Lando Norris heads dominant McLaren 1-2 in Abu Dhabi GP second practice

Lando Norris led a dominant McLaren one-two in the second practice session of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Norris clocked in a best time of 1:23.517s, two-tenths ahead of team-mate Oscar Piastri, who in turn was a further two-tenths clear of the rest of the field.

The evening session at the Yas Marina Circuit was important for two reasons.

Firstly conditions were more representative compared to what the drivers will experience in Qualifying and the race.

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Secondly, the likes of Max Verstappen, Oscar Piasrti, Carlos Sainz, Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll and Alex Albon got their first taste of action this weekend after sitting out FP1 for rookies to get some running.

Williams’ Franco Colapinto missed out on a large portion of running after aggressively running over a kerb in his FW46, causing significant damage to the underside of the car.

The Williams’ mechanics toiled away with the car elevated in the pit garage, but Colapinto’s session ended early.

A world of pain for Williams continued as Alex Alon was stuck in third gear going down the straight between Turns 5 and 6, with the Anglo-Thai driver retreating back to the garage.

Albon was able to return to the action, unlike Colapinto, to conclude the session.

With Norris and Piastri sitting pretty at the top, Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg was a surprise third, just 0.462s off of the chart-topping time.

He led Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who rounded out the top five six tenths off of the ulitmate pace.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was sixth and Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas was also a surprise name inside the top-10 having gone seventh fastest.

Kevin Magnussen made it two Haas machines inside the top-10, with Albon able to overcome his issues to go ninth fastest.

That left RB’s Yuki Tsunoda to round out the top-10, one place ahead of team-mate Liam Lawson and a fraction under one second back from Norris’ time.

Alpine’s Pierre Gasly posted the 12th fastest time with Mercedes’ George Russell in a surprsingly low 13th.

It was a dismal showing for Red Bull, but against the norm it was Sergio Perez ahead of Verstappen as the duo wound up 14th respectively.

Sauber’s Zhou Guanyu wound up 15th with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.

It was a bleak showing for Aston Martin as Lance Stroll could only go 18th fastest as Alpine’s rookie Jack Doohan and Colapinto rounded out the order.

READ MORE – Lando Norris: F1 title would ‘mean more’ to McLaren than Ferrari