Lando Norris headed a McLaren 1-2 in the second practice session for the 2024 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with the Briton outpacing team-mate Oscar Paistri by two tenths of a second, as Haas’ Nico Hülkenberg took third place ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.
At the start of the session, Charles Leclerc, went fastest in the other Ferrari, setting a 1:25.438 with his first lap. His stay in P1 was short, however, with Norris quickly going 0.418s quicker as Lewis Hamilton slotted into second, 0.311s behind the McLaren. Carlos Sainz then rose to P2, 0.238s ahead of Leclerc with Oscar Piastri rising to fourth. Leclerc then jumped ahead of his Ferrari team-mate to take second place with a lap of 1:24.540, 0.208s off Norris’ benchmark of 1:24.332.
Elsewhere, Max Verstappen, who had given up his car to F2 title hopeful Isack Hadjar in FP1, was in fifth place, six tenths off the pace, and the four-time champion was complaining that he was battling “ridiculous understeer”.
Just ahead of the halfway mark the field began to make the switch to C5 Soft compound Pirellis and Piastri took top spot with a lap of 1:23.751. The Australian had suffered a snap early in his lap, however, and with three purple sectors, Norris then jumped ahead of his team-mate with a lap of 1:23.517.
Sainz slotted into third, half a second off the pace, but further back, Verstappen’s first lap on Soft tyres was compromised both by traffic and a lack of front-end grip, leaving him in P12. The Dutchman headed back to the Red Bull garage and then emerged in Medium tyres, which he ran for the remainder of the session. He ended the session in 17th place.
Nico Hülkenberg was one of the last to put in a qualifying simulation on Soft tyres and the Haas driver’s lap was good, and his 1:23.979 promoted him to third place a little over a tenth ahead of Sainz, Hamilton and Leclerc. Kick Sauber’s Valtteri Bottas enjoyed a good session, claiming seventh place with his Soft-tyre lap, just 0.005s ahead of the second Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
The field then began to make the move top Medium tyres for longer runs in the final third of the session. One of the early adopters was Williams’ Alex Albon, who had used his Soft tyre run to claim P9.
However, after bolting on Medium tyres the Thai driver lost power not long after going out on track. Running in third gear, Albon reported that he had a problem with “the driveline, or driveshaft”. He limped back to the pits, where work began on his car. Albon was soon back on track, however, on Soft tyres.
At the tail end of the order, Franco Colapinto’s session came to an early end when, after 10 laps, he went wide at Turn 9 and damaged the floor of his Williams. He returned to the team’s garage but repairs to his FW46 meant he took no further part in the session.
2024 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 2
1 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.517 25 227.637
2 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.751 0.234 28 227.001
3 Nico Hülkenberg Haas/Ferrari 1:23.979 0.462 28 226.385
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:24.099 0.582 28 226.062
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.119 0.602 28 226.008
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:24.201 0.684 28 225.788
7 Valtteri Bottas Sauber/Ferrari 1:24.230 0.713 24 225.710
8 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 1:24.235 0.718 25 225.697
9 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:24.269 0.752 22 225.606
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB/Honda RBPT 1:24.497 0.980 28 224.997
11 Liam Lawson RB/Honda RBPT 1:24.503 0.986 25 224.981
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:24.517 1.000 27 224.944
13 George Russell Mercedes 1:24.534 1.017 24 224.898
14 Sergio Pérez Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:24.555 1.038 27 224.843
15 Zhou Guanyu Sauber/Ferrari 1:24.557 1.040 23 224.837
16 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:24.574 1.057 25 224.792
17 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:24.598 1.081 26 224.728
18 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:24.686 1.169 29 224.495
19 Jack Doohan Alpine/Renault 1:24.961 1.444 27 223.768
20 Franco Colapinto Williams/Mercedes 1:25.265 1.748 10 222.97
