George Russell went quickest in the final hour of practice for the 2025 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, outpacing championship leader Lando Norris by just 0.004s with title contender Max Verstappen in third. Oscar Piastri was fifth in a session that also Lewis Hamilton bring out the red flags. 

The session, held in the heat of the early afternoon, got off to a slow start with just the Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll and the Alpines of Pierre Gasly and Franco Colapinto on track. 

Gasly, on Soft tyres, set the initial benchmark at a relatively sedate 1:25.984 but after 123 minutes McLaren driver Norris headed out on track the C5 tyres and he immediately carved well over a second off the Frenchman’s time, posting a lap of 1:24.728 to take P1. 

In the other McLaren, Piastri posted a Soft tyre opener of 1:25.128 but he was beaten to P2 by Red Bull Racing’s Yuki Tsunoda who logged a time of 1:24.893. 

The track was rapidly improved and Haas’ Ollie Bearman then jumped to second place, just 0.008s off Norris with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc into third on 1:24.830. Hamilton then moved to top spot with a lap of 1:24.470.

Verstappen joined the action just after the 20-minute mark and the Red Bull driver’s first Soft-tyre lap of 1:24.245 took him to P1, over two tenths clear of Hamilton. 

Just afterwards there was a nervous moment for Norris. The Briton was on a flying lap when he came across Tsunoda in the middle of the track in the tight final sector and the McLaren driver had to take rapid evasive action to avoid a collision. 

There was a crash for Hamilton, however. As the session reached the halfway mark the seven-time champion appeared to ground his car on the kerbs as he approached Turn 9. That seemed to destabilise the Ferrari and as he went into the corner a snap of oversteer sent him spinning off. Hamilton hit the barriers nose-first, wrecking the front of his SF-25. 

The red flags came out and the session was halted for 13 minutes. With just over a quarter of hour remaining on the restart it was time for qualifying runs, and it was Russell who made the most of low fuel and C5 tyres. 

Verstappen’s first lap saw him improve to 1:24.116, but then Piastri vaulted from P18 to top spot with a lap of 1:23.593. Norris moved clear to 1:23.338 despite getting a snap in the hairpin. 

Russell was going quicker than all three, however, and he took top spot with a lap of 1:23.334 that left him 0.004s ahead of Norrris. Verstappen put in two more laps to work down to 1:24.458 to finish third, 0.124 off Russell. 

There was late drama in the pit lane. Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli was released into the path of Tsunoda. The Italian rookie broke his front wing but was able to continue after repairs, but Tsunoda’s session ended due to sidepod damage, and he ended up in 20. 

Behind Verstappen, Alonso was fourth for Aston Martin ahead of Piastri and the Australian was followed by the Haas pair of Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman. Leclerc was eighth ahead of Antonelli Mercedes and the top 10 was rounded out by Williams’ Alex Albon. 

2025 FIA Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Free Practice 3
1 George Russell Mercedes 1:23.334 14 228.137
2 Lando Norris McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.338 0.004 20 228.126
3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:23.458 0.124 15 227.798
4 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:23.585 0.251 17 227.452
5 Oscar Piastri McLaren/Mercedes 1:23.593 0.259 17 227.430
6 Esteban Ocon Haas/Ferrari 1:23.605 0.271 19 227.397
7 Oliver Bearman Haas/Ferrari 1:23.609 0.275 16 227.387
8 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:23.675 0.341 18 227.207
9 Kimi Antonelli Mercedes 1:23.707 0.373 14 227.120
10 Alexander Albon Williams/Mercedes 1:23.722 0.388 18 227.080
11 Gabriel Bortoleto Sauber/Ferrari 1:23.791 0.457 16 226.893
12 Carlos Sainz Williams/Mercedes 1:23.811 0.477 18 226.838
13 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber/Ferrari 1:23.870 0.536 17 226.679
14 Lance Stroll Aston Martin/Mercedes 1:23.895 0.561 19 226.611
15 Liam Lawson Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:23.947 0.613 16 226.471
16 Isack Hadjar Racing Bulls/Honda RBPT 1:23.979 0.645 17 226.385
17 Pierre Gasly Alpine/Renault 1:24.072 0.738 19 226.134
18 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari 1:24.470 1.136 8 225.069
19 Franco Colapinto Alpine/Renault 1:24.501 1.167 18 224.986
20 Yuki Tsunoda Red Bull/Honda RBPT 1:24.693 1.359 10 224.476