Oscar Piastri edged out team-mate Lando Norris as McLaren again fronted the timesheets with a 1-2 in the final practice session at Formula 1‘s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Piastri pumped in a 1:23.433s to prop up under two-tenths quicker than Norris as McLaren maintained the advantage that it harboured in the second practice session.
Lewis Hamilton improved on his second push attempt to become the nearest challenger to the two McLaren drivers, albeit 0.390 seconds behind Piastri’s benchmark.
Max Verstappen placed his Red Bull in fourth, 0.411s back, as he pipped Carlos Sainz, who survived a scare when smoke appeared at the rear end of his Ferrari SF-24.
However, the Spaniard managed to return to the track to wind up as the leading Ferrari, as Charles Leclerc bemoaned being “nowhere” as he languished in ninth place.
George Russell classified sixth in the sister Mercedes, under three-tenths behind his team-mate, while Haas’ encouraging weekend continued with seventh and eighth.
Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10 runners in his Red Bull, 0.850s down on Piastri’s leading time. Yuki Tsunoda was on the outskirts in 11th place in the lead RB car.
Alex Albon wound up 12th in the Williams, ahead of the two Alpine drivers as Pierre Gasly headed rookie Jack Doohan. Fernando Alonso was 15th in his Aston Martin.
Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was next up, heading RB’s Liam Lawson, Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu and Williams’ Franco Colapinto, who was slowest.
READ MORE – F1 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – FP3 Results
