F1 | Norris dominates race pace as Verstappen waits for more track grip
Lando Norris displayed impressive pace during Friday practice at the Abu Dhabi GP, highlighting McLaren’s clear advantage, while Max Verstappen struggled with tire overheating in the third sector. Red Bull had planned to add wing downforce but opted against it, expecting the track to gain more grip. Interestingly, Ferrari’s customer teams performed better than the works team—why?
Friday practice sessions are crucial for teams to prepare for qualifying, which will outline the hierarchy for the final and decisive race of the season. Before the start, McLaren was expected to challenge Red Bull, especially given the drivers’ championship battle between Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, and Max Verstappen. However, the two practice sessions revealed a surprise contender: Nico Hulkenberg in the Sauber C45 showed the strongest long-run performance, even outperforming title rivals, hinting at what could be Audi’s impact in Formula 1 once the Sauber transformation is complete.
The German driver showed he likes Abu Dhabi, but few expected him to challenge the front runners—even if by a tiny margin: just 0.012 seconds faster than Norris in the technically favored MCL39.
The championship leader, with a 12-point advantage over Verstappen and 16 over Piastri, had already shown his credentials in FP1, though his initial margin was minimal—just eight thousandths of a second. By the afternoon session, the gap had widened significantly: Verstappen’s RB21 was 0.363s slower on a single lap and 0.223s behind in the race simulation.
McLaren ran shorter long runs, while Red Bull covered 17 laps and began to show a notable drop from lap 12 onward. The main difference appeared in sector three: Verstappen lost 296 of the 363 thousandths to Norris in the twisty Yas Marina section, where overheating rear tires caused the Red Bull to slide.
On paper, Norris has an important advantage, being the only driver to match his best lap (1:23.083) on a second attempt, while others slowed considerably, showing McLaren’s exceptional tire management across a full lap.
Red Bull’s top speed was seen in sector two, with Verstappen reaching 330 km/h using the RB21’s power, but Norris was only slightly slower—just 2 km/h off and roughly a tenth of a second behind.
Oscar Piastri seemed out of contention yesterday, having skipped FP1 to allow Pato O’Ward to run. The lack of initial laps was evident, and his seven-tenth deficit to Norris in qualifying simulation highlights the gap. Even in race pace, he lost almost half a second per lap, underscoring McLaren’s need for both cars to fight for the drivers’ championship.
Red Bull had planned to increase wing downforce, but this morning they decided against it. The RB21 with more drag could reduce tire wear (0.163s per lap versus Norris’ 0.052s), but the risk was losing speed on the straights. With track grip expected to increase, Verstappen seems willing to stay low downforce, trusting the evolving surface to provide the missing grip.
Thus, McLaren appears superior on paper, but Verstappen remains a contender for pole alongside the Papaya cars. Hulkenberg’s Sauber is usually weak in single-lap pace (typically 1.11s slower than McLaren), so maintaining yesterday’s performance seems unlikely, especially with its lower top speed (325 km/h), although race pace remains strong.
Another notable point: Oliver Bearman posted the best tire degradation figure, losing only 0.051s per lap—better than Norris and Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli. Curiously, Ferrari’s customer teams outperformed the SF-25: Sauber excelled in long runs and Haas showed better tire degradation, suggesting Ferrari’s drop in recent races is more significant than expected from a team that froze development early. The Scuderia struggles with soft tires; for example, McLaren gained 1.2s switching from medium to soft, while Ferrari improved by only 0.65s—half the gain. It’s clear that something isn’t working in Maranello, and the team seems to have lost its way.
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