Abu Dhabi (Special Envoy). – With all strength and determination, the Formula 1 championship leader, Lando Norris, began free practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He was the fastest on the day, beating the second in the competition, Max Verstappen, with a difference of 363/1000, while the third driver who aspires to compete with Lando and Max, Oscar Piastri, ranked 11th, with a difference of 680/1000 behind his English colleague in McLaren.
In the past 10 years, the Grand Prix has been won by whoever started from pole position and Norris appears to be on his way to doing so but his rivals will not give up easily: Piastri was against not turning in the first free practice due to his car being used by the reserve driver, Mexican Pato Ouard and Verstappen claimed his car had too much “bounce”. The current champion usually complains but at the last minute he corrects his car and always fights for first place.
It is clear that the calculations favor Norris, as he obtained 408 points, which is enough for him to rank third if Max Verstappen wins (396 points) and sixth if Piastri wins (392 points). Lando can’t help Piastri but the Australian can. All day Saturday and 58 laps of Sunday’s race are missing for all the answers.
After the first fan practice where he finished 10th, 0.370/1000 behind Norris, Franco Colapinto finished 19th in the second practice, 1.688/1000 behind Norris. The small difference between him and Norris in the first session was encouraging, but despite his superiority over his colleague Gasly, who was behind him in 20th and last place by a difference of 192/1000, he was not satisfied.
“We were three-tenths of a second away (in FP1) and I (did) a lap that was very (good), and I could have improved a few more tenths. I don’t quite understand, honestly, you have to look at the data because…”
As of Friday morning, McLaren had not commented on whether or not he would be giving orders to the team. But the pressure was so great that a decision had to be made.
McLaren’s “Papaya Rules” (equal treatment of drivers) have ended. At the track, Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren F1, confirmed to British television: “We would be fools to leave Oscar ahead of Lando on the track if we prevent Max from winning this championship (and Oscar cannot be the champion).” At the team leaders’ press conference, it was made clear that they would see how the race would develop and that, in principle, drivers could start the Grand Prix with freedom to compete.
This scenario could occur if Verstappen is the winner of Sunday’s 10 o’clock Grand Prix in Argentina, while Piastri is a distant second or third and Norris is fourth. Norris only needs to finish third in this race to be crowned.
It would be an almost suicidal act of rebellion for the young Australian, Piastri, who refuses to obey the team’s orders in this situation, only to find himself unable to win the tournament himself. To take the crown, Oscar must win and Lando must finish sixth or worse.
McLaren had already given orders to the team at this year’s Italian Grand Prix by asking Piastri to put his foot up and allow Norris to retake second place after a slow stop by the Englishman to change tyres. This upset the Australian a lot.
During Friday’s first free practice, Piastri was in the garage because his car had been handed over, as planned, to Pato Oward, the 26-year-old Mexican winner of nine Indy races. McLaren aims to deepen its already notable business relationships with the North American sponsorship market.
Furthermore, if the relationship with Piastri collapses, McLaren has the recently crowned Formula 2 champion, Italian Leonardo Fornaroli, under contract, another potential replacement.
As usual, Norris was quickest in FP1, leaving Verstappen in second place by just 8/1000ths of a second when both used soft tyres. Piastri was in the pits because his car had been handed over to Pato Aouard’s impoundment.
When fuel was saved and longer runs were undertaken, Verstappen, wearing the hard boots, was slightly quicker than Norris who used the medium boots, theoretically somewhat faster. It was noticeable that both teams, McLaren and Red Bull, were evaluating tires with a different strategy.
In the Alps, who remained in the garage with leader Flavio Briatore, this time, it was Pierre Gasly, whose seat was entrusted to Paul Aron for this session. Franco completed the aforementioned 10th time and Aaron was 13th, 349/1000 behind Colapinto.
In the second practice session, Norris, who had passed Verstappen by only 8/1000 in the first session, pushed a little harder and got the aforementioned 363/1000, a clear difference that could worry Red Bull. Red Bull has no illusions that Verstappen’s Japanese teammate, Yuki Tsunoda, can help the Dutchman in the race in any way. Tsunoda, who will not remain with this team in 2026, finished 17th, 1s220/1000 behind Norris.
There was a tense moment when Norris started one of the fastest laps and Verstappen was on track. The Dutchman pulled away just as Norris overtook him. There was no investigation.
The Red Bull team was more focused on preparing the car for the race. He ditched the soft shoes very early in FP2 and did a 14-lap stint on the medium tires versus a short seven-lap test conducted by Lando. The pace of both suggests that this gap of 363/1000 on the soft tires on one lap has been reduced significantly and is around a tenth or less in McLaren’s favour. Compared to Piastri, Norris shows the same slight differences over the long term. Tomorrow we will know more.
Piastri didn’t look like he did in the photo, finishing 11th, 580/1000 behind teammate Norris, as he made two mistakes on his two fastest laps. He also complained of a certain lack of balance. You will have time to recover. His progress, like Gasly’s, may have been affected by him not being handed FP1.