Lando Norris tops Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP2 with Oscar Piastri out of the top 10

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Lando Norris was the fastest in FP2 as Oscar Piastri struggled to put a fast soft tyre lap together during McLaren’s qualifying practice runs.

The second practice is the most representative session for qualifying and race pace, with conditions similar to those that will be seen in the later weekend sessions, making it incredibly important for drivers and teams.

FP2 starts at the same time as the start of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and ends at the start time for qualifying, so teams will be trying to get as much data as possible.

Nine rookie drivers took part in FP1 earlier in the day, which meant that several drivers, including championship contender Oscar Piastri was sidelined for the first session of the weekend.

Title leader Lando Norris topped the timings for the first practice session on Friday, just two hundredths of a second ahead of the other championship rival, Max Verstappen.

Early in FP2, Verstappen was noted for impeding Norris at Turn 1, after Red Bull appeared unsure if the Brit was starting a flying lap. Norris sounded unimpressed on the radio, asking, “what is this guy doing?”, although stewards were quick to decide there would be no further action for the incident.

Verstappen was the first championship driver to bolt on the soft tyres, with the Dutchman setting a strong time of 1:23.446, which was two tenths of a second ahead of Isack Hadjar.

McLaren then brought their drivers in to begin qualifying practice runs, with Norris clinching the top time from Verstappen by three tenths.

Piastri had a difficult first flying lap on his soft tyres, finding himself down in the first two sectors, before crossing the line to put himself in 10th place. The Aussie made a slight mistake into Turn 1, although it didn’t appear bad enough to lose six tenths to his teammate at the top.

Alex Albon’s car continued to struggle during the second practice session, after Luke Browning found several issues with the Williams during FP1. Albon complained that he was having issues with his engine, noting that the car was misfiring.

Carlos Sainz also had issues with his Williams during the session, telling his engineers that the car was dealing with a lot of bottoming. The Spaniard, who took his second podium of the season last weekend, also reported a weird “snap” at Turn 2.

Piastri went for a second flying lap on his soft tyres after a difficult first run; however, the Aussie saw a big lock-up at Turn 6, which kept him in 10th place. The title contender had made improvements in sectors one and three compared to his McLaren teammate, but appeared not to have the same straight-line speed as Norris.

McLaren team principal Zak Brown reassured Sky Sports viewers that Piastri “is not totally dialled in yet, but he will get there” as teams began their long runs in the latter stages of FP2.

Oliver Bearman appeared thrilled with his Haas after a difficult FP1 where he only completed 14 laps. The Brit found himself in P4 at the halfway mark of the second practice, saying on his radio: “Mate the car is insane! I don’t know how the car is so good.”

Traffic started to become an issue during long runs, with Kimi Antonelli almost getting caught out by Esteban Ocon in the Haas. The impending issue went to the stewards, with the Frenchman avoiding a full investigation and seeing no further action.

Sauber finished the practice in a strong position, with both Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto in fifth and sixth behind Bearman in fourth.

Ferrari had a difficult time during FP2 with Charles Leclerc finding himself in P8, and his teammate, Lewis Hamilton, down in 14th, almost a full second slower than Norris at the top.