Abu Dhabi GP FP3: Russell fastest from Norris and Verstappen
F1 NewsSaturday, 06 December 2025 at 12:35
George Russell ended the final practice session of the 2025 Formula 1 season on top as Lando Norris and Max Verstappen were second and third by slight margins.
Russell put in a great lap towards the end of the session, 1:23.334, and was 0.004s faster than Norris in second as Verstappen was 0.120s further down the road in third.
The session was interrupted as Lewis Hamilton crashed his Ferrari at Turn 9 bringing out a Red Flag which halted the running until there were only 17 minutes remaining.
It was a shame for Hamilton who was showing some decent form up until his crash as initial signs show something failing on his SF-25, unsettling it and sending him into the barriers.
What was interesting from the session was how strong McLaren were in the final sector as both Norris and Oscar Piastri were able to find time there regardless of how much they lose in the first two, which is probably down to they big rear wing, while Verstappen was showing speed in S1 while running a low downforce rear wing.
That would mean the outcome of Qualifying will be tough to predict, but expect the usual suspects, Norris, Verstappen, and Piastri to be in contention with a possibility that Russell crashed the party.
Fernando Alonso finished the session fourth fastest, 0.251s off the pace, and ahead of Piastri who was fifth in the other McLaren as he wasn't able to put in a lap in the end.
Esteban Ocon was sixth fastest in the Haas ahead of his teammate, Ollie Bearman who was seventh in the sister car as 0.004s separated the pair.
Charles Leclerc was eighth in the Ferrari with Kimi Antonelli in ninth as Alex Albon completed the top ten.
Buildup towards FP3
Norris had the perfect start for his Abu Dhabi weekend as he seeks his maiden F1 Title, but up to now, he is wary of the threat of Verstappen.
While Norris topped Friday's timing sheets, he admitted afterwards that he is yet to be fully satisfied with his MCl39, while Verstappen, on the other hand, claimed his RB21 was behaving decently and that he was "fairly happy" but added that it needed more tuning.
Red Bull usually run their power units at lower modes on Friday so we can expect them to show their hand a bit today in FP3 as we also await to see how McLaren respond to Norris' need to get more out of his car.
With all the Championship permutations, it will be interesting to see how the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari play a role as the latter seem slightly better with Leclerc.
We need to also see Piastri's form ahead of Qualifying after missing out on FP1 as his times in FP2 were not really encouraging. Will he find his rhythm in the final practice session?
What kind of pecking order will emerge as we head into Qualifying?
FP3 Session Highlights
It is a day session of practice and it started in clear conditions as track temperatures were as high as 39 degrees Celsius with air temperature at 27 degrees.
Alonso was the first driver to hit the track scrubbing a set of Hards and then Mediums. Stroll did the same.
The start of the final practice was a bit slow as conditions were not very representative, so teams delay their running a bit.
In the meantime, drivers from other teams were not even sitting in their cars, but almost ten minutes into the session, Colapinto drove out on track with a set of Softs fitted to his Alpine. Gasly followed.
Almost 15 minutes into the session, Norris kicked off his FP3 running and went on a set of Soft tyres. Leclerc and Ocon followed.
It wasn't until 20 minutes of the session were gone that we started witnessing some serious running.
Replay showed Norris and Tsunoda had a scary moment heading into Turn 11 as the latter was driving slowly in the middle of the road, the former just managing to avoid him.
Tsunoda waved acknowledging his mistake. The incident was noted by the stewards and announced it would investigated after the session.
Then with 29 minutes remaining, Hamilton brought out the Red Flag, as he spun while on a fast lap at Turn 9 and went straight into the barriers at the end of the run-off area.
"Something buckled at the front and snapped the rear," the Briton radioed.
The session was restarted with 17 minutes remaining as drivers lined up in the pitlane waiting for the green light.
Replay showed Antonelli being released into the way of Tsunoda and there was contact. The Japanese returned to the pits for repairs.
There was some visible damage to the sidepod and the floor body of his RB21.
Verstappen then reported that his car still jumps and that he is not able to keep his feet on the pedals.
Abu Dhabi GP FP3 Classification
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