Lando Norris sets eye-opening early pace after Max Verstappen skirmish

Lando Norris set the eye-opening early pace ahead of this weekend's F1 title-deciding showdown in Abu Dhabi.

Norris goes into the race at the Yas Marina Circuit with a 12-point lead over Red Bull's Max Verstappen, and is 16 points ahead of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, but neither came close to the Briton's leading Friday performance.

Norris, who had earlier been quickest in FP1, laid down a marker with a lap of 1:23.083s, half a second quicker than his leading FP2 time from a year ago en route to a win, and 0.363s clear of second-placed Verstappen.

As for Piastri, the Australian made a mistake on his second soft-tyre run, forcing him to rely on his opener, which was 0.680s adrift of Norris, leaving him 11th on the timesheet.

After just six minutes, there was a minor skirmish involving Verstappen and Norris as the stewards noted a potential impeding incident by the Dutchman out of Turn 1.

Over the radio, Verstappen was informed by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, "You've got Norris... not opening a lap behind you. Or maybe he is... coming through."

The call was too late, however. Verstappen moved to one side, whilst Norris was forced to run wide, leading him to say, "What's this guy doing? I almost crashed."

The Briton's remark appeared exaggerated as the title-chasing duo were far from colliding, and the stewards agreed, as they chose not to investigate.

Piastri makes early error

In the more representative early evening conditions, with the sun setting and the track temperature dropping, compared to the warmer climes of the afternoon for FP1, Isack Hadjar and Oliver Bearman set the markers on soft tyres.

On his first flying lap out of the garage, Racing Bull driver Hadjar, who next year will be partnering Verstappen at Red Bull, posted a lap of 1:24.167s, followed by Haas driver Bearman just a fraction of a second adrift.

On a second run, however, Bearman became the first driver of the day to post a time below 84 seconds when he set a 1:23.968s.

Verstappen then stepped up to the plate and shattered Bearman's time on the red-striped rubber by 0.522s, followed over the line by Hadjar, who improved to 1:23.657s, 0.211s behind the four-time F1 champion.

It set the scene for tumbling times, with Norris surging to the top of the timesheet by 0.363s over Verstappen. On Piastri's first soft-tyre run, the Australian finished 0.680s behind his team-mate.

On a second push lap, and despite a tow on the long back straight, Piastri locked up into the Turn 6 right-hander, costing him the chance to close the gap, leaving him just under seven-tenths of a second down.

Mercedes' George Russell was third quickest, 0.016s behind Verstappen, with Bearman fourth after another soft-tyre run propelled him back into a surprising fourth, leaving him surprised as to where the pace had come from.

Sauber duo Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto were split by just 0.020s in fifth and sixth, followed by Hadjar, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Fernando Alonso in his Aston Martin, and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, all of whom were ahead of Piastri.

Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who has been undergoing a torrid time of late, was a lowly 14th, 0.856s down, with Alpine pair Franco Colapinto and Pierre Gasly bringing up the rear, the latter 1.880s down.