Lando Norris and Max Verstappen — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

F1 Results Today: Lando Norris lands early blow as Red Bull cracks appear at Abu Dhabi GP

All the action from FP1 at this year's Abu Dhabi GP.

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 5 December 2025 12:10 Updated: 15:24

F1 title favorite Lando Norris secured an early boost at the Yas Marina Circuit after topping the timesheets in FP1 ahead of Max Verstappen at the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Reigning champion Verstappen finished just behind the Brit, but both drivers suffered with car issues during the first practice session of F1's season finale weekend.

With less than 10 minutes to go in the session, Verstappen said on team radio that his car was ‘broken’, claiming the Red Bull was suffering issues ‘everywhere’.

The energy drink giants still have work to do and the nerves may well be setting in as Norris picks up a confidence boost, but the Dutchman could still clinch the title on Sunday as he only sits 12 points behind Norris in the standings.

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Oscar Piastri, the third and final championship contender, was not present on track on Friday morning, as the Australian racer had to make way for Pato O'Ward in FP1.

McLaren were one of eight teams who had not yet filled their rookie quota for 2025, and therefore fielded a less experienced driver in place of one of their usual stars.

Aston Martin swapped out their driver duo entirely; but North Carolina native Jak Crawford and fellow F2 driver Cian Shields only managed to finish way down the order in P19 and P20 respectively.

Position	Driver	Team	Gap
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:24.485
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+0.008sec
3	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.016sec
4	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes	+0.123sec
5	Nico Hulkenberg	Kick Sauber	+0.144sec
6	George Russell	Mercedes	+0.248sec
7	Gabriel Bortoleto	Kick Sauber	+0.257sec
8	Oliver Bearman	Haas	+0.274sec
9	Carlos Sainz	Williams	+0.286sec
10	Franco Colapinto	Alpine	+0.370sec
11	Ryo Hirakawa	Haas	+0.449sec
12	Isack Hadjar	Racing Bulls	+0.492sec
13	Paul Aron	Alpine	+0.719sec
14	Pato O’Ward	McLaren	+0.761sec
15	Arvid Lindblad	Red Bull	+0.771sec
16	Arthur Leclerc	Ferrari	+0.875sec
17	Ayumu Iwasa	Racing Bulls	+0.990sec
18	Luke Browning	Williams	+1.005sec
19	Jak Crawford	Aston Martin	+1.404sec
20	Cian Shields	Aston Martin	+1.947sec

Who is the reigning F1 world champion?

Max Verstappen is the reigning F1 champion, and won his fourth drivers' championship last year.

Is there more F1 on today?

Yes, following on from the final FP1 session of the season, FP2 will take place at the Abu Dhabi GP at 5pm local time (GST). The third practice session will kick off on Saturday morning before the vital qualifying later that day. For all the practice times this weekend, click here.

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here she realised her background in journalism and love of motorsport could be combined, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work more closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan which she hopes to build on.

View full biography

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