Where Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri stand after Abu Dhabi GP first day – The Mirror
Friday’s running at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is in the books and Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri have spoken about how they feel ahead of Sunday’s title showdown
15:21, 05 Dec 2025Updated 15:22, 05 Dec 2025
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Everything you need to know about the first day of track running at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as title contenders Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri got their eye in ahead of Saturday’s qualifying
Leader Lando on top: Lando Norris topped the timesheets in both practice sessions, first of all narrowly edging out Max Verstappen by just 0.008 seconds in the first hour of running. That was the least representative session of the two as it took place in daylight and with much different track conditions compared to what it will be like for qualifying and the race. Plus, there were nine rookies taking part.
More encouraging: Norris’ advantage over Verstappen in the second, more relevant session leapt to 0.363s, which will be very encouraging for the Brit. Not that he is yet satisfied with how his McLaren car feels ahead of Saturday’s all-important qualifying.
Norris said: “Obviously, from the times, things are good at the minute. I still want a bit more from the car, I’m still not completely happy or confident. We’re in the middle of trying some different things and trying to understand some things with the car. Hopefully, there is more that we can get out of it overnight, but it’s not been a bad day for sure. A positive day but, as we all know, it gets a lot closer going into qualifying so nothing to smile about just yet.”
Max potential: Red Bull have often been slow starters to race weekends this year but Verstappen looked strong from the get-go. The Dutchman naturally wants more but, speaking after FP2, the Dutchman had the air of someone happy with where he stands right now.
Verstappen said: “I was fairly happy with the car, but we need to be a little bit faster. We’re still not quick enough. Overall, we have been in a decent window around here. The ride is a constant fight, but that’s nothing new. It seems like it’s a decent gap that we need to close but, from our side, we’ll just try to put the best car and see what we can do. Single lap and long run need to be better.”
Oscar out of sync: Oscar Piastri is the outsider, 16 points off the top of the standings and also at a disadvantage compared to his title rivals, having missed FP1 to fulfil McLaren’s quota of rookie practice sessions per season. The Aussie referenced that as he reflected on an underwhelming FP2, having finished way down in 11th on the timesheets.
Piastri said: “I think I got there pretty well on the medium tyres, just on the softs there I didn’t get the most out of the grip. I’m finding my feet, I think, but there are clearly some things I need to improve for tomorrow. After just one session, not too bad. It’s just little details – the car feels like it is in a pretty decent place. It didn’t feel perfect out there, but nothing major. I feel pretty good. The car has looked quick but I need to get some more lap times under my belt and find my feet a bit more. With a few more laps tomorrow and a few more sets of tyres, hopefully we’ll be there.”
