FP3: Russell dominates final practice in Abu Dhabi as Verstappen and Leclerc struggle for pace

The final practice on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix delivered a stunning outcome as Mercedes driver George Russell dominated the motion whereas Ferrari and Red Bull struggled for pace on the Yas Marina Circuit. F1Technical’s senior author Balázs Szabó experiences on Free Practice 3.

Having topped the opening practice, Free Practice 3 noticed George Russell dominate proceedings as soon as once more in hotter circumstances. The Mercedes racer clocked a 1m24.418s to beat the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. McLaren’s British driver appeared to have the pace to set the session’s benchmark time, however he nearly misplaced the again finish of his MCL60 in the final nook and needed to settle to P2.

Williams displayed eye-catching efficiency in Sector 1 and 2, and Alexander Albon made good use of that, setting the fourth-quickest lap of the session, half a second off Russell’s benchmark. His team-mate Logan Sargeant was two tenths of a second slower which was nonetheless sufficient for the eighth quickest lap of the session.

Ferrari targeting their heavy gasoline run in the primary half of the one-hour session, however they struggled for pace when Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz rejoined the observe on a recent set of sentimental tyres. The Monegasque ended the session fifth quickest whereas the Spaniard introduced up the rear of the sphere regardless of no obvious technical points.

Max Verstappen encountered steadiness struggles on Friday which continued throughout the final practice hour, and he took solely sixth in the final standings. His team-mate Sergio Perez had a quiet session en path to eleventh, adopted by Lewis Hamilton, who didn’t have the eye-catching pace of his team-mate Russell.

It was extremely tight as soon as once more in the midfield with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon taking seventh. His team-mate Pierre Gasly set the thirteenth quickest time.

Aston Martin had an encouraging opening day yesterday, however they made a step backward on the hotter observe with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll ending 14th and fifteenth quickest for the Silverstone-based outfit.

Alfa Romeo had a quiet final session in Abu Dhabi. The American staff’s Zhou Guanyu took tenth whereas his team-mate Valtteri Bottas missed the primary nook on his first flying lap on his second recent set of sentimental tyres and his greatest effort was solely sufficient for P16 in the tip.

Haas pair Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen sandwiched the AlphaTauri of Daniel Ricciardo in positions P17 to P19 whereas the Australian’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda set the ninth quickest lap with a time of 1m25.222s.