Bearman was pleased with Haas's pace in practice at Yas Marina

McLaren locked out the front row of the grid in qualifying for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year.

Pole-winner Lando Norris was 0.35 seconds quicker than Max Verstappen, who took fourth on the grid. The Red Bull driver was almost as far behind again today, lapping 0.363s off the McLaren.

Recent form indicates Red Bull should narrow that gap in Saturday’s crucial qualifying session. But all three championship contenders will have to stay sharp as the midfield contest is close.

Teams’ 2024 performance in context

McLaren were comfortably quickest last year ahead of Ferrari, as the two teams went into the final round competing for the constructors’ championship.

Verstappen took fourth on the grid despite being surprisingly out-paced by Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas. A grid penalty cost Hulkenberg his place on the second row.

Teams’ progress vs 2024

Ferrari do not look likely to repeat their second-best performance based on their performance on Friday. No team lapped quicker than they did last year, but Ferrari were further off their 2024 pace than any team bar Alpine.

Remarkably, Ferrari were slower than both their customer teams, Haas and Sauber, on Friday. Oliver Bearman expressed genuine joy on the radio as his lap times hinted that a repeat of last year’s surprise qualifying performance is on the cards for the team.

But Hulkenberg looked scarcely any slower at the team he left Haas to join, Sauber, and was backed up by team mate Gabriel Bortoleto in the top six.

Both look likely to give regular Q3 contenders Williams and Racing Bulls a serious run. And as the championship contenders navigate Q1 and Q2, they cannot afford to be complacent about the potential threat from the midfield.

Only one week ago Verstappen was relegated to sixth on the grid for the sprint race in Losail by, among others, Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin. That’s not a scenario he or any of the other title contenders would welcome tomorrow.

Combined practice times

P.#DriverTeamFP1 timeFP2 timeGapLaps
14Lando NorrisMcLaren-Mercedes1’24.4851’23.08356
21Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’24.4931’23.4460.36361
363George RussellMercedes1’24.7331’23.4620.37958
487Oliver BearmanHaas-Ferrari1’24.7591’23.5010.41842
527Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari1’24.6291’23.5500.46756
65Gabriel BortoletoSauber-Ferrari1’24.7421’23.5700.48757
76Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’24.9771’23.6570.57460
816Charles LeclercFerrari1’24.5011’23.6580.57559
914Fernando AlonsoAston Martin-Mercedes1’23.7080.62527
1012Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedes1’24.6081’23.7500.66759
1181Oscar PiastriMcLaren-Mercedes1’23.7630.68029
1218Lance StrollAston Martin-Mercedes1’23.8320.74929
1355Carlos Sainz JnrWilliams-Mercedes1’24.7711’23.8720.78958
1444Lewis HamiltonFerrari1’23.9390.85629
1523Alexander AlbonWilliams-Mercedes1’23.9500.86732
1631Esteban OconHaas-Ferrari1’23.9580.87527
1722Yuki TsunodaRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’24.3031.22029
1830Liam LawsonRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’24.4741.39132
1943Franco ColapintoAlpine-Renault1’24.8551’24.7711.68856
2050Ryo HirakawaHaas-Ferrari1’24.9341.85128
2110Pierre GaslyAlpine-Renault1’24.9631.88030
2261Paul AronAlpine-Renault1’25.2042.12127
2389Pato O’WardMcLaren-Mercedes1’25.2462.16328
2436Arvid LindbladRed Bull-Honda RBPT1’25.2562.17326
2539Arthur LeclercFerrari1’25.3602.27727
2640Ayumu IwasaRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT1’25.4752.39230
2746Luke BrowningWilliams-Mercedes1’25.4902.40718
2835Jak CrawfordAston Martin-Mercedes1’25.8892.80624
2934Cian ShieldsAston Martin-Mercedes1’26.4323.34922

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