinch its first Constructors' title since the 1998 season.
Completing his final race with Haas, Nico Hulkenberg took a surprise third, ahead of Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, who is also about to leave his current team after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who will replace Ferrari's Spanish driver next year, racked up a total of 28 laps to end up fifth in the standings.
Leclerc, who set the pace in FP1, encountered heavy traffic on his first flying lap, but he still managed to take 6th. The Monégasque endured reliability issues with his battery in the opening sixty-minute session, which forced Ferrari to replace his unit with a new one which will see Leclerc serve a ten-place grid drop on Sunday.
Valtteri Bottas, who will leave Sauber after this weekend, squeezed out a competitive lap of his C44 to take P7 ahead of Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, with Williams racer Alexander Albon and RB's Yuki Tsunoda rounding out the top ten.
It was incredibly tight between P10 and P18, with thousands of a second separating Liam Lawson (P11), Pierre Gasly (P12), George Russell (P13), Sergio Perez (P14), Zhou Guanyu (P15), Fernando Alonso (P16), Max Verstappen (P17) and Lance Stroll (P18).
Ahead of his debut year with Alpine as a full-time F1 race driver, Jack Doohan replaced Esteban Ocon for this weekend. The Australian notched up a total of 27 laps, ending up 19th, with Williams racer Franco Colapinto bringing up the rear of the field.
