The last GP of the season on Sunday will decide the drivers’ title. Norris, Verstappen, and Piastri are still in the running.

(g.t.) The sun sets on the first day on track in Abu Dhabi with a second free practice session that saw Lando Norris’ McLaren emerge as the best car on track in terms of both qualifying simulation and race pace, followed by Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, more than three tenths of a second behind the leader. The other McLaren, driven by Oscar Piastri, struggled much more, failing to go beyond eleventh position. After a first session dominated by the presence of rookies, which is essential to complete the FIA program that requires teams to put their rookies on the track for a total of four free practice sessions during the year, all the official drivers of the top series got back behind the wheel of their respective cars for the second official session on Friday, the “debut” for the Australian McLaren driver, who for this reason did not participate in FP1. For him, it was a later Friday than his teammate, and he was much less comfortable in the car: Oscar will therefore be called upon to make an important change of pace tomorrow, where in qualifying he will have the opportunity to catch up with his rivals from his current third position in the standings.

IMPRESSIVE LONG RUN McLaren ended the day on a high note thanks to Norris’ excellent performance: the Briton completed an impressive long run, while Red Bull will have to work hard—as has often been the case this year—between Friday and Saturday to fix a car that is not yet up to speed and follow Max’s instructions: “The car is bouncing a lot,” the Dutchman said over the radio, complaining about a bouncing that could prove to be one of the decisive factors this weekend and that disturbed many drivers during the session.

FERRARI IN TROUBLE It was a difficult session for Ferrari, with the SF-25 appearing very nervous already in the early stages of free practice. Charles Leclerc finished eighth, almost six tenths of a second off the top, a long way from his encouraging third place (just 16 thousandths of a second off) in FP1. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton struggled even more, finishing fourteenth at the end of the session and more than eight tenths behind. The Briton would like to end his first season in red, still without a podium finish, with a positive result, but the early results of the weekend do not seem to be heading in that direction. Third in FP2 was an excellent George Russell, while his teammate Kimi Antonelli finished tenth. Fourth was a great Oliver Bearman in Haas, author of the best team radio of the session: “The car is incredible,” he said, “but how can it be so fast!” Good performance for Sauber. With Nico Hulkenberg fifth and Gabriel Bortoleto sixth, and an excellent sixth place for Isack Hadjar with Racing Bulls. However, as always, the true balance of power will only emerge tomorrow in FP3, the last and most indicative free practice session of the weekend, when we will begin to see who can really hope to finish their World Championship in the best possible way, preparing for the chaotic qualifying session at Yas Marina, which starts at 3 p.m. Italian time.