George Russell (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W14. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 23, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Friday 24th November 2023. Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Mercedes’ George Russell set the pace during the opening practice session for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina.
Russell set a time of 1:26.072s on Soft tyres in the typically unrepresentative daytime session in which several other front-runners were not present.
Nine of the 10 teams opted to run young drivers during the session per Formula 1 regulations, with 10 of the drivers absent completely.
Red Bull ran two non-race drivers, in the form of Formula E champion Jake Dennis and Formula 2’s Isack Hadjar, having not fielded a youngster in 2023 up until this point.
Aston Martin reserve Felipe Drugovich was the fastest of the non-racers, finishing second to Russell, 0.288s behind the Mercedes driver.
AlphaTauri – the only team to field both of its race drivers after fulfilling rookie obligations earlier in the season – had Daniel Ricciardo third as it introduced an upgraded floor to its AT04.
Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas was fourth, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, and the Ferrari pair of Carlos Sainz and tester Robert Shwartzman.
Jake Dennis (GBR) Red Bull Racing RB19 Test Driver. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 23, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Friday 24th November 2023. Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda rounded out the top 10, ahead of Williams’ Logan Sargeant.
Sargeant was involved in the most high-profile incident of the session when he was almost struck by Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan.
Sargeant moved off-line exiting the penultimate corner just as Doohan, on a hot lap, performed the same manoeuvre, with the Australian narrowly avoiding the errant Williams.
Sargeant has been summoned to the stewards on account of driving erratically.
Fred Vesti was 12th for Mercedes, ahead of Doohan, with Alfa Romeo reserve driver and Formula 2 title leader Théo Pourchaire 14th.
IndyCar front-runner Pato O’Ward – confirmed as one of McLaren’s reserve drivers for 204- was 15th, with Dennis and Hadjar 16th and 17th respectively for Red Bull.
Zak O’Sullivan made his FP1 debut for Williams and placed 18th, with Haas pair Kevin Magnussen and Oliver Bearman finishing at the rear of the field.
Keyword: Russell sets pace ahead of Drugovich in Abu Dhabi FP1