If Max Verstappen wants to pull off a miracle and win a fifth Formula 1 title, he’s going to have to break a sweat. That’s the message Lando Norris sent him at Yas Marina: the world championship leader was 12 points ahead of the Dutchman before the final race of the year, Dominate the final free practice session This Friday with A Overwhelming superiority. George Russell completed the podium, while the third in the fight, Oscar Piastri, didn’t even make the top ten in Free Practice 2 as Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz scored the ninth and thirteenth timerespectively.
English pilot He covered a distance of 5,281 meters from the Abu Dhabi track with a time of 1:23.083. Three tenths faster than the Red Bull racerwhich finds it increasingly difficult to achieve the necessary scenario to re-validate the World Championship: winning the race and Norris not getting into the “square”.
So, for now, waiting for the very exciting decision on Sunday, Logic has prevailed so far in the Grand Prix Two weeks after the “Mad Max” victories and bad news for McLaren, with its disqualification in Las Vegas and the huge strategic mistake made by the Woking team last Sunday in Qatar.
Norris had already started the weekend well by dominating FP1, although he was only eight thousandths ahead of the Dutch sports star. And only 16 from Charles Leclerc. The first two places were repeated in the afternoon session, but not the times: Lando was noticeably faster, which widened the gap significantly With the Dutchman to take another step towards his first World Cup.
This time it was Russell, 379,000 clear of his compatriot, who achieved the third time Mercedes, which on Sunday defends second place in the World Constructors’ Championship This is 33 points behind Red Bull, where McLaren previously defended the title two months ago.
Alonso finished five hundredth behind LeclercHe achieved eighth place, with a difference of more than tenth over his colleague Stroll, who ranked twelfth. The other Spaniard on the grill, Carlos SainzHe arrives in Abu Dhabi after climbing to the podium for the second time this season with the Williams team in Qatar. And he finished for the thirteenth timeEight parts ahead of his teammate Albon, who went to the hotel after clocking the 15th time of the day.
Training will end on Saturday, hours before qualifying, which will organize the starting grid for Sunday’s race that will decide the world championship once and for all.