Leclerc fastest in Abu Dhabi GP FP1
6th December 2024Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc took the fastest lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix’s first hour of practice, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.
Feature image credit: Scuderia Ferrari
In the final race weekend of the season, Leclerc got the action underway with a strong start – with the fastest lap of Free Practice 1. This comes in a weekend where the constructors championship could go to either McLaren or Ferrari.
Ahead of the opening hour of practice, several rookies joined the F1 drivers on the track with the likes of; Isack Hadjar, Ayumu Iwasa, Ryo Hirakawa, Arthur Leclerc, Felipe Drugovich and Luke Browning competing for Red Bull, Visa Cash App RB, McLaren, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Williams.
As such, it meant Oscar Piastri, Max Verstappen, Yuki Tsunoda, Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll were forced to sit out the session.
After the first hour, Leclerc topped the session with the fastest time on the board of 1m 24.321s ahead of Norris and Hamilton who completed the top three respectively.
FP1 CLASSIFICATION
All the details from the opening session on track 👇#F1 #AbuDhabiGP pic.twitter.com/bC2VAyjAnV
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 6, 2024
Hamilton’s teammate, George Russell and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly rounded out the top five, in fourth and fifth, with 0.8s and 1.012s separating the two drivers from the top three.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen completed the first hour in sixth and eighth with Williams’ Franco Colapinto sandwiched in between the two Haas’, in seventh.
Drugovich and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez completed the top 10 in ninth and 10th respectively.
Fernando Alonso stood as the slowest Aston Martin driver, down in 11th, ahead of VCARB’s Liam Lawson who was 12th. Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas, Hirakawa and Hadjar rounded out the top 15; 13th, 14th and 15th respectively.
This left Kick Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu to lead the remaining rookies in 16th. Iwasa, Leclerc and Browning finished 17th, 18th and 20th, as Alpine’s Jack Doohan – who replaced Esteban Ocon for this race – finished his first official session as an F1 driver in 19th.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- How can McLaren or Ferrari win the championship?
- Why is the F1 constructors championship so important?
- Leclerc brothers set to partake in Abu Dhabi GP FP1 together
- Jack Doohan aiming to support Alpine’s constructors fight in Abu Dhabi GP debut
- Dutch GP to host final race in 2026 before stepping away from F1
- Ayumu Iwasa set to replace Yuki Tsunoda in Abu Dhabi GP FP1
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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.
