FP2: Norris leads Verstappen during second practice in Abu Dhabi as Piastri starts weekend back in 11th

McLaren driver Lando Norris set the pace during Friday’s second practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, leading the way from Red Bull rival Max Verstappen and Mercedes’ George Russell, with team mate Oscar Piastri back in 11th.

Norris got down to a time of 1m 23.083s with Pirelli’s soft tyres across the one hour of running, putting him 0.363s ahead of reigning four-time World Champion Verstappen, and a further 0.016s clear of Russell.

After nine ‘rookie’ drivers appeared in FP1, a stream of regular racers returned to the cockpit for the much more representative twilight FP2, including Piastri, who was the only championship contender to sit on the sidelines at the start of the day.

Despite mechanics making a host of adjustments to his McLaren just a few minutes before the session’s green light at 1700 local time, the Australian hit the track early on and got his practice programme under way without any dramas.

There was some early drama elsewhere, though, with Verstappen having to hurriedly get out of Norris’ way exiting Turn 1 via some confusion over the radio with his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase – the Red Bull driver ending a lap and the McLaren man starting one.

“What’s this guy doing? I almost crashed,” Norris complained afterwards. However, while the stewards noted the incident and took a closer look at it, they ultimately decided against any further action, meaning no risk of a penalty being applied.

As the session reached its one-quarter mark, it was Racing Bulls rookie – and 2026 Red Bull racer – Isack Hadjar who led the way thanks to a 1m 24.167s on softs, marginally quicker than Haas’ Ollie Bearman (also softs) and Norris, Verstappen and Piastri (mediums).

Not long after, Verstappen made the switch to the soft rubber and lowered the benchmark to a 1m 23.446s, only for Norris to produce a 1m 23.083s and move comfortably clear when he bolted on the red-marked compound.

Attention then turned to what Piastri could do on his first Qualifying-style simulation, but a low-key lap left him down in 10th, behind both Mercedes cars, both Kick Saubers, Bearman’s Haas, Hadjar’s Racing Bulls and Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Meanwhile, there were problems for Williams to contend with in the form of a dramatic snap for Carlos Sainz through the high-speed Turn 2/3 sweeps, which the Spaniard did well to save and move on from, and apparent engine woes for Alex Albon.

Once those Qualifying laps were out of the way, drivers moved their focus to longer runs to gather some valuable data for Sunday evening’s race, meaning Norris’ aforementioned 1m 23s effort remained the P1 time over Verstappen (who reported more bouncing late on) and Russell at the chequered flag.

Bearman ended up a high-flying fourth for Haas, edging out the similarly impressive Saubers of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto. “Mate, the car is insane! I don’t know how it’s so good,” the British rookie commented over the radio mid-session.

Hadjar was another youngster to enjoy a strong start to the weekend in seventh, ahead of Leclerc, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso and the other Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, leaving Piastri just outside the top-10 positions.

Lance Stroll followed team mate Alonso in 12th, from Williams pair Sainz and Albon, who sandwiched Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari, the Haas of Esteban Ocon, outgoing Red Bull racer Yuki Tsunoda, Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls and the Alpines.

Drivers and teams will now regroup in the Yas Marina paddock to dig through the data and ponder any set-up changes before Saturday’s third and final practice session, which is set to begin at 1430 local time.