Orange Dominance: Piastri Outpaces Norris in McLaren’s Final Practice One-Two

McLaren enters the decisive qualifying session of the season brimming with confidence, following a commanding performance in the final practice session of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Both Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris demonstrated formidable pace, topping the timesheets and underscoring their team’s late-season surge.

McLaren’s Masterclass: Piastri Leads the Charge

Oscar Piastri delivered an exceptional lap, clocking a best time of 1’23.433. This impressive effort placed him nearly two-tenths of a second clear of his highly-rated teammate, Lando Norris, who secured the second-fastest time. The McLaren MCL38 appeared perfectly dialled in for the Yas Marina Circuit, showcasing strong mechanical grip and aerodynamic efficiency across the flowing corners. This consistent top-tier performance from both drivers signals McLaren’s potent threat for pole position and a significant advantage as they aim to solidify their standing in the Constructors’ Championship.

The Woking-based squad has enjoyed a remarkable resurgence throughout the 2024 season, consistently challenging the dominant forces of Red Bull and Ferrari in the latter half. Their pace in FP3 in Abu Dhabi suggests they’ve brought an exceptionally strong package to the season finale, giving them a genuine opportunity to end the year on a high note. The synergy between Piastri and Norris is evident, pushing each other to extract the maximum performance from their machinery, which bodes well for their prospects in the critical qualifying session and Sunday’s race.

Chasing Pack: Mercedes and Red Bull Analysis

Lewis Hamilton, in what marks his final competitive practice session with Mercedes, demonstrated a solid run to claim third position. His time was a further two-tenths slower than the McLarens, highlighting the gap his team currently faces. While P3 is a respectable result, Mercedes will be keenly analyzing the data to find the crucial tenths needed to challenge for the front row. The seven-time world champion’s experience will be invaluable as Mercedes fine-tunes their W15 for qualifying under the lights.

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen positioned his Red Bull RB20 just behind Hamilton, securing the fourth-fastest time. Often renowned for ‘sandbagging’ during practice sessions, Verstappen’s relatively quiet P4 might not fully reflect the true pace of the Red Bull. The team is known for its ability to extract significant performance when it truly matters, and one can expect a stronger challenge from them in qualifying. His teammate, Sergio Perez, completed the top ten, a noticeable four-tenths adrift of Verstappen, indicating a potential struggle to match his teammate’s rhythm on this particular circuit.

Ferrari’s Frustrations and Midfield Dynamics

Ferrari appeared to be struggling to match the pace of their championship rivals, with Carlos Sainz Jnr setting the fifth-fastest time, almost half a second off Piastri’s benchmark. His teammate, Charles Leclerc, endured a particularly challenging session, managing only the ninth-fastest time. Leclerc’s frustrations were palpable, lamenting to his team over the radio, “we are nowhere.” Compounding his difficulties, Leclerc is set to incur a ten-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race, making a strong qualifying performance even more crucial to mitigate the damage. Ferrari’s strategists will need to work overtime to find a setup that allows their SF-24 to compete higher up the order, especially with the constructor’s battle heating up.

The midfield battle provided some intriguing storylines. Haas enjoyed a strong outing, with Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen impressively securing seventh and eighth positions respectively. This performance highlights the potential of the VF-24 package and suggests Haas could be genuine contenders for Q3 and valuable points in the race. George Russell rounded out the top six for Mercedes, indicating consistency but perhaps not the outright pace desired.

Session Overview: Calm Before the Qualifying Storm

As the final daytime session of the weekend, teams approached FP3 with a focused but unhurried demeanour. Track temperatures soared to nearly 30 degrees Celsius under bright sunshine, conditions that differ significantly from the cooler evening temperatures expected for qualifying and the race. This necessitates careful data analysis for setup adjustments. Several drivers opted for extended waits, taking to the track more than 20 minutes into the hour-long session. Kevin Magnussen notably spent a considerable period at the top of the timesheets with a 1’24.470 on the soft tyres before the frontrunners unleashed their full potential.

The session was remarkably uneventful, a stark contrast to the drama often associated with Formula 1. Not a single yellow flag, notable problem, or incident was reported by race control throughout the entire hour. This allowed teams to execute their testing programmes efficiently, gathering crucial data on tyre degradation, balance, and single-lap pace without interruption. Early in the session, the two Aston Martin drivers took to the track to scrub a set of hard tyres, with Fernando Alonso even having a peculiar encounter, skillfully avoiding a bird that appeared oblivious to the high-speed machinery on the back straight – a moment of levity in an otherwise intense final practice.

The McLaren drivers, once they fitted fresh soft tyres, immediately jumped to the top. Piastri’s 1’23.433 stood firm until the chequered flag, reinforcing the constructors’ championship leaders’ strong form for the second consecutive session. This consistent performance places them in an enviable position going into qualifying, where securing a front-row start will be paramount for their championship aspirations. With the grid set to be decided under the floodlights, the cooler track conditions will undoubtedly present a different challenge, but McLaren has clearly laid down a significant marker.

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Third Practice Results

Below is the detailed breakdown of the Free Practice 3 session, showcasing the final standings and lap times:

P.	#	Driver	Team	Model	Time	Gap
1	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL38	1’23.433
2	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	MCL38	1’23.626	0.193
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	W15	1’23.823	0.390
4	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB20	1’23.844	0.411
5	55	Carlos Sainz Jnr	Ferrari	SF-24	1’23.871	0.438
6	63	George Russell	Mercedes	W15	1’24.075	0.642
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas-Ferrari	VF-24	1’24.093	0.660
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas-Ferrari	VF-24	1’24.094	0.661
9	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	SF-24	1’24.098	0.665
10	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull-Honda RBPT	RB20	1’24.283	0.850
11	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB-Honda RBPT	01	1’24.343	0.910
12	23	Alexander Albon	Williams-Mercedes	FW46	1’24.378	0.945
13	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine-Renault	A524	1’24.408	0.975
14	61	Jack Doohan	Alpine-Renault	A524	1’24.434	1.001
15	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR24	1’24.453	1.020
16	77	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber-Ferrari	C44	1’24.479	1.046
17	30	Liam Lawson	RB-Honda RBPT	01	1’24.519	1.086
18	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	AMR24	1’24.531	1.098
19	24	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber-Ferrari	C44	1’24.668	1.235
20	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams-Mercedes	FW46	1’24.766	1.333

Further Insights from the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Stay informed with more comprehensive coverage and analysis of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend:

• Did Tsunoda ‘destroy’ his team mates – and are Red Bull wrong to pick Lawson over him?
• McLaren were ‘0.7 seconds away from losing the title’ in Abu Dhabi – Brown
• Another name change for RB and new driver numbers revealed in 2025 F1 entry list
• Ranked: The Formula 1 cars of 2024, from slowest to fastest
• McLaren are world champions with fewest grand prix wins in 25 years

Browse all 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix articles