George Russell held the lead for much of FP1 of the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Felipe Dlugovic finishing second ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.
This was the FP1 rookie show of the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, with up to 10 drivers participating. Red Bull opted to race both sessions simultaneously, with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez remaining on the sidelines after resolving the issue. The Drivers’ Championship standings have been sorted out.
In FP1 of the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Mercedes driver George Russell ran at full speed from beginning to end, beating Aston Martin’s Felipe Durgovic, who was replacing Fernando Alonso, by 1 minute 26.072 seconds. He finished in first place. He improved by one place behind the Brazilian.
The team is testing new ground not only for 2024 but also to see if it can overtake Williams, with AlphaTauri’s Daniel Ricciardo finishing third in the late stages. It was an improvement. Valtteri Bottas in his Romeo Alfa was his fourth place behind Stroll in his Aston He Lance Martin.
The Canadian also got a late start, but like team-mate Drugovic, Williams’ Zach O’Sullivan and McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, he took a fair chance in the final corner. The Canadian was caught dangerously interfering with Red Bull’s Isaac Hajjar.
Even when a fast Hajar came towards him, he did not leave his ideal line and had to take evasive action in advance. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished sixth, ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Robert Schwartzman, who replaced Charles Leclerc.
This Russian was also a player who showed a moment at the final corner. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly finished in the top 10 in ninth place, ahead of AlphaTauri’s Hiroki Tsunoda, while Williams’ Logan Sargent finished 11th. The American is being investigated on suspicion of illegal driving.
He tried to pull away from rapidly approaching alpine rider Jack Doohan, but just before the final corner they both veered to the right. Mercedes’ Frederic Vesti replaced Lewis Hamilton in 12th place, while Doohan replaced Esteban Ocon in 13th place.
Alfa Romeo’s Theo Poolchair came into his own in FP1, replacing Chou Guanyu in 14th place, while O’Ward finished 15th in place of Lando Norris. Comparing this year’s results, the two Red Bull drivers were in his 16th place and his 17th place, with Jake his Dennis ahead of Hajjar.
Dennis took over Max Verstappen’s car, while Hajar took over Sergio Perez’s car. Williams’ O’Sullivan was 16th ahead of Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Oliver Bearman, the latter in Nico Hulkenberg’s car.
