Leclerc on top but faces penalty blow in Abu Dhabi FP1

Charles Leclerc beat Lando Norris to top spot in first practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but will serve a 10-place grid penalty for having a new battery frantically installed into his Ferrari at the start of the session. A battery issued was detected in the Monegasque’s car as it was fired up ahead of the session, and subsequent work to install a third battery — one more than allowed for the season — restricted him to his garage for the first 30 minutes of the practice hour. Around half the session remained when the Monegasque was finally able to strap on his helmet and take to the circuit, shaking down the car on the medium tire before embarking on a performance run on softs. His first flying lap took him to top sport with a best time of 1m24.321s, topping Norris by 0.221s, although the Briton had set his time some 18 minutes earlier on a greener circuit in warmer conditions. Leclerc’s program was busy thereafter, completing a long run on the soft tire to clock up a commendable 19 laps, limiting the damage done to Ferrari’s data-gathering program on the constructors’ title-deciding weekend. While FP1 for the twilight Abu Dhabi took place in unrepresentative daytime conditions, it was important for Leclerc to accumulate mileage given Carlos Sainz also sat out the session, with rookie Arthur Leclerc fulfilling the team’s final mandatory rookie outing of the season. Mercedes was next-best in the order. Lewis Hamilton led the way in third but was 0.485s off the pace, while George Russell fared worse, at 0.844s off the pace. Hamilton will see the stewards after the session for impeding Norris at the final corner. Pierre Gasly was fifth and 1.012s off the pace for Alpine, which is hoping to cling to sixth in the constructors standings ahead of Haas, for whom Nico Hulkenberg put his car sixth and just 0.04s adrift. Franco Colapinto was seventh with a new gearbox installed in the back of his Williams, incurring him a five-place grid penalty for Sunday. Kevin Magnussen started his final weekend with Haas in eighth ahead of Aston Martin’s Felipe Drugovich, the fastest of the six rookie drivers participating in FP1 in Abu Dhabi. Drugovich, the 2022 Formula 2 champion, was 1.15s off the pace and 0.033s quicker than teammate Fernando Alonso in 11th. Splitting the green cars was Sergio Perez, completing the top 10 at 1.162 off the pace. Liam Lawson was 12th in the lead RB car ahead of Valtteri Bottas on his last weekend with Sauber. McLaren development driver Ryo Hirakawa piloted Oscar Piastri’s McLaren to 14th and 1.553s off the pace. He was just 0.003s quicker than Red Bull Racing reserve driver Isack Hadjar. Frenchman Hadjar — who is also competing for the F2 championship this weekend — had a scrappy session, spinning off the road early in the hour at Turn 7 as he complained of being squeezed into Max Verstappen’s cockpit, in which his legs were touching the steering wheel and preventing him reaching full lock. The 2025 RB hopeful was subsequently incensed to be twice impeded by Williams stand-in Luke Browning on his way to an underwhelming 15th. Zhou Guanyu was 16th in a Sauber he said had “crazy” understeer, beating RB substitute Ayumu Iwasa, who had commandeered Yuki Tsunoda’s car for the session. Arthur Leclerc’s participation for Ferrari made history as the first time two siblings entered an official session as teammates, the brothers waving at each other on the cool-down lap. The younger Leclerc was 18th and 1.858s slower than the sister car. Alpine rookie Jack Doohan, making his F1 debut this weekend in the place of the ousted Esteban Ocon, was 19th and 1.983s off the pace, while Browning completed the order for Williams at 2.198s adrift and after having been shown a black and white flag for twice impeding Iwasa.