Oscar Piastri will start just behind title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi on Sunday evening. Piastri is one of three title contenders heading into the 2025 finale at the Yas Marina Circuit, sitting four points behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and 16 points behind McLaren team mate Lando Norris. All of them are set to start at the front of the grid on Sunday evening, with Verstappen coming out on top in Q3 over Norris and Piastri, who will be drawing inspiration from outsiders winning the championship in the last races of 2007 and 2010. “I think honestly pretty good,” was the Australian's post-Qualifying assessment. “I think Q1 I got a nice lap on the board, the first good lap I've done all weekend, so it was nice to kind of set myself a baseline for the rest of quali. I think that was more or less what we had, so ultimately pretty pleased.” He added: “[We were] just not quite quick enough today, but it sets up a pretty exciting day tomorrow.” Asked if he now has the confidence to attack the race, knowing that a significant points swing is required, Piastri said: “Yeah, definitely. I think we're in a reasonable place with that. “Obviously it was not quite quick enough to beat Max today, but I think we did everything we could.”

Authentics Store Tickets Hospitality Experiences Previous Current After 23 Grands Prix in 2025, the title fight goes down to the wire in Abu Dhabi GHOST CAR: How Verstappen made the difference to beat Norris to pole in Abu Dhabi George Russell topped the timesheets for Mercedes during an eventful third and final practice hour at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. George Russell set the pace during the third and final practice hour of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a session that was briefly interrupted following a crash for Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes man lead the way on a 1m 23.334s, a mere 0.004s ahead of championship leader Lando Norris in second. Norris' title rival Max Verstappen put his Red Bull in third place, ahead of Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso in fourth and the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri completing the top five. In an eventful final practice of the weekend – and the season – the red flags were thrown when Hamilton spun off into the barriers at just over halfway through the hour, bringing the Ferrari man's outing to an early end. Meanwhile there was a collision between Kimi Antonelli and Yuki Tsunoda in the pit lane during the latter stages of the session when the former was released into the path of the Red Bull, a clash that will be investigated after the session for an unsafe release. To watch all the highlights from final practice in Abu Dhabi, click on the player above. Next Up © 2003-2025 Formula One World Championship Limited

Championship leader Lando Norris will line up in second place for Sunday's decisive Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Briton conceding that he was "not fast enough" to outpace title rival Max Verstappen for pole position. After setting the pace in both of Friday's practice sessions, Norris did not top the timesheets during any of Saturday's Qualifying segments, with McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri and Mercedes' George Russell going quickest in Q1 and Q2 respectively. Norris proved to be his closest challenger, but at 0.201s adrift could not beat the Dutchman, meaning that the championship leader will line up in second on the grid. Max did a good job, so congrats to him. “Of course I'm disappointed not to be on pole for the final weekend, but we just weren't fast enough today, so we'll have to try and do it tomorrow.” Sharing further thoughts later on, the 26-year-old suggested that the outcome of Qualifying “could have been a lot worse”, adding: “I expected it to be a lot closer into Q3, and the Quali battle then was between me and Oscar. A tough one to take, but otherwise I think we got everything out of it. Just not fast enough come Qualifying, but tomorrow's a new day.” When asked how he is feeling about Sunday's race – one in which he could potentially win his first title – Norris said: “Remarkably normal. I guess I feel the same, a little bit disappointed we couldn't get first, even though it was just out of reach today. “It's just always nice to end the season on top like we did last year. We didn't win the [Drivers'] Championship last year, but it was just nice to end with a win. That's what I would like to do tomorrow, in either our cases. A podium would be enough for Norris to be confirmed as World Champion, regardless of where Verstappen and Piastri finish. However, when quizzed on whether he would simply aim for the rostrum or target victory instead, the British driver remained unsure.

