McLaren
McLaren

2024 F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Friday practice - LIVE!

Live text coverage of Friday practice at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

The final round of the 2024 Formula 1 season begins on Friday with the last practice day of the campaign at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. 

While the drivers' championship has been wrapped up in favour of Max Verstappen, the fight for top billing in the constructors' standings is the main focus. 

McLaren and Ferrari are split by just 21 points heading into the finale, with the latter able to force a title showdown last time out in Qatar. 

Abu Dhabi marks the last race for Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes ahead of his switch to Ferrari in 2025, while a new face in the form of Jack Doohan makes his debut with Alpine this weekend. 

The deepening rift between Max Verstappen and George Russell following the Qatar GP has dominated headlines so far this weekend, and could spill onto the race track should the pair be anywhere near each other in the race on Sunday. 

FP2 begins at 1pm GMT.

06 Dec 2024
10:23

C.Leclerc goes fastest with a 1m24.321s on soft tyres. Meanwhile, Gasly has been noted for not slowing under yellow flags while Hamilton is going to be looked into for possibly impeding Norris after the session. 

10:19

Gasly makes a big jump up to fourth in the Alpine on a set of soft tyres. 

10:18

Just over 10 minutes to go, the top 10 order is:

  1. Norris
  2. Hamilton
  3. Russell
  4. Hulkenberg
  5. Colapinto
  6. Magnussen
  7. Perez
  8. Lawson
  9. Bottas
  10. C.Leclerc
10:13

Hadjar had another run-in with Browning at the last corner on his latest flying lap, leading to the latter being given a black and white flag. 

10:09

Hamilton has narrowed the gap to Norris with a 1m24.806s, while Russell improves to third on a 1m25.165s despite his braking issues. 

10:07

Russell isn't too happy with his car right now: "Whatever it is, I'm not liking these brakes, even coming into the box".

10:05

Charles Leclerc is now out on track, meaning two brothers in the same team are sharing a circuit in an F1 session for the first time!

10:04

Hadjar wasn't happy with Browning at Turn 6: "The Williams destroyed me in the chicane," he complained to his Red Bull team. 

10:03

The final corner has been widened for this year and Norris really used all of the track available to him to post that time, which puts him 0.831s clear of the field. 

10:02

More drivers have switched to soft tyres, with Norris going fastest now with a 1m24.542s ahead of Hulkenberg, Russell, Hamilton, Perez, Bottas, Magnussen, Gasly, Hadjar and Alonso. 

10:01

Russell has gone fastest on a 1m25.410s having switched to soft rubber. 

10:00

Drugovich in the other Aston makes a small improvement to 14th. 

09:58

Alonso has climbed up the order to sixth in the Aston. 

09:56

Charles Leclerc is getting ready to climb into his Ferrari as the team looks to have finished its repairs. 

09:54

Lewis Hamilton shoots to the top of the pile with a 1m25.586s, still on medium rubber. 

This session never is hugely representative due to the twilight setting for this race, but Mercedes have made a solid start in first and second currently. 

09:53

Doohan is currently fastest of the rookies in ninth. Browning is 12th for Williams, Hadjar 14th for Red Bull. A.Leclerc 15th for Ferrari, Drugovich 17th for Aston, Hirakawa 18th for McLaren and Iwasa 19th for RB.

09:51

20 minutes of running down, the top 10 is:

  1. Russell
  2. Norris
  3. Hamilton
  4. Perez
  5. Colapinto
  6. Hulkenberg
  7. Lawson
  8. Gasly
  9. Doohan
  10. Magnussen
09:45

Russell has improved at the top of the standings with a 1m25.963s on medium tyres, with Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton second on a 1m25.993s. Perez third. 

09:44

Doesn't look like Charles Leclerc will be going anywhere soon. Still lots of work going on. Not the ideal start for Ferrari in its fight for the constructors' championship. 

09:43

Magnussen is facing his last F1 weekend ahead of a switch to sportscar racing in 2025 with BMW. He's just been shuffled back to fourth by Perez and Bottas, two other drivers seemingly entering their final events. 

Bottas is set to be a Mercedes reserve next year, while Perez - though insisting that he will be here - doesn't appear like he'll be a Red Bull driver for much longer. 

09:40

After 10 minutes of running, the top 10 looks like:

  1. Russell
  2. Magnussen
  3. Hulkenberg
  4. Norris
  5. Perez
  6. Hamilton
  7. Bottas
  8. Lawson
  9. Hadjar
  10. Doohan
09:39

Lots of aero work being done right now, hence the volume of cars with rakes attached to them and flow-viz paint splattered across them. 

09:37

A replay of Hadjar shows he actually had a spin down into Turn 6. 

09:36

George Russell has gone to the top of the order for Mercedes in a 1m26.894s. 

09:35

Hadjar briefly stopped somewhere having complained of wheel clearance in the cockpit. 

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