Mercedes’ George 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 |
| 1 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1'26.072 | 26 | |
| 2 | 34 | Felipe Drugovich | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1'26.360 | 0.288 | 26 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | AlphaTauri/Honda RBPT | 1'26.433 | 0.361 | 26 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'26.453 | 0.381 | 21 |
| 5 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin/Mercedes | 1'26.631 | 0.559 | 21 |
| 6 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'26.665 | 0.593 | 25 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1'26.676 | 0.604 | 24 |
| 8 | 39 | R.Shwartzman | Ferrari | 1'26.703 | 0.631 | 25 |
| 9 | 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 |
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1'24.809 | 16 | |
| 2 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Mercedes | 1'24.852 | 0.043 | 18 |
| 3 | 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'24.982 | 0.173 | 17 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'25.024 | 0.215 | 16 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull/Honda RBPT | 1'25.112 | 0.303 | 17 |
| 6 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | 1'25.122 | 0.313 | 17 |
| 7 | 24 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1'25.223 | 0.414 | 18 |
| 8 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1'25.315 | 0.506 | 16 |
| 9 | 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).
