Lando Norris leads 'broken' Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi FP1 as Oscar Piastri misses out

Lando Norris has ended the opening practice session on top of the timesheet as the on-track action in Abu Dhabi got underway.

The Briton ended the session just 0.008s ahead of title rival Max Verstappen, who encountered some car problems late on.

Despite continuing his run to the chequered flag, the Dutchman claimed his car was “broken” over team radio as the session entered its final stages.

Championship contender Oscar Piastri missed out on running during the session as he handed his car over to rookie Pato O'Ward as part of the mandatory rookie outings.

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O'Ward was one of nine rookie drivers who jumped behind the wheel for the final free practice outing of the year, with all placing outside the top 10.

Charles Leclerc was third fastest for Ferrari, ahead of Kimi Antonelli in the leading Mercedes car.

Leclerc ran into some trouble late on with a spin at the hairpin and was heard complaining over the team radio after the session that he was running with zero grip.

Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto placed themselves in fifth and seventh respectively, with George Russell lodged between them.

Oliver Bearman was eighth, but reported problems early on with his Haas car and at one point, returned to the pit lane at a crawl.

Having bentured back out onto the circuit, the call was eventually made to retire the car due to a sensor issue.

Carlos Sainz was ninth, while Franco Colapinto rounded out the top 10 for Alpine.

Ryo Hirakawa was the fastest of the rookie drivers in 11th place, while Isack Hadjar was the only full-time driver to place outside the top 10.

Paul Aron led the second McLaren of O'Ward next on the timesheet, while Arvid Lindblad, who was announced earlier this week as a Racing Bulls driver for 2026 was 15th.

Arthur Leclerc, brother of Charles, was 16th ahead of Super Formula champion Ayumu Iwasa.

Luke Browning was 18th while an all-rookie line-up of Jak Crawford and Cian Shields rounded out the timesheet for Aston Martin.