Pace-setter Norris sure McLaren’s rivals are a real threat after another strong start · RaceFans

There was no way that the constructors’ championship could be decided on the opening day of practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. No points on offer, no competitive session that would directly affect anything for Sunday’s grand prix.

But at the end of the 24th Friday of the 2024 season, it was hard not to feel as though Ferrari’s difficult prospects of somehow overcoming a 21 point deficit in the constructors’ championship were now looking even slimmer.

At the end of the second hour of practice of the day, McLaren backed up their advantage in the standings with an apparent advantage on the track. Lando Norris set the best time of the day with a time only team mate Oscar Piastri could get close to, while Ferrari were more than half a second slower with both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jnr.

And while Leclerc was battling food poisoning he also had to stomach something much worse – a ten-place grid penalty for Sunday’s grand prix after Ferrari confirmed that he would have to take his third energy store of the season to make it through the final weekend of the year. Having gone 23 rounds without exceeding his power unit allowance, now he would be hit by a penalty at the worst possible time.

Leclerc therefore faces an exceptionally tough task to reach the kinds of high points-scoring positions the team needs from him to beat McLaren for their first constructors’ championship since 2008. Not to mention overhauling the two MCL38s.

“The McLarens seem to be quicker, unfortunately,” Leclerc admitted at the end of he day. “So for now, they’ve got the upper hand.

“We know that it can swing one way or the other very quickly and we’ve got to stay on top of everything. It won’t be finished until the very end. As we’ve seen, unfortunately, today on our side, we’ve had a problem. I’m not wishing a problem to anybody else, we’ll just focus on ourselves and try to do an amazing recovery on Sunday.”

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On McLaren’s side, it was hard to see how Friday could have gone any better. Not only did they learn their nearest rivals would be fighting with one hand tied behind their back, both of their drivers were quickest in the only true representative session of the day. But in typical Norris fashion, the fastest driver of the day was quick to be cautious about McLaren’s prospects for the rest of the weekend.

“The car’s been feeling good the whole day,” Norris said. “Continued our pace out of Qatar and feel strong.

“I think we have a few things to improve on, in both low and high fuel – probably more so on high fuel. It probably looks better than it is. I don’t think the others turned up their engines it. So it might look glorious for now, but I think we’re still going to have a tough fight tomorrow.”

With each of the top four teams using the medium compound tyres for their long runs in the same sunset conditions that Sunday’s race will take place in, the lap times from the end of the second session provide useful snapshots of each team’s performance at this stage of the weekend.

Of the eight drivers from the four top teams, Piastri and Norris had the quickest average lap times during their high-fuel stints, both in the 1’29.6s. Leclerc was, on average, three tenths per lap slower than the McLarens, with team mate Sainz a further two tenths back.

The Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell lapped at a similar pace to Leclerc, with Max Verstappen closer to Sainz than he was to the McLarens. But Sergio Perez was the closest driver in the long runs to Piastri and Norris, suggesting that Red Bull have significantly more pace than Verstappen demonstrated in his sole practice session of the day.

“I’m sure that we can do better,” was Verstappen’s summary after yet another Friday where he was unhappy with the balance of his Red Bull. “I’m not saying that we will at McLaren’s level, because they seem very quick so far this weekend, but at least if we can fight in that top six that will be a good recovery. Because, so far, it’s been quite tricky.”

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Heading into the final qualifying Saturday of the season, Russell is looking to take a hat trick of pole positions in this final double header. But although the Mercedes has looked stronger at the end of the season than most times through the year, Russell does not expect anyone to beat the McLarens, no matter what they may have been holding back on Friday.

“I think still as a team, we’re a long way off McLaren and Ferrari,” Russell said. “McLaren especially seem to be in a league of their own at the moment.

“Lewis did a great job, but we’re still four tenths behind the McLaren, so that’s bigger than we usually expect. So I expect Ferrari to probably get back in the mix, Max probably to get back in the mix, but I hope we can make some improvements for tomorrow.”

But with McLaren with the upper hand in the championship, over the short runs and seemingly in high-fuel too, it’s little wonder Piastri was feeling pretty positive about his team’s chances heading into the rest of the weekend.

“I think the pace today has been very strong, so that can only give you confidence, I would say,” Piastri said. “Tomorrow is obviously a very different day and I’m sure the others will find their feet a bit more. But I think considering I did one session, I’m happy with the day’s work. So hopefully we can continue that.”

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Combined practice times

Teams’ progress vs 2023

2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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