Who has the advantage after the first day of the F1 Abu Dhabi title deciding race?

Lando Norris made the proper begin to his bid to win his first world championship on the F1 title-clinching Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Briton Norris leads Purple Bull’s Max Verstappen by 12 factors heading into the ultimate race of the season and can seal his first world title with a top-three end on Sunday, no matter the place his rivals end.

Norris, aiming to change into McLaren’s first world champion since Lewis Hamilton in 2008, bought off to an incredible begin on Friday by main each follow classes.

Having simply overtaken Verstappen by 0.008 seconds in FP1, Norris set a time of 1 minute 20.083 seconds on gentle tires in his second free follow at Yas Marina, leaving the Dutchman 0.363 seconds clear.

FP2 is extra consultant of Friday’s two-hour follow session in Abu Dhabi, provided that each qualifying and the race will happen on the similar time.

Not solely did Norris maintain a one-lap benefit, he was additionally the quickest driver over the long term.

Norris averaged 29.270 over eight laps on medium tires, whereas Verstappen averaged 29.588 over 14 laps on the identical compound.

A direct comparability of the primary eight laps between the 2 exhibits a distinction of simply 0.075 seconds between the championship favorites.

Verstappen admitted Purple Bull wanted to seek out extra tempo in each sprints and lengthy distances.

“It looks like a substantial hole that must be closed, however for us we are going to attempt to see how a lot of a niche we are able to discover, aiming to place one of the best automotive in entrance,” admitted the four-time world champion.

Oscar Piastri, one other favourite to win, seems to be on the again foot.

Piastri, who wants to complete within the prime two to have an opportunity of successful the title, missed the primary follow to permit McLaren to finish its obligatory rookie FP1 program in 2025.

When Piastri returned to the cockpit of the MCL39 in FP2, he was not on the identical degree as his rivals.

The Australian suffered a significant lock-up at Flip 6 and was unable to document a lap consultant of the gentle tires, throwing him out of place and dropping him to eleventh.

Piastri was just a few tenths behind Norris and Verstappen even on lengthy runs.

George Russell was Norris and Verstappen’s closest rival when it comes to headline time, ending third in each classes.

The Mercedes driver might find yourself being an fascinating factor within the three-way title showdown, assuming his early competitiveness interprets into the remainder of the weekend.

Is single lap or race tempo extra vital?

The massive dilemma dealing with groups going into qualifying is how finest to arrange their automobiles to discover a compromise between lap and race tempo.

There is no level in merely operating the quickest automotive for one lap and getting pole place in case your automotive is not aggressive over the 58-lap race distance.

Tradeoffs should be made, however this 12 months additionally proved that observe place finally issues most, with the sphere concentrated making overtaking harder than ever.

Requested what he thought Verstappen would prioritize between the 2 races, Sky Sports activities F1 pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz stated:

“In the event that they (Purple Bull) have the concept McLaren will get pole place, they (Purple Bull) will do their normal trick of being someplace to start with and the entrance row might be nice, or then possibly beginning on a unique tire and popping out on prime.

“Second or third place will not assist Max. Identical to Oscar, he must win. Unquestionably, his finest probability for that’s to be in entrance at first.”

Nonetheless, Anthony Davidson argued: “I spoke to Laurent Mequise (Purple Bull group principal) and requested him that very query on the pit wall and he stated he was going to deal with race tempo.

“I feel you may wrestle a automotive right here that inherently has good race tempo, however you may’t try this in qualifying. If the tires deteriorate, there is no level in being on the sharp edge at first of the race. Lando and Oscar will simply be gone.”

“If this have been a standard simple qualifying and race, Lando is doing this properly. He has the velocity, he has the automotive to do it, and he has a 12-point lead.”

“For the fellows who aren’t main the championship, you want a little bit of unpredictability. One thing must occur, after which that is when Purple Bull, Max and Oscar pounce.”

There may be nonetheless a protracted method to go, however Norris actually appears set to make an early mark in Abu Dhabi and maintain the benefit.