Russell tops final F1 practice session of season in Abu Dhabi

Mercedes’ George Russell was the fastest man out on track in the final practice session, in Abu Dhabi, as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen struggled with the set-up of his RB19.

When the pit exit light went green, it was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who went out onto the Abu Dhabi Yas Marina circuit first, followed by the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

By the halfway mark, the last of the drivers were out on track with both Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Daniel Ricciardo as Russell topped the timing boards.

Unlike FP2, the final practice session went off without a hitch and saw green-flag conditions throughout the final hour.

Despite the green-flag conditions, it prompted issues for Verstappen who had set-up problems throughout free practice three as the team worked to replace the torsion bars throughout the hour session.

How FP3 ended…

When the chequered flag fell on the final practice session, Russell topped the timing boards to give him a shout for pole position in qualifying. The Briton put in a storming 1:24.418 lap. Both of the McLarens of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri completed the top three, within three-tenths of a second behind.

Williams’ Alexander Albon and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.

With set-up problems, Verstappen sat as best of the rest outside the top five, seven-tenths off the pace, ahead of Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Logan Sargeant (Williams), Tsunoda and Gunayu Zhou (Alfa Romeo) who finished seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th.

Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez, completed the session down in 11th nearly a second off Russell’s benchmark time. Hamilton, Pierre Gasly (Alpine), Alonso and Stroll completed the session in 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th respectively, as the last drivers to be within a second of the fastest time.

Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas led the drivers over a second off the pace, down in 16th, followed by Nico Hulkenberg (Haas), Ricciardo and Kevin Magnussen (Haas) who occupied 17th, 18th and 19th.

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz rounded out the field of 20 drivers 1.2s behind Russell’s time, in a weekend where the Scuderia could snatch second place from Mercedes in the constructor standings.

That’s all for the article; Russell tops final F1 practice session of season in Abu Dhabi!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• The race REDEEMED the Las Vegas Grand Prix
• Las Vegas GP: Verstappen secures win as Perez cements second place in championship
• Leclerc on pole of Las Vegas GP ahead of Sainz and Verstappen
• Russell leads Piastri and Sargeant in FP3 of Las Vegas GP
• Leclerc tops Las Vegas GP FP2 as fans are kicked out
• Carlos Sainz suffers 10-place grid penalty for Las Vegas GP

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.