Piastri heads McLaren one-twopublished at 11:45 Greenwich Mean Time
Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent in Abu Dhabi
Image source, ReutersOscar Piastri and Lando Norris finished
one-two in final practice at the season-closing Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as McLaren
bid to win their first constructors’ title in 26 years.
Piastri headed
Norris by 0.193 seconds, while Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, their closest rival,
was 0.390secs off the pace.
Hamilton, whose pace
was encouraging for the seven-time champion in the context of his bid to end
his 12-year Mercedes career on a high before his move to Ferrari, was 0.021secs
faster than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in fourth.
Ferrari, who trail
McLaren by 21 points heading into Sunday’s race, were fifth and 10th with
Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Sainz was 0.438secs
slower than Piastri and Leclerc 0.705secs off the pace. Told the gap to the
front by his engineer over the team radio, Leclerc said: “We are nowhere.
Nowhere.”
Mercedes driver
George Russell was sixth fastest, 0.642secs off the pace.
Haas drivers Nico
Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen were seventh and eighth fastest, while Red
Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the top 10.
The first and final
practice sessions in Abu Dhabi are traditionally poor representations of
competitive performance because they are held in daylight, while qualifying and
race start at twilight.