Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc inflicted the first blow on McLaren as the Constructors’ battle goes down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

Mercedes led the way early on, but a 1:24.321 from Leclerc was enough to top the session be two-tenths from McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Charles Leclerc tops FP1 in Abu Dhabi

After all the off-track drama involving Max Verstappen and George Russell, focus switched to on-track matters with the first hour of practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

It was a new-look field for the session with various rookie drivers coming in. Ferrari had an all-Leclerc line-up of Charles and his brother Arthur, sportscar champion Ryo Hirakawa was alongside Lando Norris at McLaren, Felipe Drugovich was in the Aston Martin, Isack Hadjar in the Red Bull, Ayumu Iwasa in the VCARB and Luke Browning was making his F1 race weekend debut with Williams.

Jack Doohan was back with Alpine, but unlike those names, he will continue in the race weekend after replacing Esteban Ocon ahead of his 2025 season with the team.

At the halfway point, it was Russell heading a Mercedes one-two, his 1:25.410 putting him a tenth-and-a-half up on Lewis Hamilton as his final race weekend as a Mercedes driver began.

But as the soft tyres came to the fore with final flying laps complete, it was Leclerc who set the pace from Norris, as Ferrari and McLaren ready for the Constructors’ title decider this weekend.

It was P3 for Hamilton ahead of team-mate Russell, as Pierre Gasly, Nico Hulkenberg, Franco Colapinto, Kevin Magnussen, Drugovich and Sergio Perez completed the top 10.

Full FP1 results

1 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.321
2 Lando Norris McLaren +0.221
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +0.485
4 George Russell Mercedes +0.844
5 Pierre Gasly Alpine +1.012
6 Nico Hulkenberg Haas F1 Team +1.052
7 Franco Colapinto Williams +1.061
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas F1 Team +1.123
9 Felipe Drugovich Aston Martin +1.150
10 Sergio Perez Red Bull Racing +1.162
11 Fernando AlonsAston Martin +1.183
12 Liam Lawson RB +1.242
13 Valtteri Bottas Kick Sauber +1.290
14 Ryo Hirakawa McLaren +1.553
15 Isack Hadjar Red Bull Racing +1.556
16 Zhou Guanyu Kick Sauber +1.600
17 Ayumu Iwasa RB +1.800
18 Arthur Leclerc Ferrari +1.858
19 Jack Doohan Alpine +1.983
20 Luke Browning Williams +2.198

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