Russell dominates Abu Dhabi Grand Prix practice for Mercedes

Mercedes star George Russell took control of first practice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, dominating the session ahead of rookie Aston Martin's Felipe Drugovich.

AlphaTauri's Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top three as Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas finished fourth and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll finished fifth.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri placed sixth, ahead of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz in seventh and Robert Shwartzman in eighth, while former team-mates Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda rounded off the top 10.

Red Bulls in unfamiliar territory

Understandably, Red Bull's FP1 replacements Isack Hadjar and Jake Dennis struggled to get anywhere near the likes of drivers' championship leaders Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

Dennis finished 15th, one place ahead of Hadjar in 16th.

Scary moment

F1 rookie Jack Doohan had a close call with a slow-moving Logan Sargeant.

Doohan, participating in FP1 for the Alpine team, narrowly avoided a major collision when Sargeant was obstructing the racing line in the penultimate corner.

After the incident, Doohan jumped on the radio, "I nearly had the biggest accident of my life!"

The incident will be investigated after the end of the session.

Here are the timesheets from all the practice action after FP1 in Abu Dhabi.

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Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP1 results - Friday November 24th

1. George Russell (Mercedes): 1:26.072

2. Felipe Drugovich (Aston Martin): +0.288

3. Daniel Ricciardo (AlphaTauri): +0.361

4. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo): +0.381

5. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin): +0.559

6. Oscar Piastri (McLaren): +0.593

7. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari): +0.604

8. Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari): +0.631

9. Pierre Gasly (Alpine): +0.648

10. Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri): +0.653

11. Logan Sargeant (Williams): +0.670

12. Frederik Vesti (Mercedes): +0.743

13. Jack Doohan (Alpine): +0.793

14. Theo Pourchaire (Alfa Romeo): +1.021

15. Pato O'Ward (McLaren): +1.042

16. Jake Dennis (Red Bull): +1.136

17. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull): +1.172

18. Zak O'Sullivan (Williams): +1.388

19. Kevin Magnussen (Haas): +1.390

20. Oliver Bearman (Haas): +1.497

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