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2023 F1 Abu Dhabi GP results: Leclerc fastest in crash-filled practice

MercedesGeorge Russell was fastest in Free Practice 1, by 0.28s from Aston Martin’s reserve driver Felipe Drugovich.

Leclerc paced a massively disrupted FP2 with a fastest time of 1m24.809s, following two red flags for big crashes for Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and Nico Hulkenberg (Haas).

Abu Dhabi GP FP1 results: Russell fastest from Drugovich

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Delay   Laps 
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'26.072   26
34 Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'26.360 0.288 26
3 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'26.433 0.361 26
77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'26.453 0.381 21
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'26.631 0.559 21
81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'26.665 0.593 25
55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'26.676 0.604 24
39 R.Shwartzman Ferrari 1'26.703 0.631 25
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'26.720 0.648 26
10  22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'26.725 0.653 27
11  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'26.742 0.670 27
12  42 Frederik Vesti Mercedes 1'26.815 0.743 27
13  61 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1'26.865 0.793 23
14  98 Théo Pourchaire Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'27.093 1.021 20
15  29 Patricio O'Ward McLaren/Mercedes 1'27.114 1.042 23
16  36 Jake Dennis Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'27.208 1.136 24
17  37 Isack Hadjar Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'27.244 1.172 20
18  45 Zak O'Sullivan Williams/Mercedes 1'27.460 1.388 28
19  20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'27.462 1.390 26
20  50 Ollie Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1'27.569 1.497 24

What happened in Abu Dhabi GP Free Practice 1?

This full-daylight session featured 10 rookies, who have contested two or fewer grands prix.

Russell set the early pace on medium tyres at 1m26.313s and improved to 1m26.072s on softs.

Drugovich, who was second quickest, was the only rookie in the top seven, lapping in 1m26.360s, ahead of regulars Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri), Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Lance Stroll (Aston), Oscar Piastri (McLaren) and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari).

Robert Shwartzman was eighth in Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, ahead of Pierre Gasly (Alpine) and Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri). Logan Sargeant was 11th for Williams but almost caused a shunt for Jack Doohan in the second Alpine, who was 13th fastest.

Frederik Vesti drove Lewis Hamilton’s Williams to 12th and IndyCar ace Pato O’Ward was 15th in Lando Norris’s McLaren.

Both regular Red Bull drivers gave up their seats in this session, with Formula E champion Jake Dennis and F2 star Isack Hadjar 16th and 17th respectively.

Zak O’Sullivan had a huge slide at the final corner on the way to 18th for Williams.

Abu Dhabi GP FP2 results: Leclerc fastest from Norris

Cla   Nº   Driver   Car / Engine   Time   Delay   Laps 
16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1'24.809   16
4 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1'24.852 0.043 18
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'24.982 0.173 17
77 Valtteri Bottas Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'25.024 0.215 16
11 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1'25.112 0.303 17
63 George Russell Mercedes 1'25.122 0.313 17
24 Zhou Guanyu Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 1'25.223 0.414 18
44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1'25.315 0.506 16
10 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1'25.321 0.512 15
10  81 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1'25.361 0.552 18
11  14 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'25.397 0.588 17
12  3 Daniel Ricciardo AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'25.467 0.658 16
13  18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1'25.492 0.683 17
14  31 Esteban Ocon Alpine/Renault 1'25.566 0.757 17
15  22 Yuki Tsunoda AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT 1'25.669 0.860 17
16  23 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1'26.081 1.272 20
17  20 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1'26.413 1.604 18
18  2 Logan Sargeant Williams/Mercedes 1'26.659 1.850 17
19  55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Ferrari 1'26.707 1.898 4
20  27 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1'27.147 2.338 7

What happened in Abu Dhabi GP Free Practice 2?

FP2 was red-flagged after eight minutes when Sainz crashed heavily at Turn 3, the Spaniard blaming dirty air from a car in front as his car bottomed out over a bump and spun wildly into the Techpro barriers. The left side of his Ferrari was wrecked in the high-speed impact.

Over half the duration of the session was gone by the time it went green again, but a second red flag was caused almost immediately by Hulkenberg crashing on the exit of Turn 1. He spun to the inside and backed his Haas into the wall.

Russell led the way as the session restarted again in full darkness, with a 1m25.906s set on mediums inside the first few minutes. That was quickly eclipsed by Leclerc’s 1m24.809s on softs, with Norris getting within 0.043s and Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 0.173s away in third.

Bottas was fourth from Sergio Perez (Red Bull), Russell and Zhou Guanyu (Alfa).

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