George Russell denied Lando Norris a free practice clean sweep ahead of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix with a late lap, after Lewis Hamilton crashed midway through the hour.
The Brit’s 1:23.334s was enough to see him top the timesheets, just 0.004s faster than Norris, with chief title rival Max Verstappen third, a tenth of a second behind both.
Fernando Alonso was fourth for Aston Martin, with the third title contender Oscar Piastri fifth, with the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman sixth and seventh respectively.
At around the halfway point in the session, Hamilton, on a push lap, spun at Turn 9, after taking on too much curb, exacerbated by the groove within it.
Turbulent air from a car in front also contributed, sending the Ferrari nose-first into the barrier, and ending Hamilton’s interest early, but not Ferrari’s who would now have to repair the Brit’s SF-25 ahead of qualifying in just two hours’ time.
Charles Leclerc was eighth in the other Ferrari, ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who was involved of an incident of his own with just minutes left.
The Mercedes driver was exiting his pit box, but was released into the path of Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull, damaging both cars and placing the ‘Silver Arrows’ under investigation.
Alex Albon was 10th, with Gabriel Bortoleto the highest-placed Sauber, the Swiss squad ending its tenure in F1 after this weekend.
Carlos Sainz was 12th, with the sister Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg down in 13th. Lance Stroll was 14th, with the Racing Bulls pair of Liam Lawson and Isack Hadjar 15th and 16th respectively.
Hamilton’s short running left him 17th, one place behind Pierre Gasly in the Alpine. Team-mate Franco Colapinto was 19th, with Tsunoda 20th.
READ MORE – F1 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – FP3 Results
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