After 23 Grands Prix in 2025, the title fight goes down to the wire in Abu Dhabi George Russell demoted Lando Norris to P2 late in the final practice hour for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver found a small advantage of 0.004s over Norris in the closing minutes of FP3, ending with a time of 1m 23.334s on a set of soft tyres, leading the way in another remarkably competitive session. It was a quiet start as many drivers took their time in the garage before heading out on track – the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were the first to make a short appearance, repeating their usual practice routine of scrubbing the tyres. After a lacklustre opening day for Alpine, Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto elected to put in some laps early doors with the aim of troubleshooting some of their issues, which saw them end Friday at the back of the field in Renault's final round as an engine supplier. His team mate Oscar Piastri, who missed out on FP1 for Pato O'Ward, found himself 0.4s adrift before Norris improved his time, fighting oversteer in the final sector. Norris then had a near-miss with Yuki Tsunoda, who failed to pull aside and let the McLaren past, forcing him into evasive action – the outgoing Red Bull driver raised his hand in apology and was later noted for impeding. As the circuit gradually got busier, Ollie Bearman quickly proved that his pace in FP2 wasn't a fluke as his first lap was just 0.008s slower than Norris' effort, before Verstappen stormed to P1 just before the halfway point. He didn't stay on top for long as Norris, also on new tyres, set a 1m 23.338s to reclaim first position – his final sector alone was three tenths faster than his team mate. His team mate Russell then charged to P1 in the last few minutes of FP3, with Alonso taking a high-flying fourth place behind Norris and Verstappen, with the lead Red Bull just over a tenth away from Russell's pace-setting lap. Piastri ended down in fifth ahead of the impressive Haas duo of Esteban Ocon and Bearman. The drivers and teams now have just over a couple of hours to regroup before Qualifying gets underway at 1800 local time.

George Russell ended Friday's running eager to help Mercedes find improvements overnight, despite finishing in the top three in FP2. George Russell has admitted that Mercedes have work to do if they want to fight towards the front in Abu Dhabi after a highly competitive day of practice left him anticipating “surprises” in the field. As the sun set and temperatures dropped at the Yas Marina Circuit, Russell improved from sixth to third between FP1 and FP2, albeit ending up 0.379s away from Lando Norris' pace-setting lap in the later session. Ollie Bearman was an impressive fourth for Haas, just 0.039s slower than Russell's best lap, and the Kick Sauber pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Gabriel Bortoleto were within hundredths of the 20-year-old's time in P5 and P6. The results have left Russell keen to extract more pace as he explained: “It was definitely feeling better this evening. It always tends to feel a bit nicer when you're driving in the dark and the track is a bit cooler. “I think it's going to be tight in Qualifying, probably between ourselves, Red Bull and Ferrari. There are some other teams who were a bit unexpected as well – Bearman was right up there, and Hulkenberg as well, so we may have some surprises. "The race pace wasn't great in all honesty. “It's not easy when you've got that C5 tyre – there's a lot of grip. The Italian teenager finished the first session in P4, a little over a tenth away from Norris' benchmark. In FP2, he dropped to P10 as the McLaren driver's advantage opened up, leaving Antonelli 0.667s adrift, but less than three tenths behind Russell. “We started the day pretty well,” he summarised. “I think FP2 didn't really show the pace. The last lap on softs was looking pretty strong, but then I made a mistake in the last corner and lost a lot of time. Of course, McLaren look a step ahead of everyone but the gaps are very, very close and every little mistake can really punish you.

Authentics Store Tickets Hospitality Experiences Previous Current After 23 Grands Prix in 2025, the title fight goes down to the wire in Abu Dhabi GHOST CAR: How Verstappen made the difference to beat Norris to pole in Abu Dhabi Lando Norris led the field in both of Friday's practice sessions for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Lando Norris continued his strong form in a busy second practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, topping the times ahead of Max Verstappen and George Russell. After he beat his Red Bull rival to first place in FP1 by just 0.008s, Norris extended his advantage in FP2 to 0.363s. This session has the most similar conditions to the upcoming Qualifying hour, putting the Standings leader in a good position to chase down another podium position. Elsewhere, Ollie Bearman took an impressive P4 for Haas and remarked over the radio: "I don't know how it's so good." Just behind him in fifth and sixth were the Kick Sauber pair, with Nico Hulkenberg leading the charge in the team's final weekend before they adopt the Audi name in 2026. Oscar Piastri, after sitting out of FP1 for Pato O'Ward, struggled to put a lap together that was good enough for the top 10 – he locked up on his flying lap to end up in P11, just under seven tenths off his team mate's pace. There was plenty of traffic throughout FP2 as many fought to get the most out of the soft tyres before switching focus to their long-run pace on harder compounds, leaving the order predominantly unchanged in the final quarter of the session. To catch up on the highlights from FP2, click go on the video player above. Next Up © 2003-2025 Formula One World Championship Limited